Jen Dresden

This Giving Season, Nonprofits Should Address the Chill in the Air | Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice. This holiday season, organizations should talk about the importance of protecting civil society from the chilling effect of anti-democratic government abuses.

This Giving Season, Nonprofits Should Address the Chill in the Air nonprofitquarterly.org/this-giving-... @protectdemocracy.org

For more resources on responsible media coverage: protectdemocracy.org/work/media-g...

Upholding nonviolence is an active effort.

People with a mic have to speak up to say violent threats and actions have no place in a healthy democracy.

Responsible media should cover the full context & story - including calls for nonviolence.

(But they can't cover it if you don't say it.)

A practical path to ending the two-party system Why allowing multiple nominations is the first step to multiple parties

Americans are fed up with our political system. The first step to sweeping reform could be "fusion voting" and some states already implement it. @jrdresden.bsky.social explains how fusion parties could revive the pathway to better representation.

Fusion voting as a path to proportional representation Efforts to relegalize electoral fusion and introduce proportional representation can work together to build a better democracy.

What's more, fusion could help open additional pathways to ever larger reform to get the US out of its current predicament: protectdemocracy.org/work/fusion-...

Fusion used to be common practice in the United States. Bringing it back could help address some of the fundamental problems in our current politics. www.newamerica.org/political-re...

Fusion voting, explained Fusion voting allows more than one political party to nominate the same candidate on the ballot, empowering minor parties to unite a cross-ideological coalition behind a single candidate.

As New York City voters go to the polls today, their ballots reflect New York's use of fusion voting. What is fusion? Learn more here: protectdemocracy.org/work/fusion-...

MSNBC Live coverage: @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social interviewing a pink unicorn on live television is giving me life. #NoKings

How Could Fusion Voting Create a Path to Proportional Representation?

Fusion voting can be a pathway to proportional representation. Our own @jrdresden.bsky.social joined @msifry.bsky.social at @centerforballotfreedom.org to discuss how:

“What fusion would do is create the space and the ability for more minor parties to grow, to flourish, to build skills."

Fusion as a Pathway to Proportional Representation Lessons from Global Experience and American Electoral Heritage

NEW: How fusion voting—an American tradition allowing candidates to appear on multiple party ballot lines—can bolster efforts to reform our broken politics. It's time to revive this pathway to better representation. Summary is threaded plus full report is 🔗: protectdemocracy.org/work/fusion-...

🎧 Just dropped: the latest episode of our podcast #ThisOldDemocracy! @msifry.bsky.social talks to @jrdresden.bsky.social from @protectdemocracy.org about fusion voting and proportional representation. Give it a listen now. centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...

For starters - democratic backsliding is neither inevitable nor permanent. Lots of democracies avoid it, and many of those that don’t are able to bounce back by protecting key institutions and leaning into collective action.
www.v-dem.net/media/public...

The next week includes the International Day of Democracy (today), Constitution Day (9/17), and International Day of Peace (9/21).

It’s a good week to look for inspiration and hope, so I’ll be setting aside some time to post studies and data that remind us why the work is worth it.

⚠️ A proposed change to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligibility threatens to politicize the program, targeting those working in areas this admin dislikes, leaving room for weaponization by any future admin. All nonprofits should be worried, read below for details and how to take action: 🧵⬇️

I would like to live in a world where I do not seriously consider setting this up as a recurring auto-post every 5 days.

Incendiary rhetoric is dangerous and media needs to cover it with care and context.

protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/u...

A line chart with a blue line showing a large growth of protest events from Jan 20 - May 31, 2025, and a green line showing the relatively modest growth of protest events during the same period in 2017.

My team and I at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman@bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) have a new piece out: wagingnonviolence.org/2025/06/amer.... In it, we show that through May 2025, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests have dwarfed those in 2017. 🧵

NEW: Are you getting accurate information? With protests unfolding across the country, and more expected this weekend, we put together a guide to help you spot responsible reporting that prioritizes accuracy and context: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/are-report...

Universities can, should, and must stand up for themselves and their missions. Read more👇

The project "How to Make the Case for Democracy" has been funded by @dfg.de! 🎉
This grant supports two positions for exploring innovative strategies to bolster citizen support for democracy in established democracies. (1/6)

Opinion | How to Fix America’s Two-Party Problem Proportional representation could help restore American democracy.

Not sure what PR looks like? Revisit this great explainer for the basics:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Quick reminder - the US electoral system unfairly disadvantages new parties.

But if we had proportional representation, new parties like the PANICANs actually could form & appeal to voters who don’t like the idea of risking crashing the economy as part of some quixotic quest.

U.S. democracy is under attack. Here are some lessons for democracy’s defenders. A global study of democratic backsliding and resilience offers ways to resist authoritarian attacks.

New op-ed out @goodauth.bsky.social based on our global research w Ken Roberts, @muratsomer-eng.bsky.social @jennifermccoy.bsky.social
Timely lessons re pressure on institutions and nature of pro-democracy coalitions

goodauthority.org/news/us-demo...

Strategic Fusion and the GOP Whether it's foreign-policy hawks on the right, cultural conservatives on the left, or fiscal conservatives anywhere, the reductive binary of today's electoral options can be deeply frustrating for…

History holds lessons for today’s political disruptions. The 19th century anti-slavery movement built power by strategically fusing w/major parties. What if disaffected conservative voters could do the same today? Read @jrdresden.bsky.social & Beau Tremitiere:

Opinion | How to Fix America’s Two-Party Problem Proportional representation could help restore American democracy.

Fantastic piece on how proportional representation could improve our politics and better represent the American people. If you're not already familiar with PR and its potential benefits (more party choices, better problem solving, less gerrymandering...) start here!
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Where will they all sit? An interactive vision for an expanded, modernized House of Representatives

The House hasn’t grown since 1910, but our population has nearly tripled. Expanding the House is critical to building a more responsive government — and we’ve mapped out how it can be done with modern infrastructure. www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/where-will...

Ok here’s the State Democracy Index 2.0! Please enjoy

democracypolicylab.berkeley.edu/state-democr...

And it's not just partisanship... e.g., it seems Republican members who voted to certify didn't see nearly as substantial effects on their ability to work across the aisle.

It can be easy to forget that members of Congress actually have a job to do: legislate.

But one new study found House members who voted against certification on Jan. 6 later saw drops in multiple measures of their legislative effectiveness. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...