October 02, 2025
Why is trust in democracy so low?
Iain Walker, executive director of the newDemocracy Foundation, argues that the incentives of modern elections, which reward demonization and five-second public opinion, make it difficult to solve complex problems. The fix: create spaces for public judgment where citizens have time, access to information, and a mandate to deliberate.
“The way to win elections is to manipulate public opinion … but when you have a chance to think, public judgment, it’s very different.”
Excerpt from a Global Stage livestream at UN HQ on the International Day of Democracy.
Watch more of GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft, from the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly here: gzeromedia.com/globalstage
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