Hasen: SCOTUS rulings harm democracy

"If you put the Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta cases together, the court is making it easier for states to pass repressive voting laws and easier for undisclosed donors and big money to influence election outcomes. It is too much to ask for the Supreme Court to be the main protector of American democracy. But it should not be too much to ask that the court not be one of the major impediments." —Richard Hasen in The New York Times

Richard Hasen is a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of "Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy."

MORE: House Democrats introduce bill restoring voting provision after SCOTUS ruling —The Hill

Talisse: The dangers of partisan conformity

"The current state of the GOP offers a broad lesson for democratic politics. In a democracy, anyone who wants an effective political voice needs to join a choir of similar voices. Political coalitions are thus an indispensable feature of a democratic society. However, such alliances expose people to forces that push them to more extreme beliefs and drive them to insist upon conformity among allies. Both pressures are debilitating for political objectives. In a democracy, movements seek to expand coalitions and broaden alliances. Belief polarization presses in the opposite direction, leading toward greater intensity of conviction, but ultimately toward the dissolution of coalitions." —Robert Talisse on The Conversation

Robert Talisse is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and the author of the forthcoming book "Sustaining Democracy."

MORE: Misinformation, social media played a role in the storming of the Capitol —World Politics Review

Applebaum: Democracy requires an open mind

"The huge advantage of liberal democracy over other political systems is that its leadership constantly adjusts and changes, shifting to absorb new people and ideas. Liberal democracies don't try, as Soviet Marxism once did, to make everybody agree about everything, all the time. But to maintain that flexibility, a liberal-democratic society absolutely requires that its citizens experience a liberal education, one that teaches students, scholars, readers, and voters to keep looking at books, history, society, and politics from different points of view. If one of our two great political parties no longer believes in this principle—and if some of our scholars don't either—then how much longer can we expect our democracy to last?" —Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic

Anne Applebaum is a senior fellow of the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the author of "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism."

MORE: Poll: The reason Republicans are riled up about critical race theory —Yahoo! News

Swann: Segregation could worsen gerrymandering

"As American politics has become more divisive over the past few decades, the country has also become more racially segregated. More than 80% of the large metropolitan areas in the U.S. were more segregated in 2019 than they were in 1990, according to a new study by the University of California at Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute. ... Areas with more racial segregation had higher levels of political polarization, the study found. These divisions could play a huge role in how severe this round of gerrymandering is, as states will soon redraw election maps for the new decade." —Sara Swann in The Fulcrum

Sara Swann is a staff writer at The Fulcrum, covering campaign finance and other reform issues.

MORE: When your body counts but your vote does not: How prison gerrymandering distorts political representation —TIME

Lyons: Journalism supports democracy. It needs our help

"The economic starvation of newspapers moves this nation closer to autocracy, a downward trajectory toward those countries [with] heavy-handed press crackdowns. Journalists and newspapers have always provided that vital public oversight of government and business that defines a democratic nation. Without their diligence and courage, and without our support, our most precious freedom that we hold up as an example to the world will simply be empty words from a democracy in decline." —Stephen Lyons in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Stephen Lyons is a journalist and author whose most recent book is "West of East."

MORE: Extremist rhetoric from right-wing media and officials is 'intensifying,' experts say —The Guardian

DeLong: Parallels between Mao and MAGA

"There is a disturbingly strong historical analogy to the Republican Party's transformation into a cult of personality: the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong. ... The most sycophantic and impotent Republicans are duly selected by Trump for promotion, while those with any modicum of power or self-respect are cut off at the knees. Trump knows that the latter cohort would seek to sideline him as soon as it gained power or forged its own links to the base. The purges are carried out from Mar-a-Lago, where Trump denounces his former appointees and aides as losers and RINOs." —J. Bradford DeLong on Project Syndicate

J. Bradford DeLong is a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MORE: Larry Diamond: A world without American democracy? —Foreign Affairs

Kristof: 'How can you hate me when you don't even know me?'

"There's a reason we try to solve even intractable wars by getting the parties to sit in the same room: It beats war. If we believe in engagement with North Koreans and Iranians, then why not with fellow Americans? At a time when America is so polarized and political space is so toxic, we, of course, have to stand up for what we think is right. But it may also help to sit down with those we believe are wrong." —Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times

Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times columnist covering human rights, women's rights, health, and global affairs.

MORE: Jim Jones: Extreme partisanship 'foments occasionally riot and insurrection' —Times-News

A way to stay at home

By dispatching South Dakota National Guard troops to the Southern border, Gov. Kristi Noem may be making points with Donald Trump and his acolytes, but she is endangering the people she was elected to serve: the citizens of South Dakota.

On June 10, 1972, a horrific storm descended on the Black Hills of South Dakota, causing catastrophic flooding that resulted in 238 deaths in the Rapid City area.

Should a similar storm hit South Dakota now, a fully-staffed National Guard would be vital in rescue, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. But if they are in Texas building Trump's wall, they won't be of any use to South Dakotans stranded on their rooftops.

Gov. Noem either doesn't know the vulnerability of her own state, which would be pathetic, or doesn't care, which would be criminal. Perhaps her reason for sending South Dakota National Guard members a thousand miles from home during storm season is her way of auditioning to be Trump's second running mate. —Jim V., New York

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.