Episode 5 – Democracy: The Group Project That Never Ends

In this episode, we explore democracy as the ultimate adult responsibility – a never-ending group project where participation varies wildly but everyone is affected by the final grade.

 

Episode Highlights:

Segment 1: “The Participation Paradox” (4 minutes)

• Despite easier voting access, voter turnout has declined in 22 out of 28 established democracies over the past thirty years (IDEA, 2023)
• U.S. presidential elections average 60% turnout, with midterms at just 42% (U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 2021)
• Significant participation gaps exist:
  
  • Voters under 30 participate 15-30 percentage points less than retirees (CSES, 2022)
  • Non-college graduates vote 20-35 percentage points less than degree holders
• Discussion of “unequal democracy” (Bartels, 2016), where policy outcomes favor those who participate
  
  

Segment 2: “Democracy Around the World: The Good, The Bad, and The Scandinavian” (4 minutes)

• Countries with proportional representation (Denmark, Germany, New Zealand) average 76% turnout vs. 62% in winner-take-all systems (Singh, 2011)
• Compulsory voting in Australia and Belgium achieves 87% turnout (IDEA, 2023)
• Scandinavian democracies succeed through clear political parties, high social trust, and robust civic education (Campbell, 2019)
• Introduction to “stealth democracy” concept (Hibbing & Theiss-Morse, 2002) – systems that work well without requiring constant citizen attention
  
  

Segment 3: “Beyond Voting: Democracy for People Who Hate Politics” (4 minutes)

• Citizens’ assemblies as alternative participation methods (example: Ireland’s abortion debate resolution, Farrell et al., 2019)
• Participatory budgeting, now used in over 7,000 places worldwide, originated in Brazil (Touchton & Wampler, 2014)
• Estonia’s digital democracy experiment – bringing government services online
• Discussion of how technology alone doesn’t solve participation gaps (Vassil & Solvak, 2016)
  
  

Segment 4: “Adulting Through the Information Apocalypse” (2 minutes)

• Less than 20% of adults under 35 regularly consume traditional news (Reuters Institute, 2023)
• Finland’s approach to media literacy beginning in elementary school (Murru et al., 2022)
• Role of political comedy in helping people process complex political ideas (Boukes et al., 2015)
• Comedy creating “citizens through laughter” (Jones, 2010)
  
  

Closing Adult-ism (1 minute)

• Reminder that perfect democracy has never existed – real democracy is about monitoring and participating when it matters to you (Schudson, 1998)
• Homework: Find ONE political issue you care about and spend 30 minutes learning who’s in charge