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Event Series

Democracy and Its Critics Initiative

 



Over the past decade, democracy has been under siege in Europe and the United States. The disruptions caused by the rise of polarization and radical right forces, triggered by economic instability, demographic shifts, and technological change represent deep challenges to the basic patterns of democratic governance that we have taken for granted for decades. The disruptions bind the transatlantic world together and raise fundamental questions: How should we understand this tumult? What is causing it? What are the responses to it? These questions have given rise to shared and parallel debates about the promise and peril of democracy across Europe and in the United States.

The Democracy and its Critics Initiative was launched by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) to focus on both the history and contemporary shape of democracy in Europe, and provide a platform for events, conferences, and research on these pressing issues.

The first event launched on September 19 with a keynote address by CES Senior Fellow Michael Ignatieff, who delivered the inaugural Václav Havel Lecture on Human Rights, Civil Society and Democracy.

The Initiative's inaugural conference titled "Balancing Majority and Minority Rights - The Dilemma of Majority-Constraining Institutions in an Age of Democratic Backsliding" will take place on February 28.

The Center is also host a series entitled “Questions of Fascism and Democracy,” which will be co-chaired by CES Resident Faculty Peter Gordon & CES Director Daniel Ziblatt. The series will host the following speakers:

  • Federico Marcon (Princeton University)
  • William E. Scheuerman (Indiana University)
  • Michelle Lynn Kahn (University of Richmond)
  • Lenka Bustikova (University of Florida)
  • Federico Finchelstein (The New School for Social Research)
  • Katie Ebner-Landy (Harvard University)
  • Jeffrey Kopstein (University of California, Irvine)
  • Stephen Hanson (William & Mary)
  • Eugene Finkel (Johns Hopkins University)

This series is a CES-wide initiative, and we welcome proposals, suggestions, and collaborations from anyone in the CES community. Please contact the Center Directors Daniel Ziblatt and Elaine Papoulias.

Events Calendar

A History of How Popular Governance Has Adapted to Scale Seminar on European Development in a Historical Perspective — A History of How Popular Governance Has Adapted to Scale
February 24, 2025
3:00pm - 5:00pm
  • David Stasavage – Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor, Department of Politics, New York University
  • Chair Volha Charnysh – Ford Career Development Associate Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Local Affiliate & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Welcome & Panel 1 | Frameworks for Analysis: Conceptualizing Constraints on Majorities Conference | Balancing Majority and Minority Rights – The Dilemma of Majority-Constraining Institutions in an Age of Democratic Backsliding
Conference — Welcome & Panel 1 | Frameworks for Analysis: Conceptualizing Constraints on Majorities
February 28, 2025
9:15am - 11:00am
  • Christoph Möllers – Professor of Public Law and Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law, Humboldt-University Berlin; Permanent Fellow, The Institute for Advanced Study Berlin
  • Melissa Schwartzberg – Professor of Politics, New York University
  • Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
  • Michael Zürn – Director of the Global Governance Research Unit, WZB Berlin Social Science Center; Professor of International Relations, Freie Universität Berlin
Panel 2 | Limits on Democracy to Protect Individual and Minority Rights Conference | Balancing Majority and Minority Rights – The Dilemma of Majority-Constraining Institutions in an Age of Democratic Backsliding
Conference — Panel 2 | Limits on Democracy to Protect Individual and Minority Rights
February 28, 2025
11:30am - 1:00pm
  • Gretchen Helmke – Thomas H. Jackson Distinguished University Professor, and Faculty Director of the Democracy Center, University of Rochester
  • Rahel Freiburghaus – Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Bern
  • Phillip Manow – Professor of International Political Economy, University of Siegen
Panel 3 | Limits on Majorities to Assure a Role for Expertise Conference | Balancing Majority and Minority Rights – The Dilemma of Majority-Constraining Institutions in an Age of Democratic Backsliding
Conference — Panel 3 | Limits on Majorities to Assure a Role for Expertise
February 28, 2025
2:00pm - 3:30pm
  • Andrew O'Donohue – Ph.D. Student in Government, Harvard University; Graduate Student Affiliate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Sir Paul Tucker – Senior Fellow, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Research Fellow, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard Kennedy School; Deputy Governor, The Bank of England (2009-2013)
  • Michael Zürn – Director of the Global Governance Research Unit, WZB Berlin Social Science Center; Professor of International Relations, Freie Universität Berlin
Panel 4 | Are Constraints on Democracy Good or Bad? Conference | Balancing Majority and Minority Rights – The Dilemma of Majority-Constraining Institutions in an Age of Democratic Backsliding
Conference — Panel 4 | Are Constraints on Democracy Good or Bad?
February 28, 2025
3:45pm - 5:15pm
  • Claudia Landwehr – Professor of Political Theory and Public Policy, University of Mainz
  • Fabio Wolkenstein – Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Vienna
  • Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Uncivil Society and Polarization in Eastern Europe Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Uncivil Society and Polarization in Eastern Europe
March 5, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Lenka Bustikova – Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
Late Fascist Aesthetics: A Theory of the Online Forum Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Late Fascist Aesthetics: A Theory of the Online Forum
March 12, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Katie Ebner-Landy – Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, Harvard University
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
The Domestic Politics of International State-building: Evidence from Postwar Japan Seminar on European Development in a Historical Perspective — The Domestic Politics of International State-building: Evidence from Postwar Japan
March 24, 2025
3:00pm - 5:00pm
  • Melissa Lee – Klein Family Presidential Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania; Director of the World House Student Fellows Program, Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania
  • Chair Daniel Lowery – Ph.D. Student in Government, Harvard University; Graduate Student Affiliate & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Resisting Authoritarian Populism: What Is To Be Done? Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Resisting Authoritarian Populism: What Is To Be Done?
April 3, 2025
4:30pm - 6:30pm
  • William E. Scheuerman – James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Chair Peter E. Gordon – Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; Department of Government; and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
The Assault on the State Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — The Assault on the State
April 8, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Stephen Hanson – Lettie Pate Evans Professor of Government, William & Mary; Visiting Scholar 2022-2023, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Jeffrey Kopstein – Dean's Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Europe’s Little Divergence in Agglomeration Economies Seminar on European Development in a Historical Perspective — Europe’s Little Divergence in Agglomeration Economies
April 14, 2025
3:00pm - 5:00pm
  • Gary Cox – William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
  • Chair Caterina Chiopris – Academy Scholar, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Harvard University; Seminar Chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine Questions of Fascism and Democracy Lecture Series — Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine
April 15, 2025
4:00pm - 6:00pm
  • Eugene Finkel – Kenneth H. Keller Professor of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advance International Studies
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies & Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
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