Jennifer Frizzell of Concord is an attorney, advocate and activist who works to advance gender justice, reproductive freedom and democracy in the Granite State. In 2020 she was awarded the Ann McLane Kuster Community Leader award from the NH Democratic Party.

If you’ve ever attended a protest march or political rally, you might be familiar with a call and response chant where a vocal activist, often with a megaphone, shouts to a crowd “Show me what democracy looks like” and then an eager crowd of supporters, ideally diverse in demography, shouts back in unison, “This is what democracy looks like!”

The chant seems intended to cross lines of gender, race, spirituality and class and show solidarity in a common cause. To me, the chant represents the idea that in the progressive movements and our nation, we find unity in our diversity.

It’s no secret, our democracy has been badly damaged in recent years. If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a hundred times; in this election year, our very democracy is at stake. And so any candidate asking for my vote should be prepared to “Show me what democracy looks like” not only in their policy positions but in their campaign values and tactics.

We now have an open seat in Congressional District 2, and for many, the retirement of Congresswoman Annie Kuster came as a surprise. Her retirement adds to an election year where the number of women leaving the U.S. Congress has hit a record high.

It’s not an exaggeration to say the balance of power in the U.S. House will hang on a few dozen races. Whoever replaces Congresswoman Kuster will be highly consequential to the future of American democracy and to the gender balance in the U.S. House.

According to recent news reports, “one candidate has jumped in early and wanted to get the word out about his war chest in hopes that could prompt some prominent Democrats to pass on running in the primary this September.”

Is this what democracy looks like?

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The publication Second-Rate Democracy recently warned about the erosion of public trust from the perception that our elections are not fully representative. When candidates enter the race with known advantage or seek to compete on an unequal playing field and limit the demographic diversity of the candidate pool, it breeds mistrust in our democracy and furthers a sense of political inequality.

And indeed, there is a strong connection between democracy and gender equality. Research shows that democracy and gender equality have a reinforcing impact on one another and on the political stability of democracies. Higher levels of female empowerment and female representation are strongly related to a nation’s relative state of peace and a healthier domestic security environment.

Just a few years ago I directed the Women Run! program at the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation, a non-partisan training program empowering women to run for office. The program helps women candidates for state and local offices better understand and address the barriers they face due to gender.

Despite the focus of programs like Women Run! locally and nationally, the roadblocks to women’s political involvement are still far-reaching and structural. Women have long lacked access to the crucial business networks and institutional donors that can amass early capital for a campaign.

And the cost of political success for women candidates is too often the financial advantage of a male candidate who starts the race with a head start.

As reported by the Ascend Fund, when women win elections they govern more inclusively, through diverse coalitions and they disrupt systems that have historically marginalized others. Conversely, when full and inclusive participation in our democracy and our elections is undermined, and women are excluded, it can lead to the erosion of rights and faith in public institutions.

Ensuring women have equal access to political representation ensures that we have unity in our diversity, in both our democracy and our Democratic party.

And yet, according to recent news reports, “one candidate has jumped in early and wanted to get the word out about his war chest in hopes that could prompt some prominent Democrats to pass on running in the primary this September.”

A few of those prominent Democrats are women.

Is this what democracy looks like? (refrain)

Being a champion for democracy and gender equality means removing structural barriers that prevent others from fully participating in civic life, even when you yourself benefit from those structures. It means wanting to win from a place of inclusion, not exclusion.

The next member of Congress from District 2 must unite us with a vision for a democratic future that helps us find unity in our diversity.

In order to build a winning coalition for Democratic victory in November at all levels of the ballot, our movements and our voters need inspiration, not calculation (or coronation).

So I raise my megaphone for a final refrain: “Is this what democracy looks like?”

Let’s allow voters in CD 2 a full and fair chance to decide.