How Can We Save Democracy? Start With Neighbouring

Freedom and democracy have declined worldwide for 20 consecutive years, with declines measured across press, surveillance, and religious liberties. Examples include detentions tied to protests in Turkey, blurred boundaries between protest and security threats in the United Kingdom, and increased internet censorship, surveillance, and information manipulation across regions. Rising loneliness and distrust are presented as key drivers of democratic erosion, described as estrangement from common life, loss of trust, and weakened shared facts and community connection. In these conditions, people become easier to isolate and manipulate. A proposed remedy is building community, including everyday neighboring that strengthens civic life and helps recovery after local trauma.

"Freedom House reports that freedom around the world fell for the 20th consecutive year in 2025-looking at measures ranging from press to surveillance to religious liberties. In Turkey, the recent detention of Istanbul's mayor provoked mass protests and hundreds of detentions. In the United Kingdom, an April report from an official government watchdog found that counterterrorism laws have sometimes blurred the lines between protests and security threats. From Asia to Africa to the Americas, Freedom House has found that the internet is now more controlled and manipulated than ever, with censorship, surveillance, and information manipulation increasingly common."

"“Loneliness,” she argued. Democratic norms decline when people experience a kind of “loneliness” that might be described as estrangement from common life: the loss of trust, a shared fact base, and meaningful connection to community and to public life. In such conditions, people become easier to isolate, manipulate, and rule. Today, in an age of social media silos, distrust of institutions, and widening inequality, her warning feels prescient."

"Yet her analysis also points to a simple solution: Focus on building community. Consider a recent example. During the massive federal immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis this year, residents faced a crackdown that left the city trauma"

Read at Psychology Today