Why Democracy Needs a Narrative Revamp | The Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook

Guest post: Eric Friedenwald-Fishman, Coordinator, Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook

Authoritarians are winning the narrative game, and pro-democracy advocates need to catch up.

Over the last decade, we have witnessed and experienced firsthand the blatant flouting of the democratic norms and principles that have been the bedrock of American democracy for the last 250 years. Just in the last few months, there have been violent attacks on peaceful protesters, those exercising their freedom of speech have been framed as “insurrectionists” and “agitators,” and longstanding norms of checks and balances on power are being tested daily.

Unfortunately, none of this is a novel or unique issue to the U.S. A body of research by the Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook, of which Stories Change Power is now a partner, demonstrates that anti-democratic governments and their allies are dominating the information ecosystem, perpetuating orchestrated narratives that justify autocratic actions, and delegitimizing democratic principles and institutions.

EXPLORE THE PLAYBOOK

Now is the time to advance a powerful pro-democracy narrative both to counter authoritarian narratives and to create a shared vision of democracy people can be for.

Over the course of two years, we scanned and analyzed the most dominant and salient pro-democracy and anti-democracy narratives in 12 countries on five continents, including the U.S. What we found was that not only are anti-democratic narratives more dominant, but they are also more believable, as they often trigger core values and are told through compelling stories.

On the other hand, the research found very few dominant pro-democracy narratives. The ones that were found are often framed with technical jargon, take understanding of democracy for granted, and in some cases, use deficit frames that bolster authoritarian narratives.

BUT WHY NARRATIVE? 

As Stories Change Power has written about previously, narratives shape our sense of what’s normal, what’s possible, and what’s right. When anti-democratic actors hammer home narratives like “democratic institutions are corrupt" to delegitimize fair election results, or use  “security justifies all” as a way to justify stripping people of their right to due process, that is when democratic backsliding happens and people begin to believe in a false tradeoffs like that of freedom and safety.

Luckily, we have the power to tell different stories and create new narratives.

Through our research, the Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook crafted, tested, and refined a new narrative that promotes democracy: “Freedom Matters.” The “Freedom Matters” narrative is grounded in the core values that research identified as being most closely associated with—and most authentic to—democracy, including freedom, fairness, and fearlessness.

“This country was built on the right to have our voices heard, to make our own decisions, to be treated fairly by the justice system, and to vote in free and fair elections. These freedoms are at the heart of our democracy and our security. But they require checks and balances on power and government that is open, honest, and responsive to the people. Our country hasn’t fully lived up to these freedoms, but a strong democracy isn’t afraid to admit that and do the hard work of being better tomorrow than it is today.”

Testing through focus groups, key informant interviews, and a national survey found high levels of agreement, relevance and willingness to share the narrative across a broad spectrum of the U.S. population. It also found that the middle (respondents who lean toward authoritarianism or who lean toward democracy) moved to increased willingness to support democracy post exposure to the narrative. 

PUTTING THE NARRATIVE INTO ACTION

The aim of the Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook is to help a broad coalition of organizations, associations, leaders, and communities advance an effective narrative to increase support of democracy. All the resources on the Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook—message guides, research reports, narrative application worksheets, communications tips, and more—are completely free and open source. We encourage you to apply the narrative to your own work, share it with your networks, and join us in creating a new narrative that bolsters democracy here and around the world. 

To learn more about advancing a pro-democracy narrative, sign up to receive updates from the Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook, here. You can also listen to an in-depth interview about the research and application of narrative on the Global Democracy Coalitions Thank You Democracy Podcast.