Democracy

American democracy rests on a legal and institutional framework that determines who can vote, how votes are cast and counted, who draws district lines, how campaigns are financed, and how elected officials are held accountable. Congressional legislation in this space has dramatic consequences: the Voting Rights Act of 1965 dismantled systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters in the South and transformed American politics; its partial gutting by the Supreme Court in 2013 has enabled new rounds of restrictive legislation in some states. Campaign finance is shaped by Citizens United v. FEC (2010), which struck down limits on corporate and union spending in elections, unleashing an era of billion-dollar elections dominated by undisclosed dark money. The U.S. uses a first-past-the-post electoral system unlike most democracies, and is one of the few wealthy nations without automatic voter registration. Voter turnout in the U.S. trails most peer nations — though the 2020 election saw record participation. Election administration — conducted largely at the county level with outdated equipment in many jurisdictions — is a persistent vulnerability. Recent debates over election integrity, mail-in voting, voter ID requirements, and independent redistricting commissions reflect deep disagreements about how to balance security and access.