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Event Series

Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future

Chairs

Grzegorz Ekiert
Grzegorz Ekiert
Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Daniel Ziblatt
Daniel Ziblatt
Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
 

Democracies in Europe and around the world have been under siege, and COVID-19 has exposed many to be dysfunctional. Even before the onset of the pandemic, from Hungary and Poland, to Western Europe and the United States, there has emerged a growing perception that democracy itself was suffering from a set of pre-existing chronic ailments. The Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future sets out to address the pressing issues facing democracies.


About this Seminar

In the last decade, demagogues have been on the rise. Once in power, elected leaders with authoritarian inclinations have often entrenched themselves in governments, while intense party polarization has left voters blind to autocrats’ abuses. Furthermore, as voters seem increasingly susceptible to misinformation, the rise of economic inequality has made democracy vulnerable to capture by powerful interest.

This seminar explores the past, present, and future of democracy – its institutions and norms – and some chronic dilemmas in the practice of democracy. It will convene important thinkers in Europe and North America to explore a range of issues including:

  • what makes democracies work;
  • what challenges they currently face;
  • what makes them vulnerable to the rise of demagogues;
  • what leads to democratic disappointment and disaffection?

It will also serve as a forum for discussion of work in progress and forthcoming books and papers contributing to debates on democracy. The seminar will explore what lessons can be learned from historical and contemporary cases of democratic breakthrough and backsliding, ranging from Weimar Germany’s spectacular collapse in the 1930s to post-communist Hungary and Poland.

The seminar is a collaborative effort with the following institutions:

Seminar Events Calendar

Democratic Development and Decline: New Findings from the V-Dem Project Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future — Democratic Development and Decline: New Findings from the V-Dem Project
September 28, 2022
11:30am - 1:00pm
  • Michael Bernhard – Raymond and Miriam Ehrlich Eminent Scholar Chair, College of Liberal Arts and Science, University of Florida
  • Michael Coppedge – Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame; Faculty Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame
  • Pippa Norris – Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard Kennedy School; Affiliated Faculty, Department of Government, Harvard University; Faculty Associate, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University and Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Authoritarianism From Above and Below in East Central Europe Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future — Authoritarianism From Above and Below in East Central Europe
December 2, 2021
1:30pm - 3:00pm
  • Kim Lane Scheppele – Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University
  • Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Democracy Without a Majority? Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future — Democracy Without a Majority?
October 29, 2021
1:30pm - 3:00pm
  • Michael Koß – Professor for the Political System of Germany and the EU, Leuphana University Lüneburg
  • Thomas Zittel – Professor for Comparative Politics, Goethe University; External Fellow, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim; Max Weber Chair in German and European Studies, NYU
  • Chair Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Populism After Trump Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future — Populism After Trump
March 4, 2021
12:30pm - 2:00pm
  • Anne Applebaum – Senior Fellow of International Affairs and Agora Fellow in Residence, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
  • Steven Levitsky – Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University; David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government, Harvard University
  • Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University; Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, WZB Berlin Social Science Center
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government, Harvard University; Director, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
State of Democracy and Future Research Seminar on Democracy: Past, Present, and Future — State of Democracy and Future Research
November 19, 2020
12:00pm - 1:30pm
  • Sheri Berman – Professor of Political Science, Barnard College, Columbia University
  • Wolfgang Merkel – Professor Emeritus and Director of the Research unit on Democracy and Democratization, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
  • Yascha Mounk – Senior Fellow, SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University
  • Pippa Norris – Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics & CES Faculty Associate, Harvard University
  • Chair Grzegorz Ekiert – Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government & CES Director, Harvard University and Daniel Ziblatt – Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, CES Resident Faculty & Seminar Co-chair, Harvard University; Unit Director, Transformations of Democracy, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
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