By 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 15, a line had already formed outside USC’s Town and Gown ballroom. Students were standing in the front, monitored by campus security and event staff. Photographers and reporters were walking around and engaging with students as they prepared to cover the occasion.
An hour later, attendees took their seats for the event: an International Day of Democracy conversation between former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim.
The event, part of the President’s Distinguished Speaker Series, came at a moment of heightened political tension, as national debates over polarization, electoral fairness and political violence dominate public discourse. Over the course of an hour, Schwarzenegger reflected on his personal journey in politics and the challenges facing American democracy today.
Kim opened the discussion by asking Schwarzenegger to reflect on last week’s fatal shooting of Republican activist Charlie Kirk, a tragedy that has sparked national debate over the consequences of deepening political divisions.
“I was very, very upset that someone’s life was taken because they had a different opinion,” Schwarzenegger said. “He was a great communicator, a great advocate for Republican causes and had such a great way of communicating with students who agreed and disagreed with him. But he was also a father and a husband. Now his children will only be reading about him, instead of him reading them bedtime stories.”
Schwarzenegger called the assassination a wake-up call about the dangers of unchecked hostility in public life.
“We have to acknowledge that the cause of all this is the social media dividing us, the mainstream media dividing us and the political party dividing us,” he said. “We are getting hit from so many angles. We have to be careful not to get closer to the cliff, because once you fall, there is no democracy.”
The former governor urged the students to avoid framing political disagreements as battles and resist viewing opponents as enemies.
“Each and every one of you can make a difference,” he said, emphasizing that the true force of change lies in the power of the people.
Schwarzenegger also shared his own story, reflecting on his youth in Austria. He recalled watching black and white films in school about the United States that depicted legendary landscapes such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building and Hollywood.
“I thought, ‘What am I doing in Austria?’” Schwarzenegger said.
But his awareness of democracy deepened in 1966 when he traveled to East Berlin for a bodybuilding competition. There, a fellow athlete living under communism asked him what freedom felt like. That memory, he said, has never left him.
“Austria became a great country because of democracy,” he said. “And democracy is not a spectator sport. You have to participate, because everyone has the power to participate.”
Once again, he turned to students in the crowd as he pointed out that only about one-quarter of U.S. college students vote in the elections, a statistic he described as troubling. The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that 47% of 18 to 29-year-olds voted in the 2024 presidential election, but only 23% voted in the 2022 midterms.
“That means three-quarters don’t. And that has to change,” he said.
When Kim asked what Schwarzenegger saw as the biggest threat to democracy, the former governor pointed to redistricting, the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries that elect Congressional representatives. In most states, legislatures control the process, allowing politicians to shape districts in ways that favor themselves and their parties. The practice, known as gerrymandering, often reduces competition and contributes to polarization.
“When I was governor, I saw how impossible it was to get things done,” Schwarzenegger said. “The way the districts were drawn meant Democrats had to run further left, and the Republicans further right. The distance between them became too far to negotiate.”
Recognizing these challenges, Schwarzenegger pushed for an independent commission to oversee redistricting in California. Though his first attempt failed, voters eventually approved the reform, creating a citizens’ commission to draw maps. Schwarzenegger argued that the change helped restore public confidence.
“The approval of the legislature went from 20% to 48%” he said.
However, he warned that recent efforts to redraw California’s districts will lead back to the mistakes of the past.
“It was the politicians who drew the map, and nobody in the public participated,” he said. “If you vote yes on that, you’re going backwards. Redistricting is being used to weaken democracy.”
Schwarzenegger concluded by stressing that safeguarding democracy requires active engagement from citizens. The former governor urged students to take personal responsibility in shaping their communities, reminding them that meaningful change comes from people, not politicians, and that democracy thrives only when individuals choose to be involved.
“The constitution starts with ‘We the people,’ not ‘We the politicians,’” he said. “If we let parties hold onto power, democracy is in danger.”