Americans think the system is rigged. We need to start listening.

Working around the edges just won't cut it.

By Nat Kendall-Taylor

Riding in with promises of turning the tables on those in government, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) operatives have projected an underdog image as they chaotically fire hundreds of thousands of public servants and end programs that feed the poorest people on Earth. As they have done all of this, they’ve ousted the watchdogs who could stop them.

They justify their actions by claiming they are taking on corruption in service of working people. This rhetorical strategy exploits a powerful narrative that, like it or not, is one of the most effective ways to persuade others to join your side. Many fighting to restore fairness hesitate to use a similar rhetorical tool, despite its potency. But failing to talk directly about our systems being rigged is a mistake.

I help lead the FrameWorks Institute, which studies American cultural mindsets—in short, how and why people think, feel, and act the way they do—and ways to use this information to advance justice and build a fair society.

We recently released research showing that 70% of Americans—including 72% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats—believe that “the system is rigged.” This is part of a nationally representative study of more than 35,000 Americans that we’ve been conducting since August 2020.

Advocating for an acknowledgment of rigged systems might come across as radical or taboo. Since President Donald Trump resurfaced as a national political leader, many people have spoken out in favor of “restoring faith in our institutions” or calling out his tendencies to “flout norms” in service of “defending democracy.” However, for the significant majority of Americans who do not feel that the status quo works for them, these messages fall flat.

Meanwhile, the right has taken full advantage of the populist “rigged” narrative and uses it to legitimize moves that have a deleterious effect on our government and our justice system, including continuing to deny the outcome of the 2020 election and pardoning Jan. 6, 2021, rioters.

It might feel uncomfortable or unnatural for those who champion making government and systems work better, but it is essential to acknowledge, understand, and act in response to those who feel the system is rigged. At its core, that means talking bluntly and boldly about how and why the system is rigged, and—most important—how to un-rig it. If not, those who hold fast to this mindset will increasingly identify with a strongman. Simply reminding people of the ways the system is working—requiring only changes at the edges—just won’t cut it.

Who thinks “the system is rigged” and why?

Though the far right has exploited this concept most effectively to date, the “system is rigged” mindset is not a fringe idea.

This mindset is held by:

● The majority of men (65%) and women (74%).

● People across racial and ethnic groups, including Latino/Hispanic (71%), non-Latino white (65%, African-American/Black (75%) and Asian (72%).

● People across income levels, including 78% of those making less than $25,000 annually, and 61% of those making more than $150,000.

● Various age groups, including 81% of those 18-29 years of age, and 58% of those 60+.

Our research finds that Americans draw on this mindset to make sense of almost every aspect of society—from the economy to the political system to how people are treated based on their gender or race. Because it’s so powerful and broadly applied, if you’re not using it to get your point across, you’re not speaking the language of many Americans.

How to talk about un-rigging the system

First, it’s key to be specific. We found that providing an explanation of who is rigging what system and how reduces xenophobic and authoritarian ways of thinking. Just stating that the system is rigged without explaining who holds the power and how it’s used leaves things open to interpretation and invites people to apply their own underlying assumptions about the world that may be unproductive or even harmful.

It’s also essential to talk about solutions and match them to the size of the problem. This helps people see social problems as solvable, because talking about rigged systems can make people feel fatalistic. Let’s say someone thinks that the entire economy is rigged. Incremental policy solutions, such as tinkering with the SALT tax deduction, come across as too small to fix such a big problem and invite people into fatalistic thinking, which results in rapid disengagement or even backlash.

To be clear: That the “system is rigged” mindset is so prevalent does not mean that Americans’ thinking is uniform. We found that how these conversations are framed makes a big difference in terms of the stories people tell about what’s going wrong, and what can be done to fix it. This cultural mindset is dominant in our society, and the contest over what it means might be the most important cultural and political terrain of our time.

Nat Kendall-Taylor is a psychological anthropologist and chief executive of The FrameWorks Institute.

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