14 - Elections, Polarization, and Democratic Resilience

Summary

Elections are at the core of democratic politics. We rely on them to perform the vital tasks of organizing and aggregating preferences, of determining leadership, of instituting accountability, of regulating conflict, and – more amorphous but no less important – of regenerating a broadly shared sense that the institutions and persons who govern us do so legitimately. As “moments of heightened citizenship” they focus the collective attention of the public on questions of who should be delegated governing authority and to what end it should be dedicated. They are among the only moments in which “the people” is allowed to speak authoritatively in its collective capacity, and the rituals surrounding them positively affirm community ties while also marking out its boundaries of exclusion.