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Terms of Engagement – How did the Democrats Lose Silicon Valley? Should They Try to Get it Back?
The relationship between Silicon Valley and the Democratic Party has undergone a dramatic shift over the past decade, with many tech leaders moving away from their once-strong political alignment. This special episode of Terms of Engagement explores what drove that change and what it means for the future of democracy, political power, and the influence of technology elites.
In 2011, President Obama asked how government could help Silicon Valley and nearly all of them seemed to back Democrats.
But by the beginning of Trump’s second term, many powerful Silicon Valley elites — such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — had moved away from the Democratic Party, while others such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen strongly support President Trump and the MAGA movement. With their backing came not only massive funding for political causes, but also greater control over both traditional and digital media platforms. Can the Democratic Party succeed with some of the largest companies on earth opposed to it? Could the Democrats have preserved their alliance with Silicon Valley by, for example, adopting an “abundance” agenda and moderating its regulatory and anti-monopolist ambitions? Or, are “accelerationist” and other ideological commitments of these Silicon Valley elites incompatible with core Democratic Party principles?
In this discussion, Archon Fung and Van Jones talk about the past and future relationship of democracy to US technology elites.
Listen to the Audio Podcast
About our Guest
Van Jones is a political commentator, author, and social entrepreneur known for his work at the intersection of social justice, economic reform, and environmental policy. A CNN contributor and former advisor in the Obama administration, he has founded several nonprofit organizations and is a prominent voice on issues ranging from criminal justice reform to political polarization.
He is also the founder of RAPPORT.com and DreamMachine.org.
About the Hosts
Archon Fung is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals. He received two S.B.s — in philosophy and physics — and his Ph.D. in political science from MIT.
Stephen Richer is the former elected Maricopa County Recorder, responsible for voter registration, early voting administration, and public recordings in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the United States. Prior to being an elected official, Stephen worked at several public policy think tanks and as a business transactions attorney. Stephen received his J.D. and M.A. from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from Tulane University.
Stephen has been broadly recognized for his work in elections and American Democracy. In 2021, the Arizona Republic named Stephen “Arizonan of the Year.” In 2022, the Maricopa Bar Association awarded Stephen “Public Law Attorney of the Year.” In 2023, Stephen won “Leader of the Year” from the Arizona Capitol Times. And in 2024, Time Magazine named Stephen a “Defender of Democracy.”
The views expressed on this show are those of the hosts alone and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Ash Center or its affiliates.
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