Harvard professor Daniel Ziblatt opened the University’s Democracy Summit and hosted a talk about the United States democracy at the Spurlock Museum on Monday.
The Democracy Summit aims to tell people about their responsibilities to democracy, said Gina Lee-Olukoya, director of the Office of Civic Life. The keynote lecture drew in about 150 people from the University and the community. Both the lecture and the week-long Democracy Summit were organized by the Office of Civic Life.
“Our keynote lecture really kicks off the conversation … The work of Dr. Ziblatt lays the foundation for every conversation that we would be having around democracy,” Lee-Olukoya said.
Over the course of the event, Ziblatt said democracy in the U.S. has become more vulnerable due to two culprits: the radicalization of the Republican Party and the establishment of political institutions.
As more Republican politicians tolerate or enable anti-democratic actions, Ziblatt said they help normalize extremists and enable authoritarians.
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“Loyal Democrats need to join forces with pro-democratic forces from across the political spectrum to isolate people who break the basic rules of democracy,” Ziblatt said.
Ziblatt also noted political institutions in the U.S. overrepresent minority interests, allowing parties to win power without the most number of votes. He said that the electoral college and gerrymandering contribute to the problem.
“These institutions shield the Republican Party from the normal competition of democratic politics,” Ziblatt said.
Instead of having to win national majorities, Republicans can win 47 to 48% of the popular vote, Ziblatt explained.
“That huge percentage difference makes a big difference (so they can) still win power,” Ziblatt said. “So extremism doesn’t cost them as it would in a truly competitive command.”
Although fixing these problems might seem hard, Ziblatt added that is important to hold onto hope.
“The idea that reform is impossible is a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Ziblatt said.
John Fernsler, an Urbana resident, heard about the event online. Fernsler said he thought the U.S. democracy was in trouble, and was distressed about the politics of the Republican Party.
“(Ziblatt) had so many ideas that his speaking never quite caught up, but they were all wonderful,” he said. “We need to be more clever about how we confront our problems and we need to be more participatory. That’s what came across to me.”
Kelsi Quick, graduate student studying political science, came to hear the lecture because she had read Ziblatt’s book in the past. Quick brought her annotated copy of “How Democracies Die” to the event.
After the lecture, Quick purchased a copy of Ziblatt’s newest book, “Tyranny of the Minority.”
“I thought the lecture was really great,” Quick said. “He did answer a lot of questions that I had. And I think that he ultimately ended with at least a little bit of a note of optimism; something to be hopeful about our democracy.”
As a part of the Democracy Summit, there will be an event every day this week through Saturday. The complete event list can be found on the Office of Civic Life’s website.
