If Alexis de Tocqueville visited America today, what would he have to say about the condition of American democracy?

We hear a lot in the news and on Twitter about how support for democracy is waning. We’re perhaps even a little guilty of it on this show. But, what do everyday Americans think? Some of the biggest names in politics from across the ideological spectrum teamed up to find out.

The Democracy Project, an initiative of the George W. Bush Center, Penn Biden Center, and Freedom House, found that people support the ideal of democracy, but worry that the United States is not living up to that ideal in practice due to factors like economic inequality and the decline of civics education.

Lindsay Lloyd, director Bush Center’s Human Freedom Initiative and part of The Democracy Project, joins the Democracy Works podcast this week to discuss the report and what its findings mean for citizens across the United States.

Democracy Works is produced by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State and WPSU Penn State. New episodes are released every week. Subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast app.