Sal Orlando, Assistant News Editor
The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs released a new Commonwealth Poll on Feb. 10 with results showing Virginians are concerned about democracy and civic norms.
Virginians were motivated to vote this past election to maintain democracy and civility, with 41% naming it their top issue, according to the poll. Of those polled, 32% said the top issue faced by legislators during the current General Assembly session should be threats to democracy.
“Right now, the biggest safeguard to our democracy is how people are reacting to it in public opinion polling, not how Congress is reacting to it, not how our allies are reacting to it — but the president seems pretty nulled by those things, he doesn’t seem to care,” said Christopher Saladino, an associate professor of political science.
Saladino said President Donald Trump changes his policies and orders when public opinion shifts.
Virginia Democrats recently released their proposed congressional district map that would likely give Democratic representatives a 10-1 majority in the state, per a previous report by The CT. Similar moves have been made in California and Maryland, following redistricting done by Republicans in Texas, which removed Democratic seats from the U.S.House of Representatives.
“So now we’re at this point where we’re rigging our maps to these extremes and now Democrats are rigging the maps, and in a sense, that’s not really democracy,” said Alex Keena, an associate professor of political science, during VCU’s “U.S. Democracy at 250” event on Feb. 12.
Alexandria Davis, assistant professor of political science, noted concerns during the event about the Save Act currently moving through the U.S. Senate, which would require a person to have documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.
“That ultimately affects women, trans folks, as well as rural voters, affecting their ability to get access to vote because it makes the process more difficult,” Davis said.
Of all eligible voters, 9% do not have easy access to documentary proof of citizenship, according to the University of Maryland. Birth certificates often lack information matching a person’s current identity, including name changes, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
John Froitzheim, an associate professor of political science, said during an ensuing town hall with several political science faculty that the United States is currently experiencing democratic backsliding, a deterioration of qualities associated with democratic governance in any regime.
Alexandra Reckendorf, assistant professor and associate chair of political science, compared the current state of U.S. democracy to the five themes of a fascist education: national greatness, national purity, national innocence, strict gender roles and vilification of the left.
Ryan Smith, professor of history, compared the concerns over democracy being under attack from pollers to how the signers of the Declaration of Independence felt when their inherited political rights were under attack by the British monarchy.
“It has taken a really long time for America, and even Virginia, to function as a democracy as we recognize it in our generation. And it has all been nearly snuffed out several times,” Smith stated in an email. “The poll’s concern for ‘maintaining democracy and civility’ expresses a hope that a government operating on fairness and our shared principles can continue.”
Smith compared the current state of the democracy to the Gilded Age, when business monopolies and political corruption were common in the country.
“The main warning sign we need to look out for is complacency, in thinking that others are going to solve our problems or that the rights we have inherited (even those guaranteed by our founding documents) are always going to be there for us,” Smith stated. “The other warning sign is despair — history shows that people have faced really steep odds and overcame them.”