This roundtable brings together three historians to discuss the role that democracy – and its distinctive institutions and processes – can play in facilitating transitions to authoritarian rule in different countries.
6 June, 2024 | 6:00 - 8:00 pm (doors open 5:30 pm) | GHI Washington (1607 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009) & streamed via Zoom
Udi Greenberg (Dartmouth College), a modern European historian, who is an expert on Weimar Germany; Irfan Nooruddin (Georgetown University), a professor of Indian politics with a focus on the problems of globalization, democracy and democratization, and civil conflict; and Árpád von Klimó (Catholic University of America), a historian of central Europe who is an expert on Hungary. In a discussion moderated by Aslı Aydıntaşbaş (Brookings Institution), author of the recent commentary "Why do Europe’s strongmen love Trump" and an expert on Turkey, with Richard F. Wetzell (German Historical Institute), a historian of modern Germany, these three panelists will discuss questions including: How do we address the paradox of political parties using democratic means to achieve antidemocratic ends? Are there common patterns to the appeal of antidemocratic politics? What is the role of political parties, political culture, religion, media, and the business community in facilitating transitions to authoritarian rule within a democratic framework? Why and how do democracy’s institutional safeguards fail? How can they be reinforced? What influence do geoeconomic and geostrategic factors have?
