Introducing the Democracy Project, the BDN’s look at Maine’s civic health

Democracy Project
During this election year, the BDN’s politics team is focusing on how political polarization, cynicism and apathy is changing civic life in Maine. Read our full explanation of the series, see all the stories and give us ideas by filling out this form.

A tiny Maine water district that serves fewer than 100 people was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Then resignations on its board paralyzed it, which delayed fixes to critical problems for months.

Things are starting to turn around there. But stories like this continue to pop up across Maine and the country. We want to tell them at a more granular level during this election season, which carries high stakes for the country’s policy future from the White House to our smallest towns.

Americans are not happy. In a grim finding, 47 percent of people in a national Marist College poll released in May predicted a civil war during their lifetimes. More than three-quarters of Mainers are worried about political violence, leaders using illegal methods to take power or interference in upcoming elections, according to a recent University of New Hampshire poll .

All of these things are connected in what one Gallup researcher called a national “crisis in confidence.” Only small shares of Americans are confident in institutions, the direction of the country and the economy. Political identity is now likelier to shape views on moral subjects than other traits that long gave our society its structure.

This rise in polarization, cynicism and apathy is playing out in specific, consequential and sometimes alarming ways that endanger democratic institutions. It is the big-picture story of our generation. It is also the story of this election, coming into sharper focus after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally earlier this month.

Through Election Day, the Bangor Daily News will be running the Democracy Project, an occasional series that will lay these problems bare down to the local level.

In our first story, we revisit examples of charged rhetoric that made Maine political headlines in the last decade after the Trump assassination attempt led many to examine our progressively hostile politics.

Future stories will examine issues that are traditionally political and those that are not. We will also explore the sharp changes in the last 25 years that have reshaped Maine’s political system. In doing so, we plan to highlight how people, communities and institutions are responding to the confidence crisis.

While many of these stories are mapped out, we are not finished. In fact, we have only begun reporting. If you have ideas or tips on subjects we should address, fill in the form below.