Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice (IDJ) Engages Campus on Multiracial Democracy
The launch events hosted by CDDRL's new research initiative invited undergraduates, graduate associates, and members of the public to discuss the future of multiracial democracy.
In December 2023, the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) announced the launch of its newest research initiative, the Program on Identity, Democracy, and Justice (IDJ). Last month, IDJ hosted Harvard University professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of How Democracies Die, for a series of launch events centered on questions explored in their newest book, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point.
The day’s programming included a seminar with graduate students and postdoctoral scholar associates of the program, a roundtable with undergraduate students, and the culminating event, titled "Multiracial Democracy and its Future in the United States” — a public lecture and moderated conversation with the authors about their newest book.
The event opened with remarks from Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director of CDDRL, and was co-moderated by Stanford's Hakeem Jefferson, assistant professor of political science and IDJ’s faculty director, and UC Berkeley's Jake Grumbach. Following the conversation, the panel engaged the standing-room-only crowd through a lively audience Q&A.
In their talk, Levitsky and Ziblatt reiterated their argument that democratic erosion in the United States has been enabled by “democratic semi-loyalist” elites who prioritize their own career incentives or partisan gains over their duty to condemn anti-democratic behavior, such as instigating political violence or refusing to accept electoral defeats.
Grumbach and Jefferson invited the authors to discuss how their background as scholars of comparative politics – Levitsky and Ziblatt have studied Latin American and European politics, respectively – informed their analysis of American democracy. The authors commented on how remarkable they found the parallels between moments when democratic norms have come under question in other countries, like the February 6 insurrection in France or Peronist leader Cafiero’s key decision to join President Alfonsín on the balcony of the presidential palace to accept defeat and deter another coup in Argentina, and what we see in the U.S. today.
The conversation also addressed open debates on how concerned we should be about American democracy, and audience members brought up questions on how to think about generational differences, demographic change, and frustrated lawmaking. Jefferson called the launch event an “exciting, energizing convening of ideas” and shared how keen he is to continue these conversations through upcoming program events.
You can learn more about IDJ on the program’s website and watch a recording of the event below.
