The University of Denver held the second annual Denver Democracy Summit virtually last week on Feb. 10-11. The two-day summit, which was hosted by DU’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, featured a slew of local, national and international leaders within politics, journalism, academia, climate change, media, civil and human rights.

According to the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, the Denver Democracy Summit “is an annual event and part of a multi-year Democracy Initiative at the Korbel School that integrates public engagement, research and educational activities on issues of democratic governance. Through engagement and dialogue, we seek to examine the quality of democracy in the U.S. and abroad and inspire a new generation of civically minded and engaged citizens.”

The summit was designed to engage leaders in conversations about democracy, addressing what threatens it, identifying necessary reforms and actions that must be pursued to maintain it and how we can collectively ensure its survival and efficacy both in the U.S. and internationally.

The first day of the summit largely focused on areas of journalism, media and climate change. In journalism and media, the summit featured executives and representatives from the Filipino news site Rappler, the Financial Times, the Miami Herald, Vox, Aspen Digital and Cloudflare.

The representatives emphasized the transformational landscape and politicization of media, as well as the issues of market influence, media regulation, disinformation and the diminishment of investigative journalism.

On climate change, the summit featured several members of academia, as well as representatives from the World Resources Institute, BlocPower, Climate Cardinals, Third Act and the United Nations Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.

The conversations centered around climate change focused on the development and fostering of social climate movements, the societal impacts climate change has on democracies, and whether or not democracies could effectively and actively face the fundamental challenges posed by climate change.

In discussions highlighting global democratic resistance and resilience, the summit featured Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Leader of democratic Belarus, and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Day two was headlined by several prominent local and national political figures, as well as leaders of various political, electoral and journalistic organizations.

The session began with a conversation between Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and former Danish Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who spoke about the current state of American democracy and how we could strengthen it. Bennet believed that by rejecting President Trump for a second term, the U.S. had saved American democracy for the moment, and only temporarily ushered in U.S. credibility.

Rasmussen embraced a more optimistic approach, stating that democracy in the U.S. is healthy and that Americans are too critical of their own system. However, Rasmussen said that to maintain the health and viability of our democracy, the system must deliver results for its citizens, avoid societal and geopolitical divisions and end self-doubt about our values.

Bennet said that to protect American democracy, we must secure the vote and create an economy that works for everyone, establishing a democracy that earns credibility and effectively generates results.

The session then shifted to a discussion about global threats of authoritarianism, with Rasmussen indicating that autocrats test us, and that appeasement with dictators does not lead to peace, but only war and conflict.

Bennet spoke primarily on the role the internet and media outlets have played in authoritative states, pointing to how the internet did not liberalize autocracies, which was once a popular belief but is instead used as an exploitative tool by authoritative entities.

Following the conversation between Bennet and Rasmussen, Fritz Mayer, Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, hosted a dialogue centered on Colorado serving as a model for the country, which featured Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-02), Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, and President and CEO of Colorado Public Radio, Stewart Vanderwilt, as well as a surprise introduction made by Colorado Governor Jared Polis.

In his introduction, Polis asserted that the state of Colorado is a model for election integrity and voting access, and spoke on the greatest challenges he has faced as governor, including the pandemic and record-breaking wildfires.

Griswold reiterated Polis’ claim, stating that Colorado elections should serve as the nation’s gold standard, touting the state’s electoral reforms and her legislative agenda. When asked about potential reforms Coloradans should see, Griswold believed it was essential to protect election workers, pass legislation to address insider threats, focus on transparency within money and politics, and make substantial gains in campaign finance reform.

Representative Neguse said that he implores his colleagues to emulate Colorado, specifically promoting the work the state does within the climate space, ultimately arguing that while Colorado is “doing fine,” it is the federal government that must improve.

While applauding the civic engagement within his own district, however, he acknowledged that he would love to see the state collectively maintain and increase democratic engagement, extending through direct democracy with participation in local issues and institutions.

Vanderwilt spoke on the importance of a strong, independent press in being a component that fosters a healthy democracy, as its role is to be a check on the integrity of institutions. He continued by expressing the importance of local news ownership and believed that greater access to public records is a necessary reform for the state of Colorado to improve.

The summit concluded with a keynote event that highlighted a conversation between two congressional colleagues, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Colorado Rep. Jason Crow (CO-06).

With an emphasis on the events of Jan. 6, the conversation focused on the fragility and restoration of democracy, with the representatives discussing the need for justice in the wake of the capitol riots, how to ensure safeguards are established to prevent such an attack from occurring in the future, and how we can collectively protect democracy as a citizenry.

In discussing political party reforms, Cheney spoke on the importance of having two healthy political parties in the country, with Crow noting that the Republican Party is in the midst of a soul-search. Crow also emphasized the importance of recognizing democracy as not something that is necessarily powered by institutions, but people within a society.

“There is that old-adage that democracy is just one generation away from extinction. That’s rooted in the notion that democracy is not institutions, it’s not documents, there’s no external thing that makes up democracy that protects it and self-perpetuates it; it’s just people. It’s just people that decide to uphold it, to uphold those norms, those traditions, to uphold those institutions, to uphold the rule of law…When people decide to stop doing it, which can happen at any time, then it goes away,” he said.

In a shift in the conversation, Cheney was asked by University of Denver Chancellor Jeremy Haefner on what she would like to see at universities in regards to civil discourse, free speech and pluralism of thought.

Cheney answered, “if you look at what a university experience is supposed to be, it’s supposed to be a time when your ideas are challenged and when you’re educated and learn and develop the skills either to cast aside what you believe because you recognize it was wrong, or to learn to defend it… I think that too often today in our universities and our colleges, we do have cancel culture… Views are canceled, and that is just really unhealthy. We should not be in the business of telling people that simply because you’re conservative, there’s no space for your view… We have to fully recognize [that] we want children to learn from our history, but that should not stop us from learning about and understanding the fundamental genius of the people who risked their lives to bring this nation into being.”

When asked if she was considering a bid for the presidency in 2024, Cheney said that her primary focus was on winning reelection in her state of Wyoming in the 2022 midterms.

The theme throughout the summit was clear: Democracy is an incredibly fragile ideal that is in danger of extinction, dangers that are propagated by numerous internal and external forces. Democracy is, however, an ideal that can be saved should we be able to identify its threats, cultivate reforms and empower individuals to cherish and protect it. After all, according to Representative Crow, democracy is powered by the people.