Democracy on the decline?: Amherst College professor tackles a question many are pondering

Austin Sarat, an Amherst College professor, last week led a discussion with Amherst Neighbors trying to answer the question, “Is Democracy Doomed?”

Austin Sarat, an Amherst College professor, last week led a discussion with Amherst Neighbors trying to answer the question, “Is Democracy Doomed?” GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will take place on Jan. 20.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will take place on Jan. 20. AP

By EMILEE KLEIN

Staff Writer

Published: 01-12-2025 1:01 PM

AMHERST — In the wake of the chaotic approach and results of the United States’ last election, distinguished Amherst College professor Austin Sarat dares to ask whether American democracy is doomed. 

Not yet, Sarat answers, but democracy is waning, and that’s not caused by one man alone. Partisan politics, disinformation and general mistrust of governmental institutions have greatly weakened the once stable United States democracy.

“Irregardless of the Trump administration and what Trump does, the problems of the American democracy will be there waiting on the other side,” Sarat said. “Donald Trump is as much a symptom as a cause of the problems in American democracy.”

In a conversation with the elder support organization Amherst Neighbors last Thursday, Sarat explains that American democracy weakens as the people’s faith in their public institutions, like the government and the media, wanes. While no one person can reinstate the public’s trust in the United States government nor fix the injustices in America’s political system, Sarat fights for democracy by thinking democratically in his everyday life.

“The problem is that many people in the United States are ready to see their democracy weakened, and perhaps to let it go entirely,” he said. “So we need to do everything that we can to rebuild the infrastructure of democracy, so to speak, brick by brick.”

Sarat opened his lecture with a question to the 52 participants on the Zoom call: Would you choose a society that guarantees democracy but not justice, or a society that guarantees justice but not democracy? While two attendees who responded both choose the democratic society, Sarat noted that the younger generations he lectures at Amherst College would prefer a just political system over a democratic one.

“Americans do not really understand democracy, and for a very, very long time, took it for granted,” he continued. “And young people in particular do not understand democracy, and are much less attached to democracy than are people my age.”

Rather, younger generations heavily value justice, and the injustices within the current political system — along with the disappearance of fascist and communist threats to democracy after the fall of the Berlin Wall — have eroded their faith in democracy.

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“Democracy functions best when people have confidence in the government and faith in the political system,” Sarat said.

According to one graph Sarat showed, 75% of respondents born in the 1930s supported the statement that it was essential to live in a democratically governed society. But only 30% of respondents born in the 1980s agreed with the statement.

Another chart Sarat presented showed Americans trust Congress the least of any other institution, even big business. A different survey said 45% of respondents believed democracy wasn’t working well.

“For democracy to flourish, the government has to be seen to be effective and responsive to people’s needs,” Sarat said. “If I live in a town that seems to be completely unable to repair its roads, and if I care a lot about roads and the government of the town is democratic, I’m going to begin to think this democracy isn’t so good.”

However, Sarat also upholds the belief that Americans do not understand democracy, since democracy involves finding common ground among a myriad of opinions.

To take baby steps toward rebuilding democracy, Sarat practices this in his everyday life through democratic thinking. This strategy requires telling the truth, a genuine curiosity and willingness to listen to the other side, a tolerance for losing and empathizing — not sympathizing or condoning — with political opponents.

By attempting to understand the other side, and admitting where one may be wrong, Sarat believes people are more likely to find an effective solution than just disregarding people as evil.

When Seren Derin asked about addressing injustices like racism, sexism and classism in the United States, Sarat explained that calling the death penalty immoral never persuades anyone to oppose the death penalty. Only when Sarat changed the phrasing of his argument, asking if people supported executing the innocent, people began to listen.

“Play the ball, not the person. If you play the ball, then you have an opponent. If you play the person, then you have an enemy,” Sarat said.

Nancy Blair said that rebuilding democracy will be a difficult task, one that she thinks people on both sides of the political spectrum struggle with. With the addition of disinformation, highly ideological political parties and biased media, rebuilding democracy seems nearly impossible.

“This (democracy) is hard,” Sarat said. “Am I going to be able to persuade people by just saying it in a way that they can hear? No, that’s not guaranteed.”

Democracy, Sarat said, does not guarantee justice, but without it, there’s no chance justice can prevail.

“I think that America four years from now may not look a lot like what America did when I cried on my sofa when Barack Obama was elected,” he said at the end of the event, “but I think that democracy is worth fighting for, and I for one plan to be in the fight for as long as I can, and to fight in the ways that I can.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.