How do we defeat authoritarianism? By building a sense of belonging
It’s always interesting to me that when people feel like throwing up their hands and saying, no one is doing anything, I see lots of people doing something. The best articles, I find, are the ones where a problem is posited and then examples of solutions are cited. In the phrase, “We the people”, lies an answer to what ails us. Here are excerpts from a piece by Julie Fernandes and Katrina Gamble on reengaging the public.
~Sarah Walz
Our country is at a crossroads between democracy and authoritarianism. And the only antidote is an organized, engaged citizenry. But at this critical moment when we need people to lean into the fight for our future, we find that far too many people have given up.
In a comprehensive, multiracial study, Sojourn Strategies, Ariel Research Partners and Richard Shafranek found that 35% of the US electorate – 85 million people – are disaffected, characterized by high levels of disillusionment and low levels of trust in government and politics. Our democratic revival depends on solutions that transform people from disaffected bystanders into powerful civic agents.
The desire for community is where we find hope. Almost six in 10 of the disaffected (58%) would like to feel more connected to other people. These feelings provide organizers with an opening to invite new people into community where they can build a sense of belonging and develop collective agency. The research also shows that the disaffected electorate is reachable: they are more likely to act when they feel like they belong and can see the tangible impact of their actions.
So, what is going on? A common thread within this group of disaffected people is that they are extremely isolated with no or few friends or organizational affiliations. Almost half (49%) do not belong to an online community, church, mosque or synagogue or other religious groups, a community or political group, a labor union or other community spaces. But collective spaces that we call “civic homes” are where people develop a sense of belonging and agency that is critical to their belief in the power of voting to drive change. Thus, investment in the organizing groups that operate as civic homes is a critical solution to our current democratic crisis.
Shared culture creates a feeling of belonging. Familiar food, language, music and even games are what make people feel at home. For example, a non-profit called Power Interfaith is running an innovative Soul Food Dinners program in Pennsylvania, similar to Georgia Alliance’s We the People initiative, which hosted intergenerational conversations among younger and older Black people as a strategy for rebuilding a sense of agency and belonging across differences.
In the state next door, game facilitators with North Carolina Asian Americans Together are hosting mahjong nights with communal hotpot meals for people in their late teens and 20s. The young people who come feel disconnected from traditional politics, but care very much about the cost of living, immigration, healthcare and making life better for their communities.
Building trust and belonging that allows people to be transformed into civic agents is deep relational work. And it takes time. But the payoff is powerful. Transactional civic engagement aimed at a discrete outcome is a quick hit, like a sugar rush: it might feel great in the moment, but the long-term effect is weak and empty. Working to support people to become powerful civic actors through belonging and collective agency results in strong, durable architects of a hopeful future.
What’s giving us hope now
The stories of everyday people across the US standing up, getting organized and driving change to make life better for themselves, their families and their communities is a tremendous source of hope. Take Elnora Gavin in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Working with a local civic organization, We the People Michigan, she organized a base of supporters and won $114m in school debt relief for majority-Black school districts in her state.
And she is not alone. More and more people in communities are using organizing strategies to build powerful civic homes that can be containers for people-driven collective action. In these turbulent times, people are choosing to lean into people-centered organizations and movements where they can find belonging, develop collective agency and make a better future possible.
- Julie Fernandes is managing director of the Democracy & Power Innovation Fund, a community of organizers, researchers and funders who are working together to strengthen state-based community organizing, and associate director of the Rockefeller Family Fund
- Katrina Gamble, PhD, is founder and CEO of Sojourn Strategies, a Black woman-owned social impact consulting firm that brings a people-centered approach to advocacy campaigns, research and philanthropic advising
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/26/how-to-defeat-authoritarianism-building-community
‘They want to see progress on issues they care about. They just don’t see the connection between voting and making their lives better.’ Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP