Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University; Senior Fellow, SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University; Local Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS); Local Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
April 17, 2017
2:15pm - 4:00pm
Lower Level Conference Room, Adolphus Busch Hall
Video recording
1h:47m
How do democracies form and what makes them die? In his new book, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, Daniel Ziblatt revisits this timely and classic question in a wide-ranging historical narrative that traces the evolution of modern political democracy in Europe from its modest beginnings in 1830s Britain to Adolf Hitler’s 1933 seizure of power in Weimar Germany. Based on rich historical and quantitative evidence, the book offers a major reinterpretation of European history and the question of how stable political democracy is achieved. The barriers to inclusive political rule, Ziblatt finds, were not inevitably overcome by unstoppable tides of socioeconomic change, a simple triumph of a growing middle class, or even by working class collective action. Instead, political democracy’s fate surprisingly hinged on how conservative political parties—the historical defenders of power, wealth, and privilege—recast themselves and coped with the rise of their own radical right. With striking modern parallels, the book has vital implications for today’s new and old democracies under siege.