American governance: The way forward

American democracy is in crisis—and solutions are needed more than ever. Public trust in elected officials and democratic institutions has plummeted; state legislatures are restricting voting rights and access to the ballot box; and Americans across the political spectrum are pessimistic about the future of the nation and unsure of democracy’s persistence. The factors responsible for this include a failure to safeguard the democracy, rule of law, and ethics pillars that have upheld American governance for nearly two and a half centuries. The results of that failure were never more evident than over the past four years. A new Brookings Press book “Overcoming Trumpery: How to Restore Ethics, Rule of Law, and Democracy,” analyzes what went wrong and exactly how to fix it. Edited by Brookings Senior Fellow Norman Eisen, the volume brings together a group of distinguished scholars and practitioners to provide an independent assessment of the problem and its solutions.

On May 10, Governance Studies at Brookings hosted Eisen and seven of his co-authors as part of a two-panel webinar to mark the book’s public launch and discuss the key issues and the reforms the authors propose to address them. The event began with pre-recorded remarks from Sen. Raphael Warnock (D – Ga.) followed by the first panel, which considered the situation in the states in advance of the 2022 midterm elections. The second panel addressed the issues at the federal level. Both panels considered how to close democracy, rule of law, and ethics gaps going forward.

Viewers submitted questions for speakers by emailing events@brookings.edu or via Twitter at @BrookingsGov by using #OvercomingTrumpery.