Robin A. Harper, Ph.D., with Michael O. Sharpe, Ph.D.
The recent presidential election has unleashed a bevy of emotions: joy, despair, excitement, anticipation, dread, among them. Some express a post-election trauma, a feeling of being stymied in despair over the Harris/Walz loss and the incoming Trump/Vance administration. Of course, some are delighting in the transition and electoral win. Regardless of your position, now is not the time for inaction. Democracy is a conversation, not a one-time event. Granted, things may have been easier for previous generations who seemed to have fewer rifts between opposing sides. Many would argue that there have always been divisions. One need only look at the vicious battles between pro- and anti-war forces during Vietnam or during the civil rights era to see chasms between perspectives. Perhaps it’s just because that discord is tucked in a historical past that we have the luxury of thinking to imagine we are the only ones with deep division. That said, it doesn’t mean that the current unknown is not stressful.
The promises made by President-elect Trump, should they materialize, will bring seismic shifts to the American way of life. For those of you who are concerned, you are not alone. News agencies around the world – not just the country – are reporting an increase in unease and feeling out of control. The least healthy response is to remain in distress. There are things that you can do to exercise your resilience and reclaim what may feel like an unmoored future.
- Mourn and move on: Most cultures have practices for time-limited mourning, recognizing that people cannot stay in that space and still live meaningful lives. Perhaps think about using one of those rituals now as part of mourning. If you are overwhelmed, stay in the moment and think about what is happening, accept it, and then make plans for what you will do next.
- Learn: Be prepared for the future by reading widely. Sun Tzu (771–256 BC) reminded rulers in The Art of War, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
Read widely and often. Read opinions you agree with and those you disagree with. From your phone, you have access to The New York Times AND The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times. You can read articles from newspapers and magazines from around the country and the world, often in English. Whether it’s the Toronto Globe and Mail or the New Orleans Times-Picayune or the Detroit Free Press, Le Monde or Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, or Asahi Shimbun, and so many others, you can find daily news reports to help you understand how people think here and abroad about American politics.
- Read deeper: Get in the habit of reading good quality, longer general audience pieces, you understand the context and the political discourse from magazines like The Economist, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Magazine, Slate, Foreign Affairs, The National Review and The Nation, and The New Republic. We’re finding some good pieces about politics in more surprising places like Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and even Teen Vogue. There are plenty more, of course.
Read books so you understand what politicians are talking about, like Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, Jonathon Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, Michele Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky’s How Democracies Die, Jan Werner Muller’s What is Populism?, and Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny. There are so many options. Ask your professors what they’re reading.
- Get to know your neighbors: One of the great failings of the Democrats and the success of the Republicans in this presidential race was opening dialogue with new people. This election is over. Start now for the next one by meeting your neighbors and building relationships. Try to listen and ask questions. Learn others’ perspectives. And try to understand. It may be rocky, and it may be really hard work, but we will not grow together unless we try to connect to our neighbors and find some common ground.
- Run for Office: The hugest catalyst to having women in office occurred in 1992, dubbed the Year of the Woman, following the televised Supreme Court nomination hearing that brought Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the bench. The image of all men at the Senate Judiciary Committee galvanized women to run for office. Perhaps this is your moment? Connect to your local political parties to discuss how to get more involved:
New York State Democratic Party: https://www.nydems.org/
New York State Republican Party: https://nygop.org/
New York State Green Party: https://www.gpny.org/
New York State Liberal Party: https://www.liberalparty.org/
New York State Conservative Party: https://www.cpnys.org/
New York State Working Families Party: https://workingfamilies.org/
The NYC Board of Elections can get your campaign started: https://vote.nyc/
- Master the Rules of the Game: There are lots of discussions that the game has changed, and what was true before is no longer the case. That may be, but the old structures have not disintegrated yet. There is an approach to Political Science called Institutionalism. Its premise is that the rules of the determine affect, shape even determine outcomes. So, learn how your government works now so that you can understand what’s happening, how things may change, and be ready to propose what kinds of structures you want. Start with The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Federalist Papers, and the Anti-Federalist Papers.
- Learn from Experts & Take a Political Science class or two: Now is the time to learn how the system is designed to work, where it is strong, and where it is vulnerable. Don’t waste time hoping you get the truth from TikTok. It has so many uses, but it’s hit or miss. Your Political Science professors can teach you where to get good information and how to process it. It’s up to you what you do with it!
- Join (interest) groups: From the time Alexis De Tocqueville visited the United States in the mid-1800s, producing his opus Democracy in America, American politics have been described as being shaped by multiple group pressures. Be one of those agents influencing the political system through your interests. What are you interested in? There are thousands of groups seeking to build civil society and make change. Non-partisan: The League of Women Voters. Join a campus-based fraternity or sorority. Were you a Boy Scout or Girl Scout, or in the 4H? Reconnect with their national or state organizations. Go beyond being a watcher and be a doer: Are you interested in certain sports or games, or even a book club? Join a club that does that thing. Another possibility is to join affinity groups that connect you to people from the same race, religion, country of origin, etc. These groups not only provide new friends but also teach you about issues and how groups function, and the basics of democratic practice.
- Take care of yourself: No matter your perspective on this election, change brings stress. You will need to be ready for change. This is a good time for self-care. Rest, remain hydrated, eat good food, exercise, do meditation and/or prayer, journal, meet with friends, watch movies and TV that let you feel emotions, and laugh a lot.
- Embrace disruption: In moments of disruption, new opportunities open. Instead of trying to change things you cannot, use this moment to imagine what you want to do and create a plan to launch your own destiny.
We cannot change the past, but we certainly can change how we feel about the present and get ready for the future.
Robin A. Harper and Michael O. Sharpe are Professors of Political Science at York College and in the MA Program in International Migration Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center. Professor Sharpe is also Professor of Political Science at the CUNY Graduate Center.
For more information about Political Science classes and what’s next, please reach out to us: rharper@york.cuny.edu and msharpe@york.cuny.edu
