Challenges Posed by Bad-Faith Actors Who Who Are Trying to Profit by Undermining Collaboration and Power-with Democracy

3. Factors That Make Conflict Intractable

A key to a successful democracy is its ability to discredit, and to the extent possible block, the actions of “bad-faith actors” – people and organizations who try to subvert or destroy democratic institutions and processes to advance their own selfish goals. Although it seems very clear to most Democrats in the United States that Donald Trump is one such “bad-faith actor,” (an assertion that is hard to dispute, given his hate mongering tactics, continual lying, and repeated vows to act autocratically), there are more such actors on both sides of the political divide (although most others are less flagrantly extreme). For example, there are social and traditional media outlets that intentionally spin and falsify stories in ways that inflame tensions, in an effort to build their audiences and thus their profit. So, too, are there politicians on both the right and the left who are primarily interested in gaining power, prestige, and money, and are less (or not at all) interested in working to advance their constituents’ interests. This behavior needs to be exposed and denounced, not ignored because those doing it are “on your side.”

Resources on this Topic

To see all Guide Resources on this topic, scroll within the resource box.
Stars indicate resources that we think are especially useful.