How Democracies Die

Lecture and book presentation by Prof. Daniel Ziblatt (Harvard University)

Introduction by Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst (Co-Director of the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”)

Democracy no longer ends with a bang—in a revolution or military coup—but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. This is suggested by the analysis of Daniel Ziblatt in his most recent book “How Democracies Die“ (co-authored with Steven Levitsky, German translation: “Wie Demokratien sterben“, DVA). Drawing on a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, the authors show how democracies die—and how they can be saved.

The talk presents the main arguments of the book.

Presented by:
Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”