Lund Critical Debate

Democracies worldwide—even many wealthy democracies long considered safely consolidated—are at risk today. Governments, policymakers, and voters face new conflicts over democratic institutions, checks and balances, which citizens can compete for office or deserve representation, and what rules of accountability apply.

This year's Lund debate from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies examines the threats democracies around the world are confronting, both from external forces and from within—and what governments and citizens can do to fight back.

Join Thomas Garrett of the Community of Democracies and Damon Wilson of the National Endowment for Democracy for a conversation on democratic backsliding, strategies for resilience, and the conditions and practices that undermine democracy: democracy ... and its opposites.

A reception with refreshments will follow the conversation.

Lund Debate: 5:00–6:30 p.m. | Alice Statler AuditoriumFree ticket required for in-person attendance. Reserve your ticket today! Join the lecture virtually by registering at Cornell.

Reception to follow.

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Panelists

Thomas E. Garrett is secretary general of the Community of Democracies, a global intergovernmental coalition comprised of the Governing Council member states that support adherence to the Warsaw Declaration's common democratic values and standards. Garrett previously worked for the International Republican Institute for 12 years overseas in Ukraine, Mongolia, and Indonesia, returning to Washington, DC, in 2005 as director of Middle East programs and then as vice president for global programs.

Damon Wilson is president and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a nonprofit grant-making foundation supporting freedom around the world. Prior to joining NED, he helped transform the Atlantic Council into a leading global think tank as its executive vice president. He previously served as special assistant to the president and senior director for European affairs at the National Security Council. Wilson also served at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as the executive secretary and chief of staff, where he helped manage one of the largest U.S. embassies during a time of conflict.

Moderator

Rachel Beatty Riedl has served as the Einaudi Center's director since 2019. She is the Einaudi Center's John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and professor in the Department of Government and Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Her research interests include institutional development in new democracies, local governance and decentralization, and authoritarian regime legacies in Africa.

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About the Debate

The Lund Critical Debate is a signature event of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. This year's dialogue is part of Einaudi's work on democratic threats and resilience. Established in 2008, Einaudi's Lund Critical Debate series is made possible by the generosity of Judith Lund Biggs '57.

Faculty and staff are invited to join for an overview and open discussion of the Global Hubs initiative.

Vice Provost Wendy Wolford will explain the purpose of the Global Hubs, and faculty leads for several of the Hubs locations will discuss their experiences with institutional partners and ways for faculty and staff to be involved.

Please bring your questions about the Hubs and join us in person on March 13 at 11:30 a.m. in G10 Biotech.

Moderator:

Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs

Faculty Presenters:

Gustavo Flores-Macias, faculty lead for Tecnológico de Monterrey, MexicoNate Foster, faculty lead for University of Edinburgh, United KingdomYing Hua, director of Cornell China Center, BeijingLee Humphreys, faculty lead for DenmarkTom Pepinsky, faculty lead for National University of Singapore, SingaporeMark Milstein, representative for the Faculty Senate CAPP on the faculty advisory committeeRachel Beatty Riedl, director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International StudiesKen Roberts, faculty lead for Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador

Far-right political parties have recently been on the rise throughout Western Europe while social democratic parties have experienced an electoral decline. By asking what the roots of the far-right’s success are, why social democratic parties have lost ground, and if these developments are related, this talk explores one of the most topical areas in contemporary European politics. How has partisan attachment to social democratic/ far-right parties developed over time? Which policy positions have led to electoral success/debacles for social democratic/far-right parties? Where are social democratic/far-right parties ideologically located relative to their partisans/voters? How do social democratic/far-right parties explain their gains/losses? Which voters do social democratic/far-right parties target? I argue that in those countries where social democracy is on decline, social democrats have lost more partisans and remaining partisans’ attachment to social democratic parties is also weaker due to structural causes such as the erosion of working-class milieus. As strongly attached partisans vote for parties no matter how big the policy distance between them and the party is, weaker ties between partisans and social democratic parties mean less ideological flexibility. This flexibility is necessary to catch non-partisan floating voters. Parties are dependent on these volatile voters, as no party can win an election based on their core electorate alone. Floating voters then get targeted by the far-right instead. Where social democracy has lost fewer partisans, it enjoys the flexibility of ideologically adapting to floating voters and leaves no room for the far-right. How well parties have understood this, also affects their fate.

Speaker
Mona Krewel, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), Director of the Internet, Social Media, and Politics Research Lab (ISPRL), Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University

Register for virtual viewing.