Democracy Discourse Index

Empathy is the moral foundation of democratic discourse. When citizens recognise each other's shared humanity — even across political difference — they remain willing to lose a political battle without abandoning the system. At comment level this dimension asks: does this comment treat other people as human beings — the people in the report, the people it is about, and the other citizens in the thread?

Civility is not about politeness or avoiding conflict. Civility means maintaining the conditions that allow ongoing disagreement without the dissolution of the political community: attacking arguments rather than people, preserving space for opponents to participate as equals, and keeping the social fabric intact even in heated exchanges.

Trust is the lubricant of democratic systems. Institutional trust allows citizens to accept unfavourable decisions; interpersonal trust enables cooperation across difference; epistemic trust supports the shared reality that collective deliberation requires. This dimension measures whether discourse patterns build or systematically erode the trust infrastructure that democracy depends on.

Democratic Agency captures whether citizens believe they have the power to shape political outcomes through collective action. Without this belief, democracy hollows out from within: institutions remain formally intact while the participatory culture that gives them life evaporates. When agency language disappears from public discourse, citizens become audiences watching politics happen to them rather than participants making it happen.