The Atlantic

How to Save Democracy

A new study gives clues for how to fix America’s political culture.
Source: Stefani Reynolds / CNP / Bloomberg / Getty

You don’t have to look hard to see how American democracy is ailing. In just one week this summer, a man who may have participated in the January 6 insurrection was shot after attacking an FBI office in Ohio. A Pennsylvania man was arrested for threatening to kill FBI agents. And in Wyoming, Representative Liz Cheney was trounced in a GOP primary after a race that centered on her critique of fellow Republican Donald Trump for trying to steal the 2020 election and inciting violence. Even Trump reportedly worried about a need to “reduce the heat.”

But diagnosing the problem is one thing, and finding

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