The Dinners for Democracy discussion guides covering each chapter of Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times highlight the main points of the chapter, offer questions for reflection and discussion, and reference actions you can take in your community.
Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman starts Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times with a clear message: it’s time to get to work because the future of American democracy is our—the people’s—responsibility. The first chapter issues a two-step call to action: stop spiraling and pick up a shovel.
Stop Spiraling
To stop spiraling is to break cycles of fear and despair.
People spiral because they see vital elements of our democracy being threatened. In Chapter 1, Skye outlines five essential aspirational characteristics of American democracy and overviews six concerning signs of democratic decline:
5 Characteristics of Democracy
- Voting and elections
- Personal liberty
- Due process
- Rule of law and separation of powers (checks and balances)
- Equality
6 Signs of Democratic Decline
- Erosion of voting rights and rise in election denialism
- Weakening of checks and balances
- Rising inequality of opportunity
- Threats to personal freedom
- Threats to due process and the rule of law
- Global threats to our freedom
Understanding these five characteristics of democracy provides us with an opportunity to consider where in our nation’s history we have and have not lived up to our democratic ideals. Skye explains that this reflection is important because our democracy has never been perfect; there has always been work to do to close the gap between our nation’s aspirational and lived realities. Recognizing the six current threats to our democracy allows us to see how authoritarianism tries to stop us from doing that work together.
Worrying about the future is understandable. It is undeniably upsetting to watch the Trump administration use the government to target us or our friends and neighbors, to gut or cut beneficial programs, and to violate basic democratic norms. We are allowed to—and even should— feel worry, fear, sadness, and anger. But we cannot let those feelings lead us to hopelessness and inaction.
Pick Up a Shovel
“We must pick up a shovel and get to work” (p. 36).
Picking up a shovel means using the resources we have to work toward solving the problems in front of us. Democracy requires that we the people take action. Each of us has gifts and abilities that contribute to our communities. As Skye explains: “The word ‘democracy’ originates from two words from the 5th century BCE in ancient Greece: demos (people) and kratia (power)” (p. 38). Democracy functions because people participate in the work of governing: democracy is people-powered.
In order to exercise our power as people, we must recognize that “democracy is not a spectator sport” (p. 56). The difference between spiraling and picking up a shovel is the difference between being solely an anxious spectator and using our agency to get in the game, even when we are anxious. This chapter reminds us that there are ways for all of us to get in the game. The book provides a helpful chart (p. 59) that compares and contrasts the spectator and agent mindsets. That chart is reproduced here with an accompanying activity (also in the book) to prompt reflection and discussion:
Spectator Mindset
- Doomscrolling
- Catastrophizing
- Thinking what is happening in the news won’t happen to you
- Disengaging in your community
- Refusing to vote or be civically active because you don’t feel represented
- Focusing only on national events and being overwhelmed, with no energy to focus on local community needs
- Feeling isolated
Agent Mindset
Finding ways to be informed and then translating concern into small, repeatable, actionable steps
Making a plan for how you will know
and defend your rightsExamining needs in your community
and taking actionBuilding and connecting with community to prevent feeling isolated and disengaged
Considering ways to encourage people you believe in to engage in civic life, including by running for office
Activity
First, write down your spectator mindset (worries, fears, observations).
Then, jot down how you can reframe your mindset to being an agent of change.
Choosing to pick up your shovel, even while afraid or overwhelmed, is an act of courage. Courageously using our voices, our votes, and other forms of civic participation are all tools that build and maintain our democracy.
For ideas about how to pick up your shovel, see Democracy Forward’s 100 Days of Action.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- Which of the six signs of democratic decline most concerns you and why?
- How do you recognize that you are in a spiral? How do you feel when you are in it?
- What actions have you taken or joined in the past that have pulled you out of a spiral?
- What new actions (new ways of “picking up a shovel”) do you want to take to shift further from being a spectator to being an agent of change?
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