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Opinion

To Protect Democracy, Tell a Better Story About Why It Matters

Philanthropy leaders recognize the need to counter authoritarian narratives but aren’t sure where to begin. Here’s a game plan.

By  Eric Friedenwald-Fishman and  Shannon N. Green

August 14, 2025 (Originally published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy)

Authoritarians are remarkably effective at deploying weaponized narratives to undermine democracy. They use stories to shift norms, legitimize autocratic actions, erode trust, and spread misinformation — often under the guise of defending democracy. They imbue their false narratives with clear, relatable messages rooted in values people hold dear, such as honesty and security.

Just this week, using a “security justifies all” narrative, the Trump administration took over Washington, D.C.’s police department and mobilized National Guard troops, portraying the city as overrun by “bloodthirsty criminals” even though violent crime is at a 30-year low.

By contrast, those fighting to protect democracy often struggle to tell a clear and motivating story about why it matters. They mistakenly assume that people appreciate what it takes to sustain democracy, while relying on technical terms such as “rule of law” or “separation of powers” that can feel removed from people’s daily lives.

This communication gap has created an urgent challenge for philanthropy. Leaders across the sector increasingly recognize the need for stronger pro-democracy narratives but aren’t sure what that means in practice. And they grapple with how to invest in countering attacks on democracy while building a positive vision people can support.

The first task is coming to agreement about what narratives work. The second is building the infrastructure to spread those narratives widely.

Over the past three years, with $4 million from multiple funders, our organizations, Metropolitan Group and Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, known as PACE, studied the global democracy narrative landscape. PACE surveyed perceptions of civic language in the United States. Metropolitan Group examined 12 countries, including the United States, to understand how narratives erode or advance democracy.

Our research found that narratives delegitimizing democracy succeed because they are simple, values-driven, and emotionally resonant. By tapping into people’s deeply held values, authoritarians shift norms, behaviors, and policies. Take the case of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has evoked core values of security and representation to justify policies that violate due process and have led to the detention of more than 85,000 people. Claiming to protect people’s right to choose whom they vote for, he ran for and won an unconstitutional second term and has now ended term limits.

Story Elements

To push back against such narratives, our organizations have produced a body of data and evidence that can help grant makers, nonprofit organizations, and advocates communicate more effectively about the essential elements of a democratic society and their role in it. We developed and tested narratives that increase understanding and support for democracy, its principles, and institutions, identifying three critical components.

First, such narratives embrace shared values, especially freedom, which resonates across the political spectrum and is seen as better protected by democracy.

Second, the definition of democracy goes beyond elections, recognizing that authoritarians often claim legitimacy for anti-democratic actions based solely on the fact that they were elected.

Third, democracy’s imperfections are acknowledged while the work to improve it is framed as a courageous and collective effort.

In a just-released national poll that we conducted last month, narratives reflecting these insights proved remarkably effective among Democrats, independents, and Republicans. Fully 89 percent agreed that our country was built on the right to have our voices heard, make our own decisions, be treated fairly by the justice system, and vote in free and fair elections. They also agreed that while these freedoms are central to our nation’s democracy, sustaining them requires checks on power and a government that is open, honest, and responsive to its citizens.

This broad support, however, doesn’t mean that every group will connect to the democracy narrative in the same way. For example, the poll revealed that even though Democrats and Republicans strongly embrace the concept of freedom, they interpret its meaning differently. Democrats gravitate toward the idea of “securing freedom and fairness for all Americans,” while Republicans lean toward “having a say in the decisions that shape your life.” Both are essential to a functioning democracy, but they suggest a need for different entry points for more constructive conversation.

Accessible and Adaptable

These findings are a useful place to start. But for effective pro-democracy narratives to take hold, funders need to ensure they are accessible and easily adaptable. That will require building a democracy narrative infrastructure that allows organizations of all sizes and focus areas to embed such messages into their work. That infrastructure should include the following:

Technical assistance. Many nonprofits don’t have the capacity or expertise for long-term narrative work so funders should provide the tools they need to link their specific issue area to effective democracy narratives. They might, for example, follow the approach taken by the Kresge Foundation, which funded a narrative and messaging guide to more effectively advance local and state climate policy focused on justice and equity. A similar approach could be used to bring effective democracy narratives to the higher education and public health sectors, both of which are facing Trump administration efforts to brand them as elite and untrustworthy.

A democracy hub. Grant makers can help establish an online hub of consistently updated, open-access resources about democracy narratives that includes opportunities to connect with peers, share lessons learned, and identify points of collaboration. Resource hubs are common in other fields, but nothing of this kind exists in the pro-democracy arena, leaving the door wide open for philanthropy.

Message monitoring. Democracy narratives need to be regularly evaluated to make sure they’re working — and then revised if they’re not. Consider, for example, the critical shift from a “right to marry” to a “love is love” narrative that led to the legalization of same sex marriage a decade ago. To ensure democracy narratives are similarly adaptable, funders should invest in ongoing monitoring and analysis of shifts in the political and cultural landscape that necessitate narrative change and in broad dissemination of guidance on how to effectively respond.

Linked movements. In the short time since our research was released, we’ve seen a hunger to apply the findings from groups far beyond the world of democracy funders and their grantees. We’ve engaged with and been invited to brief nonprofits, networks, and associations focused on issues such as public health, environmental justice, the arts and pop culture, independent journalism, higher education, and civil rights. While we’ve heard how helpful the information is, leaders in these fields also tell us they need guidance in how to use it in their own work, including analyzing and strategically responding to authoritarian attacks, advancing messages that don’t trigger authoritarian traps, and balancing effective defense and offense with a democracy narrative that diverse groups can get behind.

National networks in these fields already have programs to build capacity, trusted online forums for training and engagement, grassroots connections in every state, active constituencies, and strong local relationships. What they need is help to deliver effective, relevant, and regularly updated narratives. With this support in place, nonprofits would have the tools to unite tens of millions of Americans around a shared story that strengthens support for democracy.

This vision is not a pipe dream — it is within our grasp. But to make it happen, funders need to think differently about narrative, not as messaging but as infrastructure. Now is the time to come together to protect the freedom, fairness, and fearlessness that allow democracy to flourish.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman is the creative director and CEO of Metropolitan Group.

Shannon N. Green

Shannon N. Green is the president and CEO of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE).

Download the Chronicle of Philanthropy guest editorial as a PDF

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To help counter these threats, Metropolitan Group has conducted extensive multi-methodology scans, and analysis of the most dominant and salient pro-democracy and pro-authoritarian narratives in 12 countries on five continents including the United States. 

Based on this formative research, we’ve developed, tested, and refined a set of effective pro-democracy narratives, complete with supporting message frameworks and key value triggers. We are sharing the research findings, narratives, and resources to help advocates across sectors shift hearts, minds, and norms in support of democratic values.

We’re excited to share these tools and resources:
Pro-Democracy Narratives in Action

Now is the time to both counter weaponized attacks on democratic institutions and proactively champion a compelling vision of democracy grounded in freedom, fairness, and fearlessness.

The post New Tools to Strengthen Pro-Democracy Narratives and Messaging appeared first on Metgroup.

At Metropolitan Group and our sister company Impacto Social Metropolitan Group (MG/ISMG), we are privileged to support and collaborate with leaders in the public, nonprofit, philanthropic, and private sectors who are working to address these global challenges. We are working with leaders and communities in over 20 countries, strengthening civic space and the people’s voice on issues that impact them, advancing responsive government, bolstering public health and well-being, accelerating biodiversity conservation, addressing climate impacts, countering misinformation, fighting corruption, standing for human rights, and fostering inclusive economies. We see the potential power and opportunity to increase social change by supporting connections at the intersections of issues and facilitating learning from different countries and cultures.

We are excited to share tools, models, learnings and stories from this work and to invite conversation and collaboration. We invite you to visit and access the resources on our Addressing Global Challenges page.

We look forward to learning, collaborating and working with you in 2025 and beyond to address global challenges.

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Across sectors and across geographies the need to create proactive narratives, social expectations, and systemic changes that center fairness, freedom, equity, justice, and peace is profound. We all need solutions we can work toward while we also work to effectively counter rising authoritarianism, hyperpolarization, the use of fear and othering, and attacks on information integrity. We see this combined work of building up just solutions while robustly pushing back on injustice in the work of our clients and the communities they serve every day.

We see the power of voice and its ability to activate change in the work of advocates, civil society organizations, dedicated public servants, artists, and advocates.

This 35th annual letter to stakeholders shares updates on our team and stories of our clients’ work and impact. As we begin our 36th year of social impact work, we are focused and committed to the shared mission of advancing public health, environmental sustainability, and social justice. We are excited to collaborate with you on this journey.

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Government narratives primarily seek to deter migration, yet these narratives are often misaligned with migrants’ reasons for leaving. At the same time, narratives in many local communities portray emigration as an economic lifeline, rite of passage, and source of pride.

A new report, Migration Narratives in Northern Central America: How Competing Stories Shape Policy and Public Opinion in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, examines narratives in northern Central America from 2018 to 2022, as well as U.S. and Mexican narratives focused on the region.

Visit this page on our website to learn more.

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This six article series for Stanford Social Innovation Review—presented in partnership with Metropolitan Group, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other organizations involved in the Beyond the Hero leadership initiative—explores the social sector’s need to broaden its narrative of leadership so that it supports leadership in all its complex, dynamic forms.

The first article in the series explores The Need for More Inclusive Leadership Narratives. Authors: Deborah Bae, Kiernan Doherty and contributors: Ericka Stallings, Dana D’Orazio and Nikka Landau discuss why social change organizations must ensure that their systems, policies, cultures, and behaviors align with a broader concept of leadership that centers equity and justice and encompasses leadership in all its forms.

Our collective of thought leaders from a wide variety of organizations have been learning alongside one another to generate this incredible offering. We hope you will share this ongoing series with your communities and let us know what learnings and takeaways are resonating with you. To engage in the conversation and learn more about this emergent learning initiative visit us here.

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Here are some highlights from the convening.

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To see more photos visit our Facebook page.

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