On October 9, 2018, the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED) at the University of Michigan published a video titled “How Democracies Live and Die”, the latest in the Center’s analysis of different ideas surrounding the history of democracy. The segment in the video below shows a roundtable discussion around the themes of Harvard University professors Steve Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s new book titled, “How Democracies Die“.

Other speakers at the event were Thomas Carothers, Senior Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and well respected research scholar Didi Kuo, who is a Research Scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. According to a review of the book by Vox’s Ezra Klein:

“Where Levitsky and Ziblatt make their mark is in weaving together political science and historical analysis of both domestic and international democratic crises; in doing so, they expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics.”

The Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies became operational in September 2008 and is named in honor of Ronald and Eileen Weiser. The Center is housed in the International Institute at the University of Michigan.

See our World Democracy page for related coverage. The video lasts about 1 hour and 14 minutes. Take a look!