The glue for an inclusive, healthy and responsive democracy—like a healthy relationship—is trust. Democracy requires trust in the political apparatus, such as Congress, as well as trust between its people. The state of trust in our country, however, is a pit of brokenness. According to the Pew Research Center, 35 percent of Americans are “low-trusters” who believe that people cannot be trusted and only look after their own self-interest. Interestingly, among this group of Americans, 40 percent believe we are overreacting to the COVID-19 crisis.

Trust not only impacts what we believe and how we engage with each other but also our ability to weather and address crises effectively. Democracy entrepreneurs are building innovative models to repair or dismantle the broken systems in our democracy to create an inclusive, healthy, and responsive democracy grounded in trust.

“We know that philanthropy has not significantly invested in our democracy space, in this election,” explained Yordanos Eyoel, a partner at New Profit who leads its Civic Lab. “From the electoral perspective, what we’re seeing right now is what the reports are saying; $14 billion was spent on the 2020 elections alone, the most ever that has ever been spent on any election cycle.

Watch the full video about democracy and social entrepreneurship at Worth.