Threats To Our Democracy? A Branding Perspective

It seems ironic that in our polarized society today, there is a clear consensus agreeing on the importance of maintaining our democratic system, yet the approaches are very different.  Our government leaders promise to uphold the constitution, but new issues have emerged that have created concerns on all sides on whether the tactics offered represent a threat or a boost to democracy.

Democracy is about freedom of choice for all citizens, defined and protected by the constitution.  Lincoln famously said “Democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people”.  Democracy can also be considered a brand, where our leaders make special promises to a specific target audience. But do these promises enhance or weaken our democracy?  Evaluating the key elements of its brand positioning can shed light on whether these promises are a threat or a boost.

Target Audience

While political leaders will insist that their primary “customer” is their constituents, their efforts to satisfy them have been disappointing – only 24% trust the federal government now (Pew: April 2021).  A key challenge is the wide diversity of voter values, ideology, desires and expectations.  For example:

• The Passionate – this includes a range, from Trump supporters in rural areas to progressive voters in urban centers. While never admitting it, most politicians care more about retaining their power base for their next election so their sense of what is right or wrong is often blurred by this intense obsession.
• Other Target Segments –Big business has a major influence on the political positions of our leaders, a reality that cannot be ignored, and sadly big donors are increasingly shaping the policies of our leaders now that Citizens United has opened the floodgates for campaign finance.

The Promised Benefits

Theoretically a leader should take a position that responds to the wishes of his/her constituents, but it should also reflect their knowledge of what is best for his/her audience in the long run, even if there are fundamental ideological differences.  Unfortunately, as Jeff Flake, former senator from Arizona describes this conundrum: “it’s a vicious loop, because these elected officials will say ‘I’m just responding to my constituents,’ but their constituents are responding to them”.   Here are some top issues that demonstrate this polarization, with contrasting views about democracy:

• The January 6 Insurrection – These Trump supporters call themselves “patriots” dedicated to protecting the constitution and correcting a fraudulent vote, or “stop the steal”. However, most Americans (72%) view this as a riot, an attack on our democracy, although 47% of Republicans said it was a legitimate protest.
• Covid-19 Restrictions – The conflict is between those independent minded who feel strongly about their constitutional rights as individuals (“don’t tell me to wear a mask or get vaccinated”) and those who recognize that it is not a personal problem but a social problem that can be solved only with collective action. Extensive disinformation has fueled this anti-vaccine sentiment too.  A typical excuse by sceptics recently came from Chip Roy, Republican from Texas, saying “I don’t think it’s anybody’s damn business whether I’m vaccinated or not”.  But science has confirmed that the unchecked spread of infection has consequences for the entire society, and therefore mandates are often necessary.
• The Environment – Notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence of climate change (including the recent UN report findings), there are still many voters and their leaders who are reluctant to invest to limit carbon emissions.
• New Election Laws – Probably the most controversial are the voting right amendments in many states. Democrats call this “voter suppression” laws and Republicans call them “election integrity” measures, consistent with the spirit of upholding democracy and the constitution, Conservatives are promoting these to minimize future election fraud, even though this was not a problem in the 2020 vote.  More worrisome are those changes that permit state leaders to overturn election results at any time.

Credibility – All segments involved believe they are on the ride side of defending our democracy.  From a branding perspective, the big question lies with those “reasons why” their promises are in fact legitimate, supportable and/or believable.  The main obstacle for credibility is the extensive misinformation many leaders and voters rely on for supporting their passionate views.  Strong emotions, social media and the obsession of leaders to maintain their power base at any cost aggravate this challenging situation.  The hope is that in time the audience that counts (i.e. all voters) will recognize the truth over conspiracy theories, and force those leaders who are fixated with power and ignore real facts out of office.