Pew Research Center president Michael Dimock has spent years listening to what Americans think — and what they’re telling him right now is pretty dark. But buried in the data is something revealing: people are ready for bold democratic reform that the country hasn’t seen in decades. He explores how America’s founders didn’t create a finished system of government but rather launched an ongoing project that requires each generation to renew, adapt and reimagine democracy. The survey says Americans are ready to do the work.
(Recorded at TED Democracy Philadelphia on June 13, 2026)
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@narcomanmuhomor7704
July 4, 2026 at 11:14 am
First.
@mitbrille
July 4, 2026 at 11:16 am
Second.
@comedy4-all
July 4, 2026 at 11:21 am
Thank you
@vladdumitrica849
July 4, 2026 at 11:21 am
Democracy is when those who make decisions on your behalf have the duty to ask for your consent first. Today’s republics are actually modern oligarchies where the interest groups of the rich are arbitrated by the people, that is, you can choose from which table of the rich you will receive crumbs.
The “fatigue” of democracy occurs when there is a big difference between the interests of the elected and the voters, thus people lose confidence in the way society functions. As a result, poor and desperate citizens will vote with whoever promises them a lifeline, i.e. populists or demagogues.
The democratic aspect is a collateral effect in societies where the economy has a strong competitive aspect, that is, the interests of those who hold the economic power in society are divergent. Thus those whealty, and implicitly with political power in society, supervise each other so that none of them have undeserved advantages due to politics. For this reason, countries where mineral resources have an important weight in GDP are not democratic (Russia, Venezuela, etc.), because a small group of people can exploit these resources in their own interest. In poor countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) the main exploited resource may even be the state budget, as they have convergent interests in benefiting, in their own interest, from this resource. It is easy to see if it is an oligarchy because in a true democracy laws would not be passed that would not be in the interest of the many.
The first modern oligarchy appeared in England at the end of the 17th century. After the bourgeois revolution led by Cromwell succeeded, the interest groups of the rich were unable to agree on how to divide their political power in order not to reach the dictatorship of one. The solution was to appoint a king to be the arbiter. In republics, the people are the arbiter, but let’s not confuse the possibility of choosing which group will govern you with democracy, that is, with the possibility of citizens deciding which laws to pass and which not to.
The solution is modern direct democracy in which every citizen can vote, whenever he wants, over the head of the parliamentarian who represents him. He can even dismiss him if the majority of his voters consider that he does not correctly represent their interests.
It’s like when you have to build a house and you choose the site manager and the architect, but they don’t have the duty to consult with you. The house will certainly not look the way you want it, but the way they want it, and it is more certain that you will be left with the money given and without the house. It is strange that outside of the political sphere, nowhere, in any economic or sports activity, will you find someone elected to a leadership position and who has failure after failure and is fired only after 4 years. We, the voters, must be consulted about the decisions and if they have negative effects we can dismiss them at any time, let’s not wait for the soroco to be fulfilled, because we pay, not them. In any company, the management team comes up with a plan approved by the shareholders. Any change in this plan must be re-approved by the shareholders and it is normal because the shareholders pay.
@vladdumitrica849
July 4, 2026 at 11:27 am
The society in which those who decide for us do not have the duty to ask for our consent for the decisions made is called oligarchy (few decide) not democracy (the people decide).
What if the taxi driver took your money at the beginning and did not bear any consequences if he did not take you to your destination? People would quickly give up on taxis, because good faith taxi drivers would be in the minority.
What if in e-commerce, the seller did not bear any consequences if he did not send the product for which he took money in advance? Would people still buy?
How do you think people react if their desires are not reflected in the actions of those elected, if the vote is emptied of content by the fact that those who are voted for have no immediate interest in fulfilling electoral promises. The very fact that they are called promises and not plans that must be respected, for which there are immediate consequences, such as immediate dismissal, the impossibility of running for a certain period of time afterwards, shows that it is more about them and less about us, that is, our society has all the characteristics of an oligarchy.
This can be seen from the way the discussions proceed when a government is formed. The disputes are for seizing ministries from which funds can be siphoned and not over the competence of the people competing for a certain ministerial position. That is, the division of ministries must be done not in terms of percentages but in terms of competence.
@danielkrcmar5395
July 4, 2026 at 11:42 am
The US voter has had an almost zero influence on the direction of US policy over at least the past 70 years.
@chachingx2292
July 4, 2026 at 11:27 am
We aren’t a Democracy. We are a Republic! Hard Pass!!!
@vladdumitrica849
July 4, 2026 at 12:20 pm
Yes, and republics are in fact oligarchies by definition.
@MercurywiththeMessage
July 4, 2026 at 11:37 am
Just before the declaration of independence was a biological warfare campaign against the natives where blankets covered in smallpox where being distributed. Destabilize the lands and impose “democracy”. Guess what covid was designed to do.
@danielkrcmar5395
July 4, 2026 at 11:41 am
0:47 Should really say, “the consent of the elite” the masses don’t really matter. It is the organised minority who rule.
@ArtistDrAnnaLoIacono
July 4, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Democracy doesn’t exist, what are talking about Sir?
@MrRoberthafetz
July 4, 2026 at 12:39 pm
The hate speech and violence is coming from the left it isnt equal. Socialism is rising in the democrat party and increasing the hate and violence.
@NataleiFoster
July 4, 2026 at 2:50 pm
There’s a widely KNOWN information about political terrorism in the past 61 years.
The left takes up 65 terroristic murder incidents.
But the right takes up 391 terroristic murders.
Look within your heart, pray, and learn to learn. This is what Jesus commands
@MrRoberthafetz
July 4, 2026 at 12:40 pm
We just had 4 years of a severely impaired president and democrats lied in our faces about him.
@noblepatriot9292
July 4, 2026 at 1:03 pm
We aren’t and never have been a democracy. We are a constitutional republic. This video starts with a lie and gets worse from there. Don’t be fooled by this infantile propaganda.
@ScienceChad
July 4, 2026 at 1:24 pm
Great talk, but phones aren’t the problem. They are a magnifying lens that makes the corruption, partisanship, and cynicism more transparent than ever. The issues aren’t in our head. And closing our eyes doesn’t make them better.
Confidence in even the elections themselves is gone. And we cannot even have common sense voting laws and transparency. The phone isn’t the issue. The ability to make meaningful progress on common sense topics is.
@sintwelve
July 4, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Its stuck because people are choosing cults over their own critical thinking.
@pezboy715
July 4, 2026 at 3:52 pm
The #1, most critical thing we need to start moving in the right direction is a POTUS who doesn’t spend every single day pushing divisive, insulting rhetoric with the explicit goal of fracturing society as much as possible.
@MrRoberthafetz
July 4, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Biden is no longer president
@garciavashchino1
July 4, 2026 at 8:44 pm
@MrRoberthafetz hahah cute… but you know he means your hero Chump!
@edgarmorales4476
July 4, 2026 at 8:15 pm
Democracy fails because political systems are based on fear, stubbornness and self-protection. Since most people operate on fear, stubbornness and self-protection—worldly governance ultimately falls into conflict and failure. Lasting peace can never be achieved by changing outer, worldly systems.
Worldly governments and political ideologies are reflections of fear, stubbornness and self-protection.
Most people reinforce the idea that they are distinct from one another, generating conflict rather than the recognition of shared, universal oneness.
Instead of taking responsibility for lasting peace, most people project fear onto those who oppose them, viewing them as enemies.
Democracy relies on elections, laws, and majorities to solve problems—ignoring the necessary healing of the mind required for lasting peace.
@shrunkensimon
July 4, 2026 at 8:33 pm
If 51% of the people are mad, that’s democracy.
Whoever controls the levers to the mass psychology of 51% of people can rule 100%.
Democracy makes it easier for tyranny, not harder.
@garciavashchino1
July 4, 2026 at 8:44 pm
The Republican party news would have you think they must fear these educated type of monsters… Very scary being able to read I suppose!