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This program is the first in a series sponsored by the Civic Engagement & Leadership Development program at the Murphy Institute titled:

"... IF YOU CAN KEEP IT!":  The Fight for Democracy in America

Civic Engagement & Leadership Development at the Murphy Institute

Fridays in March 2025.  Featuring SLU Faculty Moderators:

Series Description:

Democracy as direct decision making by the people through voting has a tortured history in the United States. The Founders didn’t love it. On September 17, 1787, when  Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Benjamin Franklin : "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?," he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it."  A republic — or representative democracy — ensured that persons with character, means, and judgment would represent voters and make decisions on their behalf (originally only property owning, white, men were eligible for elected office). The system of checks and balances forced compromises between competing views by ensuring multiple power centers which prevented rapid, sweeping and decisive changes fueled by the passion of the masses. And the constitution protected the rights and freedoms of those who didn’t agree with majority sentiments.

It has taken centuries of diligent advocacy and fighting to build governmental systems to serve all Americans, not just a privileged few and to ensure freedom of political perspectives. But in January 20, 2025, we face a federal government where the judiciary, the legislature, and the executive branches share the same party and a newly invigorated worldview to return America to its past. They have few obstacles to unilateral decisions and can revoke decades of changes and centuries of rules and norms. Some argue that this moment is as significant as the end of Reconstruction in the 1890s, an era defined by the decisive reversal of freedoms won during the Civil War. Others point out that one-party trifectas have dominated state-level politics for some time and that a decisive electoral re-alignment is unfolding nationally. 

The labor movement remains the largest organization of working class people in the country, despite counting only 6% of the private sector workforce (the lowest since 1900s) as members.  While America will always be a multiracial society, less clear is whether that rainbow will be democratic or a neo-autocratic and fascistic future endorsed by elections. Anti-incumbency and elected authoritarians are on the rise worldwide.  

• Is the republic at risk or can we keep it? Will the unprecedented experiment that is the US continue apace or will it take a decisive turn?
• How did we get here and what is to be done?
• What is the labor movement’s role at this historical juncture?

For this season, we are inviting guest moderators to guide panels reflecting on this historic turn. Together, we will assemble a range of leaders from labor and progressive organizations to share how they are grappling with the challenges of building a progressive working-class politics at this moment and explore new strategies and new directions.  

Stay tuned for announcements in early 2025 for more information!