Jacob Ogles
A new think tank based in Lakewood Ranch aims to save democracy with the power of civic discourse.
The Saving Democracy Institute, headed by political scientist Jeffrey Orenstein, just launched as a national effort to bring academic discussions of democratic institutions into the marketplace of ideas. The nonpartisan effort aims to raise awareness of the nation’s foundational values and whether U.S. leaders are currently living up to them.
“Most people have no clue what democracy is,” Orenstein, the Institute’s managing director, said. “We want to discuss what it is and isn’t. It’s under crisis because there are people who are not pursuing it in the national government and in state and local government.”
Orenstein said he wants conversations to happen outside of private conferences and university campuses. A longtime media executive in Southwest Florida, he said, creating a space online that can help turn the broader public onto the conversation.
The effort will primarily be online, with a strong focus on engaging with social media channels. Orenstein has spoken regularly at Democratic events, but stressed the goal is for the Institute to present a wide array of partisan voices.
“We have Republicans and Democrats on our board,” he said. “We’re trying not to electioneer but to reach the American public. Only 40% of the country feels committed to one party or another. The rest are nonaffiliated or apathetic, and our goal is to reach that middle.”
The Institute released a launch video explicitly reaching out to those who feel their voice can easily be “lost in the political noise.”
“At the Saving Democracy Institute, we get it,” a narrator explains. “We’re a brand-new think tank, but we’re not like the others. We’re built for you, the American voter.”
Orenstein said the Institute will receive online submissions from a variety of perspectives and on numerous issues. The organization will vet the content and publish the best of it.
While he wants an array of opinions represented, Orenstein made no secret of the fact that he sees anti-democratic efforts underway in government and politics right now.
“Frankly, we have had a disregard for the rule of law, challenges to electoral integrity, blatant gerrymandering, and suppression of free speech and academic freedom,” he said. “Colleagues in academic institutions are walking on eggs.”
It’s no surprise the think tank surfaces in a part of Florida served by New College of Florida, a public university that was the subject of a conservative takeover by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees and allies in recent years. The group also launches as President Donald Trump continues to allege the 2020 Presidential Election was “stolen” from him while he toys with banning mail-in voting in the 2026 Midterms.
And Florida lawmakers are moving ahead with a mid-decade redistricting pursued by both the Governor and President.
The Institute already has white papers available on topics from civic literacy to the power of a political economy. Orenstein would like to see the content grow.
“We’ve asked scholars and qualified civic observers to provide readable essays and other media that explain democracy and its contemporary challenges in plain language,” Orenstein said in a statement announcing the Institute.
“They have responded, and we have published an initial round of them. More are in the pipeline, and we will continue to publish more information on all aspects of democracy in the United States. We know that democracy doesn’t defend itself.”
