In the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection, the United States has lurched further toward a democratic crisis.

Institutions once considered stable now feel precarious. The assault on truth — already well underway — has intensified, with political leaders openly flouting constitutional principles, suppressing dissent and dismantling democratic safeguards.

The rhetoric of grievance and retribution has become the soundtrack of public discourse.

The U.S. is not alone. Across the globe, democracy is in retreat. The list of nations such as Hungary, Poland, Brazil and India  where autocrats and aspiring autocrats have tried to erode democratic norms is growing. Far right movements in France, Germany, Finland and elsewhere, bolstered by economic anxieties and digital disinformation, stoke resentment and fear.

People, exhausted by economic precarity and what author, activist and documentarian Astra Taylor calls the deliberate manufacturing of insecurity, are drawn to the false promise of strongman rule. The desire for stability — however undemocratic — threatens to eclipse commitments to liberty and justice.

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For educators or civic leaders who teach young people about democracy  these are not abstract concerns. Civic educators’ struggles to foster students’ civic engagement and strengthen their commitments to democratic institutions and the growing crisis in democracy makes these efforts even harder.

As a professor of democracy and education, and as an educator, I cannot promise young people that their efforts will always succeed. But I can assure them that whether in the face of victories or defeats, they are walking a powerful and worthwhile path.