The Democracy Issue
Democracy is often associated with American politics, elections and voting. The 2024 election, less than two weeks away, looms large over America’s consciousness.
But democracy encompasses much more than casting a ballot every few years.
It’s the right to protest and hold your government accountable, the freedom of the press to report truthfully, the liberty to access art or the assurance that your government will provide essentials like clean water and health care.
Democracy is everywhere — in Sunday mass, your public libraries, at the booth on the walk to class and within your ignored student government.
But what’s at stake when these fundamental pillars of a democratic society are at risk?
From abortion to ballot access, Wisconsin residents have seen their rights rolled back or placed under tighter constraints. On the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, a rich history of protest and civic engagement clashes with restrictive administrative policies on demonstrations and a new institutional neutrality position that dulls intellectual dialogue on global events.
When our rights diminish and our ability to trust institutions falters, we must remember democracy is the foundation of our system, by the people and for the people.
Democracy is agency and empowerment. The Daily Cardinal asked students from both ends of the political spectrum their thoughts on civic engagement, investigated declining involvement in student government and surveyed our university’s expanding student media landscape amid a state decline in journalism. And we reflected on our own history as a student newspaper that, through previous campus wide leadership elections, found its fate intertwined with the desires and fears of the UW-Madison student body.
What’s more, when rural communities in Wisconsin lack access to accurate, reliable local journalists, echo chambers form, civic engagement declines and polarization awakens. And it’s crucial to recognize how this erosion of democracy disproportionately impacts marginalized groups, from Latino voters in Milwaukee to the LGBTQ+ community facing bans of books about people like them.
These are stories that make The Democracy Issue. Our project acknowledges the division around us, but it also celebrates the myriad of ways in which students at UW-Madison can make their voices heard.
Heading to the polls can bring a great deal of anxiety. But we must embrace this moment and not ever take for granted what we have, and very well could lose: democracy.
Francesca Pica, Editor-in-Chief
Ava Menkes, Managing Editor
