There is an old saying that you can learn a lot about people by watching what they refuse to believe. In 2026, the American electorate has turned that idea into a national pastime. We now measure our civic health not by whether elections are legitimate, but by whether the outcome happens to match our vote. The familiar cliché of a functioning democracy is that citizens trust the process even when they lose. But a new survey of more than 2,000 American adults suggests that in the run-up to the 2026 midterms, trust is no longer a baseline civic assumption. It…

In the waiting room of Seoul Station in Yongsan-gu, on a late July afternoon, the usual noise of travelers and trains seemed to fade. People stood still, craning their necks toward television screens mounted across the hall. A former president of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, was hearing his fate. The first-instance court had just found him guilty of making false statements during the 2022 presidential election campaign, and the sentence was one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years. For many citizens watching, the moment was not simply a news bulletin; it was a powerful,…