This new year also happens to be an election year. And not just any election year, mind you; it’s a presidential election year. If the polling is any good predictor, it will be between Donald Trump, who is facing four criminal indictments, and Joe Biden, who is under an impeachment inquiry. It looks like we’re in for a rematch of 2020, which everyone would agree was not the best model of how a republic deliberates its policy choices.

This new year also includes a Congress coming back into session with no budget resolution, which means right out of the gate we are facing a government shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson will have to mediate between the hard right wing of his party and the barely-in-the-minority Democratic party, neither of which has any incentive to compromise. The legislative branch, even under the best of circumstances, is not primed to deliver on anything to the American people.

Globally, there is disorder on two continents, with the potential to blow the lid off the world at any given moment. While we were celebrating Christmas, people were dying in Ukraine and Gaza. I’m not sure if when I was little I just didn’t understand things as well, but I feel like the country used to just back our democratic allies. But now, one of the things holding up Congress is whether we help Ukraine in its defense against Russia, and there are protests across the country against Israel.

Quite frankly, there’s a lot to be bummed about. We have a presidential election that will be exactly the same as four years ago, a Congress that cannot deliver on anything except a $33 trillion debt, and no clear moral foreign policy leadership. If I decided to stop watching the news until 2025, I think it would be healthier for my heart. If I chose to disengage from this republic, who would blame me? Could I not just be like so many Americans and just not care?

Here’s the thing: I cannot just not care. So I reached deep for clarity and resolve as we head into 2024 and found it in a scene in my favorite teenage movie, “Say Anything.” The main character, Lloyd, asks his sister, “How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood and be in a good mood once in a while?” The sister scoffs, replying, “Gee, it’s easy.” But you know, Lloyd’s question has stuck with me for over 30 years. Whenever I’m stressed or seriously annoyed, I remember that line and decide to be in a good mood. I’ve found it’s actually not that hard to decide to be in a good mood and then be in a good mood. I always choose to laugh or smile rather than furrow my brow.

For this republic, we all need to choose to be in a good mood. It’s clear to me that our national leaders are not going to lead. They have decided to make political bank off of our misery and they have chosen to be as dark, pessimistic and mean as they can possibly be. So, we, the people in this republic, need to choose on our own to be light, optimistic and kind. That’s a lovely message for a first-of-the-year opinion in the newspaper but, of course, it’s so much more than that.

Democracy depends on optimism, not as a lovely message, but as its vital lifeblood. A little over 20 years ago, Robert Putnam got famous with his book “Bowling Alone.” His work lamented the loss of social capital and made the argument for associational democracy, which is a republic in groups. We as Americans needed to join bowling leagues again and that would solve all of our problems.

Further research showed that, really, it was not about the associations, it was about the social trust we build in those associations. It’s in our relationships that we solve all of our problems. In an earlier piece I talked about this: The more diverse our friendship pool, the better we learn to reach across differences, and with more voices at the table, we can see all the possibilities. For democracy, it’s even more important. Trust leads to optimism, which leads to more trust, which leads to more optimism and faith in the future — a necessary component of a republic. Distrust leads to pessimism, which leads to more distrust and isolation, which leads to more pessimism and finally, in a body politic, authoritarianism.

It’s vitally important in 2024, when our nation’s leaders show us the worst possible versions of themselves, that we choose to be in a good mood, that we choose to be in an optimistic mood, and thus ourselves keep this republic.

Leah Murray is a Brady Distinguished Presidential Professor of Political Science and the director of the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service at Weber State University.

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