Penn Today

The state of U.S. democracy

On the eve of a presidential inauguration following a historic election and its aftermath, experts from across the University weigh in on where we stand as a country.

Ezekiel Dixon-Román, associate professor, School of Social Policy & Practice: “The current moment is a significant challenge to what has been characterized as the experiment of the American democratic project. The insurrection on Jan. 6 tore open the seam that has been woven together of American democracy in dangerous ways for the global community to see. Within a matter of hours, a mass of people made their way into the Capitol, literally revealing a weakness at the center of U.S. democracy: white supremacy.”

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