Time for Convergence to Renew Our Democracy
In recognition of Constitution Day, September 17, 2025
Our Democracy at the Brink
On this Constitution Day, America stands at its most precarious democratic moment since the Civil War. The period 2025-26 may end up being the year U.S. democracy crashes like a meteorite slamming into a house in Georgia.¹ Historians may one day look back and mark this time as Year 1 of American Post-Democracy. Three of the seven pillars of democracy outlined in the Democracy Playbook 2025—protect elections, defend rule of law, and fight corruption—are facing significant challenges, highlighting the growing threats to US democracy posed by the new Trump administration.²
The signs are unmistakable. Project 2025, a 920-page roadmap for wielding excessive presidential power, threatens to rip out democracy by its roots and replace it with a system that most Americans would find unthinkable.³ Immigration enforcement based on racial profiling, detention of lawful permanent residents without charges, and the weaponization of federal agencies have become tools of authoritarian governance.⁴ Even the American Bar Association warns we are "in the midst of a constitutional crisis" with only 4% of Americans believing our political system works well.⁵
But this is precisely why today—Constitution Day—demands not despair but convergence. History's darkest hours have produced democracy's greatest breakthroughs when citizens refused to surrender their power to authoritarians.
A Call to Converge
I invite all pro-democracy movements—across every sector, ideology, and geography—to come together in a Convergence for Renewal of Democracy. Seventy-six percent of Americans agree we need fundamental reform,⁶ yet our efforts remain tragically fragmented while authoritarian forces consolidate power with ruthless coordination.
The crisis runs deeper than political disagreement—it reflects a fundamental breakdown in civic knowledge and democratic connection. The Cato Institute's 2025 survey reveals that 53% of Americans don't even know why the American colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776, while 66% believe the Constitution's signers would be disappointed with how we're following the document today.⁷ When a majority of citizens cannot explain the foundational principles of their own democracy, and even more believe we've abandoned constitutional governance, that democracy becomes vulnerable to those who would dismantle it entirely.
We don't need another single-issue campaign that treats symptoms while the patient bleeds out. We need a bold, united campaign for structural transformation that can compete with the authoritarian project reshaping America. And we can start in the states, where democracy's renewal has always begun.
Recent Polling on the U.S. Constitution
The democratic crisis we face isn't abstract—it's measurable. The Cato Institute's 2025 Fourth of July National Survey reveals a nation deeply disconnected from its constitutional foundations. While 84% of Americans say they like the Constitution, a stunning 66% believe the signers would be "disappointed" with how we're following it today.⁸ Most alarming: 53% of Americans cannot even explain why the colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776.⁹
The survey exposes a devastating democratic performance gap. Remarkably, majorities of Americans rated the current democratic system negatively on every single objective measured—the system is failing to meet public expectations across the board.¹⁰ This isn't partisan disappointment; it's systemic democratic breakdown.
Even more striking: four in 10 Americans (39%) now support writing an entirely new Constitution, with majority support among Gen Z and Millennials (53%), Black Americans (59%), Hispanic Americans (51%), government employees (54%), and city residents (50%).¹¹ When younger generations and diverse communities lose faith in the foundational document, democracy faces an existential crisis.
Meanwhile, FrameWorks Institute research from May 2025 reveals how Americans' fundamental assumptions about the Constitution shape their understanding of our current constitutional crisis, offering crucial insights for how we can effectively communicate about constitutional threats.¹² The FrameWorks research identifies five key strategies for talking about constitutional violations in ways that resonate with Americans.
Link constitutional appeals to animating principles like individual rights and popular self-government—we are in a constitutional crisis, and the rights and liberties of everyone in our country are at stake.
Bring institutions like separation of powers, checks and balances, and limits on executive power into discussions explicitly.
Make direct claims about constitutionality rather than deferring solely to the Court—citizens are open to weighing in on constitutional questions themselves.
Replace vague "crisis" language with specific claims that actions are "unconstitutional" or "anti-constitutional."
Ground it in people's lived experience of uncertainty and arbitrariness under arbitrary rule.¹³
This research reveals why citizens' assemblies are not just preferable but essential. When 66% of Americans believe we're not following the Constitution and 39% want to rewrite it entirely, traditional political processes have lost legitimacy.
Citizens Assemblies can create the space for Americans to learn constitutional principles, discuss their application to current challenges, and develop the civic capacity to defend and renew democratic institutions through informed deliberation rather than frustrated abandonment.¹⁴
States & Terrorities Lead the Way
Our approach builds on the world's most successful democratic innovations. Ireland's Citizens' Assemblies have produced extraordinary results: following assembly recommendations, the 2015 referendum legalized same-sex marriage and the 2018 referendum legalized abortion—both constitutional changes that seemed impossible through normal politics.¹⁵ These assemblies strengthened democracy by building cross-partisan legitimacy, reducing polarization, and generating practical recommendations that governments adopted.¹⁶
Citizens' Assemblies have been strikingly successful in tackling complex policy problems and values-based dilemmas, from constitutional changes around same-sex marriage and abortion, to urban planning, clean energy, and climate change.¹⁷ The French Citizens' Assembly on End of Life convinced President Macron to base new legislation on citizen recommendations,¹⁸ while 77% of respondents across France, the UK, the US, and Germany believe it's important for governments to create Citizen Assemblies.¹⁹
Building on proof-of-concept efforts like The People's Assembly in New Hampshire, held in 2024, we propose a multi-state launching citizens' assemblies across thirteen states and territories, including Colorado, District of Columbia, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and many others. These assemblies will be designed for in-person and hybrid participation through platforms like pol.is and Remesh, reaching 20,000–30,000 participants per state—creating the largest democratic engagement in American history with over 300,000 citizens directly involved.
Each assembly would tackle comprehensive structural reforms across four transformational areas.
Enhancing citizen participation in governance processes and public institutions through mechanisms like state and national referendums and permanent Citizens Assemblies that give ordinary Americans ongoing voice in their democracy.
Election reform including improving nonpartisanship in elections through systems that prioritize voters over parties and special interests.
Guaranteed rights that expand constitutional protections for health, housing, environmental protection, and personal freedoms that democracy should secure for all citizens.
Strengthening checks and balances between branches of government and between the federal government and the States, restoring a strengthening a constitutional architecture that prevents authoritarian concentration of power.
State-driven transformational policies for renewal of democracy could advance through state law, State constitutional amendments or amendment bundles, and ballot initiatives while building momentum toward a refreshed U.S. Constitution that answers authoritarianism with a genuine citizen-driven democracy. As Lawrence Lessig has demonstrated, recent Supreme Court decisions make it possible to render an Article V constitutional convention fundamentally democratic and majoritarian through citizen assemblies that bind delegates to reflect the people's will rather than political elites.²⁰
First Ever Statewide Citizens Assembly, New Hampshire, 2024
Why Citizen Assemblies Work When Normal Politics Fails
Citizens' assemblies have three core phases—learning, deliberation and decision making—which set them apart from other forms of public consultation such as focus groups and opinion polling.²¹ Unlike our broken electoral system where special interests dominate and polarization paralyzes, assemblies create space for ordinary Americans to learn, listen, and find common ground.
The Irish model operates on six key principles: openness, fairness, equality of voice, efficiency, respect and collegiality.²² Operating in an open and transparent manner, and ensuring that all views are listened to equally and respectfully, better serves all stakeholders. When Americans see their neighbors—not politicians or pundits—wrestling with complex issues and reaching thoughtful conclusions, trust in democratic institutions begins to rebuild.
By linking assemblies across states, we create critical mass for democratic innovation that scales into unstoppable national momentum. This state-by-state strategy isn't just reform—it's rehearsal for the National Citizens' Assembly in 2026, marking America's 250th anniversary with our chance to refresh the Constitution for the next 250 years. Most importantly, assemblies will build Americans' capacity to recognize and respond to constitutional violations using the proven frameworks that make constitutional arguments resonate with the public.
This Moment Demands Convergence
Despite deep political divisions across the U.S. and concerns about the nation's democratic health, it is not a fait accompli that America will join the axis of illiberal nations.²³ There is an opportunity and an imperative in 2025 and beyond for Americans, both governmental and nongovernmental actors such as think tanks, the private sector, and a movement of civic movements, to work together across the country to prevent democratic backsliding.
Comprehensive Transformation, Not Piecemeal Reform
This convergence seeks to build broad public awareness around comprehensive structural and transformational democratic reform—beyond single-issue efforts like ranked choice voting or open primaries that, while valuable, cannot address the systemic crisis we face. It will engage citizens directly in deliberating on reforms and shaping recommendations through the largest participatory democracy experiment in American history. Most critically, it will generate sustained civic pressure powerful enough to advance reforms through ballot initiatives, constitutional amendments, and legislative action, building unstoppable momentum toward a National Citizens Assembly on the US Constitution.
The warning lights are flashing red. American democracy is in real danger.²⁴ But as defenders of democracy react faster when the temperature rises very quickly: when the shift is so abrupt, people may recognize the danger and act before it is too late.²⁵ The authoritarian playbook counts on our fragmentation, our despair, our surrender. They underestimate the power of convergence.
The Time Is Now
This is not about left versus right. This is about We the People versus those who would rule us. Fragmentation is our greatest weakness. Convergence is our greatest strength.
On this Constitution Day, as authoritarians consolidate power with military precision, I call on every organization, leader, and citizen committed to democracy to align our campaigns, coordinate across states and territories, and converge on our shared path toward renewal.
If we answer this moment with the convergence it demands, then 2026 will mark not just America's 250th birthday but the birth of a truly citizen-powered democracy that future generations will thank us for saving.
→ Will you stand with us? Join the #unifyUSA emergency mobilization:
References
Hill, Steven. "America's post-democracy crisis: Why winner-take-all politics is driving us off the cliff." LA Progressive, September 6, 2025.
Eisen, Norm and Jonathan Katz. "Threats to US Democracy: Dangerous Cracks in Its Pillars." Brookings Institution, May 12, 2025.
"Project 2025 Would Destroy the U.S. System of Checks and Balances and Create an Imperial Presidency." Center for American Progress, March 5, 2025.
"US Democracy Under Threat." Verfassungsblog, July 9, 2025.
Smith, Mary. "2025 Report for the ABA Task Force for American Democracy." American Bar Association, September 2025.
Zeitz, Paul. "#unifyUSA Launches Emergency Mobilization for a National Citizen's Assembly in June 2026: Tapping State Citizen Assemblies to Accelerate Transformational Democratic Reform and Renewal." August 5, 2025. Available at:
Cato Institute. "2025 4th of July National Survey: Americans Believe We're Not Adhering to the Constitution." July 2025. Available at: https://www.cato.org/blog/53-dont-know-why-we-declared-independence-britain-1776
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
FrameWorks Institute. "Navigating Public Thinking about Democracy: May 2025 Briefing Key Takeaways." May 22, 2025. Research on people's assumptions about the Constitution and how these assumptions shape public understanding of constitutional crisis.
Ibid.
Ibid.
"Citizens' Assembly (Ireland)." Wikipedia, June 15, 2025.
Mejia, Mauricio. "Case study: How did the Irish Citizen Assembly strengthened democracy?" Medium, January 7, 2022.
"Assembly Guide Overview." DemNext, June 11, 2023.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Lessig, Lawrence. "Making an Article V Convention Safe for Democracy." Medium, 2023. Available at: https://lessig.medium.com/making-an-article-v-convention-safe-for-democracy-e946f2b77dc6
"Citizens' assemblies." Institute for Government, March 27, 2024.
"The Irish Citizens' Assembly." Observatory of Public Sector Innovation, February 5, 2019.
Eisen, Norm and Jonathan Katz. "Democracy Playbook 2025." Brookings Institution, March 5, 2025.
Knutsen, Carl Henrik. "American Democracy is in Danger, but Not Dead." Peace Research Institute Oslo, March 2025.
Ibid.
Appreciate all the global data points you've brought together here. Onwards with assemblies!