States United Lydgate, Joanna; Eisen, Norman; Whitman, Christine Todd
10/2022
eBook
Open access
The Laurence and Lynne Brown Democracy Medal, presented by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, recognizes outstanding individuals, groups, and organizations that produce innovations ...to further democracy in the United States or around the world.Elections are the bedrock of any democracy, but they are under attack in the United States. State legislatures are moving to limit voting rights and seize control of election administration, candidates are refusing to accept election results, and antidemocracy forces are sowing lies and encouraging political violence.The States United Democracy Center is fighting back by equipping state and local officials, law enforcement leaders, and prodemocracy partners with the tools and resources they need to protect free, fair, and secure elections. For this important work, its cofounders are the recipients of the 2022 Brown Democracy Medal. States United was founded during the 2020 election and continues to be led by Joanna Lydgate, former chief deputy attorney general of Massachusetts; Norman Eisen, former ambassador to the Czech Republic and special assistant to President Barack Obama for ethics and government reform; and Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
States United Lydgate, Joanna; Eisen, Norman; Whitman, Christine Todd
2022
eBook
Open access
The Laurence and Lynne Brown Democracy Medal, presented by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, recognizes outstanding individuals, groups, and organizations that produce innovations ...to further democracy in the United States or around the world. Elections are the bedrock of any democracy, but they are under attack in the United States. State legislatures are moving to limit voting rights and seize control of election administration, candidates are refusing to accept election results, and antidemocracy forces are sowing lies and encouraging political violence. The States United Democracy Center is fighting back by equipping state and local officials, law enforcement leaders, and prodemocracy partners with the tools and resources they need to protect free, fair, and secure elections. For this important work, its cofounders are the recipients of the 2022 Brown Democracy Medal. States United was founded during the 2020 election and continues to be led by Joanna Lydgate, former chief deputy attorney general of Massachusetts; Norman Eisen, former ambassador to the Czech Republic and special assistant to President Barack Obama for ethics and government reform; and Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
Our System Can Prevail JOANNA LYDGATE; NORMAN EISEN; CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN
Cornell University Press eBooks,
10/2022
Book Chapter
Open access
As the story of this book makes clear, there are good reasons to be concerned for the future of our democracy. But in our work we have also been heartened by the ample reasons for optimism. We ...outline below some lessons of the fight to protect our elections in 2020 and beyond. We have faith that the virtues of our system will prevail if good people work together to protect our democratic principles.
Americans who value democracy and want to protect it should take heart in the outcome of the 2020 election. Despite the persistent and disturbing antidemocracy efforts that
The States United Democracy Center JOANNA LYDGATE; NORMAN EISEN; CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN
Cornell University Press eBooks,
10/2022
Book Chapter
Open access
American democracy has never been perfect. Despite substantial progress, our country’s founding documents contain aspirational goals of equality and justice that have yet to be fully realized more ...than two centuries later. The United States has struggled at times throughout its history to reach its democratic potential, but the threat today is the gravest in decades.
One troubling indicator is that Americans are intensely divided and often rely on entirely different perceived facts as bases for entrenched positions. Another is that polling shows that an increasing number of Americans believe that “true American patriots might have to resort to violence
The Movement against Democracy JOANNA LYDGATE; NORMAN EISEN; CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN
Cornell University Press eBooks,
10/2022
Book Chapter
Open access
The current antidemocracy movement in the United States is pushing to its supporters the premise, “If our candidate didn’t win, then the election must have been stolen.” To be valid, that stance ...requires evidence of widespread, coordinated fraud, and no such evidence exists. Indeed, all the evidence is to the contrary. So the movement has instead developed a playbook, executed at the state level, to guarantee the election results that it wants. First, as we introduced above, they want to change the rules under which elections are run. Second, they want to change the referees who apply those laws to
States United’s Strategy JOANNA LYDGATE; NORMAN EISEN; CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN
Cornell University Press eBooks,
10/2022
Book Chapter
Open access
Our goals at States United are to build trust in elections and in prodemocracy state leaders, to prevent the undermining of free and fair elections, and to defend the will of the American people. ...Drawing on a century of collective individual experience, as well as what we learned in the fight for democracy in 2020, we have developed four areas of focus for our organization: (1) helping state leaders protect elections; (2) working with law enforcement to prevent political violence; (3) pursuing accountability for those who step outside the bounds of our democracy; and (4) advancing truth and countering disinformation
The Antidemocracy Movement Today JOANNA LYDGATE; NORMAN EISEN; CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN
Cornell University Press eBooks,
10/2022
Book Chapter
Open access
The antidemocracy movement that we describe in chapter 2 has flourished, despite the 2020 presidential election results and successful transfer of power. Its leaders still refuse to concede that the ...American public validly elected President Biden. The so-called Big Lie—that the election was stolen from Trump—now animates the cause. Mostly as a response to this lie, the antidemocracy movement has shifted its playbook to controlling future elections. As we have said, this playbook is focused at the state level. First, it aims to change the rules of elections. Second, it aims to change the referees, the state and
Introduction JOANNA LYDGATE; NORMAN EISEN; CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN
States United,
10/2022
Book Chapter
Open access
The attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, is an enduring symbol of the country’s current antidemocracy movement. Images of the assault are burned into national memory. Americans ...watched as a violent mob scaled walls, overwhelmed law enforcement officers, occupied Congress, and delayed the constitutional certification of a presidential election. This was not a spontaneous protest that got out of hand. It was a coordinated insurrection, fueled by an onslaught of disinformation. January 6 was only the most explosive expression of a campaign against democracy that was instigated much earlier and that continues to this day. Its
