Todd Gitlin, 1943-2022; Wikimedia Commons
Scholar and nonviolent democracy activist, Todd Gitlin passed away a few days ago. Gitlin is perhaps most well known for his activism in the 1960s, in his role as President of Students for a Democratic Society, and his leadership in organizing the first national demonstration against the War in Vietnam, and, later, the first protests in the United States against South Africa’s racist apartheid regime. Just ten weeks ago, Gitlin organized a bipartisan group of scholars, writers and activists to issue an Open Letter calling for Americans “in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.” Co-signers include David Cole, ACLU National Legal Director and member of the USF Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice Leadership Council.
In memory of Todd Gitlin, and praise for his lifelong work, I reprint the letter below and highlight its urgent message.
An Open Letter in Defense of Democracy
The future of democracy in the United States is in danger.
We are writers, academics, and political activists who have long disagreed about many things.Some of us are Democrats and others Republicans. Some identify with the left, some with the right, and some with neither. We have disagreed in the past, and we hope to be able to disagree, productively, for years to come. Because we believe in the pluralism that is at the heart of democracy.
But right now we agree on a fundamental point: We need to join together to defend liberal democracy.
Because liberal democracy itself is in serious danger. Liberal democracy depends on free and fair elections, respect for the rights of others, the rule of law, a commitment to truth and tolerance in our public discourse. All of these are now in serious danger.
The primary source of this danger is one of our two major national parties, the Republican Party, which remains under the sway of Donald Trump and Trumpist authoritarianism. Unimpeded by Trump’s defeat in 2020, and unfazed by the January 6 insurrection, Trump and his supporters actively work to exploit anxieties and prejudices, to promote reckless hostility to the truth and to Americans who disagree with them, and to discredit the very practice of free and fair elections in which winners and losers respect the peaceful transfer of power.
So we, who have differed on so much in the past—and who continue to differ on much today—have come together to say:
We vigorously oppose ongoing Republican efforts to change state election laws to limit voter participation.
We vigorously oppose ongoing Republican efforts to empower state legislatures to override duly appointed election officials and interfere with the proper certification of election results, thereby substituting their own political preferences for those expressed by citizens at the polls.
We vigorously oppose the relentless and unending promotion of unprofessional and phony “election audits” that waste public money, jeopardize public electoral data and voting machines, and generate paranoia about the legitimacy of elections.
We urge the Democratic-controlled Congress to pass effective, national legislation to protect the vote and our elections, and if necessary to override the Senate filibuster rule.
And we urge all responsible citizens who care about democracy—public officials, journalists, educators, activists, ordinary citizens—to make the defense of democracy an urgent priority now.
Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.
Todd Gitlin
Professor of journalism, sociology and communications, Columbia UniversityJeffrey C. Isaac
James H. Rudy professor of political science, Indiana University, BloomingtonWilliam Kristol
Editor at large, The Bulwark, Director, Defending Democracy Together
Cosigners
Sheri Berman
Professor of political science, Barnard CollegeMax Boot
Senior fellow, Council on Foreign RelationsJames Carroll
WriterLeo Casey
Assistant to the president, American Federation of TeachersMona Charen
Policy editor, The BulwarkNoam Chomsky
Institute professor and professor of linguistics emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyJelani Cobb
Professor of journalism, Columbia UniversityEliot A. Cohen
Robert E. Osgood professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International StudiesDavid Cole
National legal director, American Civil Liberties UnionLaura K. Field
Senior fellow, Niskanen CenterCarolyn Forché
University professor, Georgetown UniversityFrancis Fukuyama
Olivier Nomellini senior fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford UniversityWilliam A. Galston
Senior fellow, the Brookings InstitutionJeffrey C. Goldfarb
Michael E. Gellert professor emeritus, New School for Social ResearchHahrie Hahn
Stavros Niarchos Foundation professor of political science, Johns Hopkins UniversityDirector, SNF Agora InstituteRoya Hakakian
WriterJohn Judis
WriterIra Katznelson
Ruggles professor of political science and history, Columbia UniversityMichael Kazin
Professor of history, Georgetown UniversityRandall Kennedy
Michael R. Klein professor of law, Harvard UniversitySteven R. Levitsky
Professor of government, Harvard UniversityRobert Jay Lifton, M.D.
Psychiatrist and authorSusie Linfield
Professor of journalism, New York UniversityDamon Linker
Senior correspondent, The WeekDahlia Lithwick
Senior editor, SlateJane Mansbridge
Charles F. Adams professor, emerita, Harvard Kennedy SchoolWin McCormack
Editor in chief, The New RepublicJohn McWhorter
Professor of linguistics, Columbia UniversityDeborah Meier
EducatorJames Miller
Professor of politics and liberal studies, New School for Social ResearchSusan Neiman
Director, Einstein Forum, BerlinNell Irvin Painter
Edwards professor of American history emerita, Princeton UniversityRick Perlstein
WriterKatha Pollitt
WriterClaire Potter
Professor of history, New School for Social ResearchJedediah Purdy
William S Beinecke professor of law, Columbia UniversityJonathan Rauch
Senior fellow, the Brookings InstitutionAdolph Reed
Emeritus professor of political science, University of PennsylvaniaKim Lane Scheppele
Laurance S. Rockefeller professor of sociology and international affairs, Princeton UniversityCharles Sykes
Founder and editor at large, The BulwarkGeorge Thomas
Burnet C. Wohlford professor of American political institutions, Claremont McKenna CollegeMichael Tomasky
Editor, The New RepublicEditor, Democracy: A Journal of IdeasJeffrey K. Tulis
Professor of government and law, University of TexasJoan Walsh
Writer, The NationMichael Walzer
Professor emeritus of social science, Institute for Advanced StudyDorian T. Warren
President, Community ChangeSean Wilentz
George Henry Davis 1886 professor of American history, Princeton UniversityBenjamin Wittes
Senior fellow, the Brookings Institution
