“Is American democracy at risk? Should we work on this?” by Sanjay

Status of this post: in writing this I prioritised speed over quality. I'm not particularly expert on this topic. I fully expect there to be things I’m missing or have got wrong. This post is more a request for feedback than a statement of a high-conviction claim. Summary I think it's moderately likely that action to bolster American democracy may be high impact. Importance (“I of ITN”): this seems high to me. For reasons of brevity, I haven’t carefully defended this claim. Tractability (“T of ITN”): unclear. I’ve set out some thoughts, and it seems there are several things that can be done (either with people's time or their money). I haven’t taken the time to assess the quality of these ideas, but I have hope that at least some proportion of them are effective. Neglectedness (“N of ITN”): moderately high, I think. There are people doing [...] ---Outline:(00:25) Summary(01:57) When I say democracy I roughly mean good governance(02:28) To what extent is democracy under threat in the US?(03:00) I of ITN: Importance seems high(04:35) T of ITN: Several things can be done, but how effective are they?(06:07) Checks and balances(08:55) Responsive (lawsuits, media, citizen action)(10:10) Preventative (free and fair elections)(11:09) Deprioritised because they don't cover the US, as far as I know(11:59) Deprioritised for misc reasons(12:23) N of ITN: is there already enough happening to tackle this issue?(12:53) Is this only a matter for Americans?(13:49) Appendix: signs of democracy being under threat in the US(14:13) Erosion of democratic institutions(15:41) Free and fair elections(15:45) Attempts to undermine the outcomes of the 2020 election(17:18) Treatment of 6 Jan rioters/hostages(17:42) Voter suppression(19:22) Disinformation and misinformation(19:56) Attacks on the free press(20:41) Attacks on civil society(24:04) Capture of the private sector--- First published: February 17th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/FKJjBWpke2WfSj95K/is-american-democracy-at-risk-should-we-work-on-this --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.