A vivid account of one day of jury duty suggests everyday juries do substantive democratic work: they socialize citizens into mutual accountability, translate abstract legal protections into lived practices, and serve as a practical check on political power when prosecutions are politicized.
— If juries function as regularized contact points between state power and ordinary people, declines in jury participation or erosion of jury norms would be an early warning for democratic backsliding.
Yascha Mounk
2026.02.28
100% relevant
Yascha Mounk’s February 2026 visit to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia — the chief justice’s opening remarks, the implicit‑bias training video, and the pool of prospective jurors — illustrates how routine court rituals instantiate this safeguard.
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