The State of American Democracy: A Closer Look
NAZARETH, Pennsylvania — President Donald Trump declared upon taking office that the U.S. had entered a “new golden age,” but it doesn’t feel that way to a select group of voters from a state that helped deliver his victory.
The voters — men and women, young and old — were part of a 15-person focus group that came together on a frigid mid-January night in the battleground town of Nazareth, to dissect the state of the country’s democracy following one of the most divisive elections in American history.
Their outlook would prove to be a far cry from Trump’s triumphalism. Members of the focus group instead spelled out their anxieties about the fragile nature of the country’s increasingly polarized, anger-riddled and online experiment in self-governance.
“There’s too much hate in politics right now, and it just makes you scared to vote honestly,” said Joe, a college student in his early 20s who was one of the younger participants in the group. “You’re just like, ‘What side do I pick?’”
The Impact of Political Polarization
The broad dissatisfaction with American politics inside the focus group was a reminder that some of the voters who helped tip the last election in Trump’s favor didn’t feel fully represented by either candidate. And coming from a place like Nazareth, it offered a small but important warning sign for both the new president and the Democratic Party as they plot the next four years.
Nazareth — which lies roughly 300 miles from where the first attempt on Trump’s life was made in July — is a bellwether town inside a bellwether county. Residents here voted for Trump by roughly 1.7 percentage points this fall — almost the same margin the new president claimed in the state and the country as a whole.
Social Media's Role in Shaping Opinions
At the heart of concerns about political violence was a common punching bag: social media. Several participants argued that engagement-obsessed social media platforms were guiding Americans toward polarizing and potentially misleading information, often creating political echo chambers online. That, in turn, was driving wedges between family members — something three separate participants alluded to.
“I’m very glad I grew up when I did,” Rita, a retiree and grandmother who remained bundled in her winter coat throughout the night, quipped. “I think the country, the democracy is very, very precarious … and I think a lot of it is due to social media.”
Building Trust in the Voting System
Despite expressing widespread concerns about the future of American democracy, focus group participants voiced confidence in the U.S. voting system itself. Four years after Trump’s insistence that the 2020 election was stolen from him, no one in the room suggested the results of the most recent vote were marred by fraud or hacks. And, all but one batted down the idea that illegal voting from non-citizens — an idea stoked by Republicans in the build-up to November — could have swayed the outcome.
Many in the room nonetheless felt like both parties weren’t delivering for voters — the Democrats in particular.
The Quest for Civility in Politics
The exhaustion at being at the center of a bitter tug-of-war between the two rival parties dovetailed into a broader theme of the night: an overwhelming desire to return to a bygone era where civility wasn’t out of fashion in American politics.
The focus group started out stilted, but the ice was broken within the first 15 minutes when one participant mentioned their relief at watching the vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz.
It was the type of raw but civil exchange of ideas that the focus group participants had just partaken in — and what they were craving from their ads, their media and above all their politicians.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of JD Vance,” Janel, a vocal Harris supporter, announced at the mention of the debate. “But it was nice that they were actually speaking respectfully.”
Mike, the engineer, later closed out the focus group with a cautiously optimistic take.
“I almost feel like things can only get bad so long,” he said, sharing that he had recently read a book on the cyclical nature of violence across history. “I almost feel like we’re at the bottom.”