Chapter 1
What is the Problem?
And the lies were only the start
Reckless without a clue
Talk’s cheap, when it’s not true
All the experts do is nod
Is this what we will be known for?
What even matters anymore?
You know that this is
[shout] BRAIN-DEAD NATION!
Acting like it’s nothing at all
[shout] BRAIN-DEAD NATION!
Waiting for democracy’s fall
- Firago, Brain-Dead Nation (2020)[1]
The above song lyrics from Firago, a Chicago-based rock band, capture the sentiments of many U.S. citizens. These rockers quite pithily offer how lies, recklessness with the truth, and experts “nodding” (remaining silent) can result in democracy’s downfall. Lies, misinformation, and disinformation pollute recent U.S. political discourse. Political, corporate, and community leaders, plus citizens who do not speak up about unjust, illegal, or immoral government decisions or actions make matters worse. Political leaders, and the citizens who support them, have largely become entrenched in their own political tribes, degrading interparty communications, cooperation, and compromise, while tossing metaphorical hand grenades at the opposing side. The U.S. legacy of governing through constructive interparty political negotiations on major societal issues has all but become a thing of the past. Instead, U.S. politics have become coarser and nastier.
U.S. government institutions, which make up the structure of our democracy, are under siege by one side of the political spectrum or the other.[2] Citizens have seen their political rights and civil liberties decline in recent years. If democracy is truly “rule by the people,” it is the “people” who can act to reverse its decline and strengthen it for future generations.
One measure of the levels of democracy in the world is published annually by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Freedom House who rates individual countries and territories’ political rights and civil liberties.[3] The Freedom House index ratings are presented on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best). This rating index allows Freedom House to characterize countries and territories as free, partly free, and not free. Most scholars agree that the Freedom House index ratings are a useful measure for a country or territory’s level of democracy. Figure 1.1 displays the Freedom House combined political rights and civil liberties index ratings for the United States from 2007 to 2024.
Figure 1.1 provides empirical evidence to the decline in U.S. democracy. The U.S. ratings of 95 and 96 in 2008 and 2009, respectively, are the highest scores the United States received since the Freedom House rating scale was first published in 1973. This placed the United States in company with the strongest world democracies (scores 95-100).[4] These high ratings were in the last years of the early-2000s conservative U.S. presidential administration (2000-2008). These ratings fell slightly during the following liberal administration (2009-2016). During 2010-2014 the U.S. ratings stabilized at 93, similar to the ratings for the United States in the decades prior to 2008. In the last two years of the liberal administration (2015-2016) the U.S. ratings saw a sharp decline. This decline is likely explained by the tensions between a liberal president and the conservative control of Congress after 2014. The following four year (2017-2020) conservative administration saw a continued decline in U.S. democracy—bottoming out at the end of this administration with a rating of 83. During this period there were multiple conservative-led challenges to U.S. political institutions. The U.S. ratings remained at 83 for the first three years of the following liberal administration (2021-2024), rising one point to 84 in the last year of this administration. The ratings remained low in 2021-2024 due to a combination of the post-Covid 19 pandemic recovery and the fact the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court and conservative-led state governments continued to restrict political rights and civil liberties—including citizen voting rights and female reproductive rights. The latest conservative administration (2025-2028) is expected to generate even lower U.S. democracy ratings because of conservative-led challenges to all levels of U.S. political institutions (legislative, executive, and justice systems). It would not be surprising if the U.S. ratings for 2025 and later fall well below 80. If the U.S. rating should drop below 70, it would change categories from free to partly free.[5]
The solutions to reverse declining U.S. democracy as shown in Figure 1.1 are highly complex and often controversial. This book advances one key idea to strengthen “rule by the people:” a strong democracy must be supported by an informed and engaged citizenry! Being “informed” means citizens (the people) must access and digest information, recognize factual truth, disregard mistruths, and employ good logic and reasoning in their civic decision-making. This is currently not the case. In many civic issues citizens are not informed, including being intentionally misinformed at times. Citizens are also not always equipped (taught) to make optimal decisions. With the continuing stream of misinformation in today’s society, citizens are often affected by confirmation bias leading them to believe only information they agree with and that supports their preexisting worldviews (more on confirmation bias and other cognitive biases in Chapter 4). This book offers citizens a solution to being misinformed and lacking analytic skills—increased teaching and learning of critical thinking and civic education.
Critical thinking—the ability to use truthful facts, good logic, and good reasoning to construct a valid argument or make a good decision—is a skill required by all citizens. However, this is a set of skills largely missing in most U.S. citizens. While some individual critical-thinking skills may be included in U.S. education programs, U.S. citizens are seldom taught the comprehensive approach to critical thinking demanded in today’s decision environment as detailed at the end of Chapter 2. Critical thinking is normally not taught in elementary schools or secondary schools (middle and high schools). It is hardly taught, except in a few specific curriculums, in post-secondary college and university programs, neither at the undergraduate nor graduate levels. Thus, without comprehensive critical thinking skills U.S. citizens are ill-prepared to participate in not only civic life, but also in their own personal and professional decision-making.
To be “engaged” means citizens should participate in civic activities, the foundation of civic life. The most important behavior in civic life is voting—and far too many citizens do not vote in local, state, and national elections. Other important civic activities include running for public office, engaging in political organizing, joining in political volunteer work (canvassing for candidates, etc.), protesting (for or against) government policies or officials, working in voting polls, and participating in a myriad of other activities directed at the civic good.[6] These activities are often labeled civic engagement. The first step in fostering civically engaged citizens starts with obtaining a good understanding of the institutions, structures, and workings of government. In other words, citizens need a good grounding in civic education—the study of the rights and duties of citizenship (see Chapters 5 and 6).
Civic education, both in school and in post-school learning, is key to preparing citizens for a good civic life. Apparently, the interest in offering civic education courses in U.S. secondary schools, and in requiring pre-graduation civics and U.S. history proficiency examinations, is declining across the country.[7] A 2018 survey found two-thirds of existing U.S. citizens could not pass the United States Citizenship Test, the test administered to those seeking U.S. citizenship through the naturalization process.[8] The Citizenship Test assesses whether a person has a basic knowledge of the institutions and structures of the federal government and an elementary understanding of U.S. history. This 2018 survey found those 65 years-of-age or older passed the Citizenship Test at a higher rate (79 percent passed), than those 45 years-of-age or younger (19 percent passed).[9] This is a sorry testament to recent U.S. civic education effectiveness and to the future ability of younger generations to participate in civic life.
U.S. citizens should be asking: “How do we elect governing officials with character and integrity?” “How do we ensure governing leaders use truthful facts, combined with good logic and reasoning, to drive their policies and decisions?” “How do we ensure governmental leaders act in the best interests of the communities they serve?” “What role do individual citizens play in influencing good government?” To answer these and other important questions requires fostering a more informed and engaged citizenry. Employing critical thinking and becoming more civically informed should strengthen U.S. democracy and improve U.S. civic life. The alternative is to watch further decline in U.S. democracy and remain as Firago highlights at the start of this chapter—a Brain-Dead Nation!
Notes:
Firago. “Brain Dead Nation” (official video). Posted on You Tube, June 12, 2020. Firago is a dance-rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. ↑
The term institution refers to patterns of rules (constitutions, laws, regulations, and rules, both formal and informal), and not just the people and infrastructure (buildings, equipment, etc.) that make up an entity. Structure is a pattern of rules, institutions, and their intended or unintended consequences (outcomes).↑
Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025 Report, https://freedomhouse.org/country/scores (accessed May 2025).↑
In Chapters 5 and 6 strong democracies are defined as polyarchies. I define strong democracies as being those with Freedom House ratings of 95 or higher. In 2024 (2025 Freedom in the World report), using this rating scale there were only 22 strong democracies out of 208 world countries and territories rated.↑
Freedom House.↑
Michael Delli Carpini, “Definition of Civic Engagement,” The Pew Charitable Trusts, reprinted in https://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement (accessed November 27, 2020).↑
Center for American Progress, “The State of Civics Education,” February 21, 2018, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/state-civics-education/ (accessed December 14, 2022).↑
Alexa Lardieri, “2 of 3 Americans Wouldn’t Pass U.S. Citizenship Test,” U.S. News and World Report, October 12, 2018, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2018-10-12/2-of-3-americans-wouldnt-pass-us-citizenship-test (accessed September 16, 2022). ↑
Ibid.↑