Democratic Threats and Resilience
“The case for democracy is simple: Democracy is the only political system that institutionalizes protections for minority voices while also protecting the rights of journalists, citizens, and opposition leaders to criticize their government,” Einaudi’s Thomas Pepinsky wrote in Brookings.
“The political criticism and meaningful dissent that democracies encourage is an existential threat to any authoritarian regime.”
Researchers across the Einaudi Center are monitoring evolving democratic norms and threats to democracy in the United States and around the world. This work is vital today, as our ability to address a range of global challenges—from pandemics and climate change to human rights—often hinges on the strength of representative institutions that provide voice and access to diverse societal interests and actors.
Focus on Research: Global Threats to Democracy
Military coups or social revolutions have not been the driving forces behind most contemporary democratic breakdowns. Unlike these decisive acts of regime change, recent frays in the democratic fabric have at first been easier to miss. They begin when leaders and parties use democratic institutions—courts, parliaments, the media—to concentrate power, marginalize opponents, and whittle away at a system’s checks and balances.
Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia have all experienced the rise of leaders, movements, and parties—often characterized as “populist”—that operate within democratic institutions while challenging their norms and conventions. Einaudi Center researchers are working together to identify the factors that make democratic institutions vulnerable to internal subversion and, more importantly, the conditions under which they are resilient. Read more below about our key research areas.
Warning: Autocracy
How can grassroots movements and civil society institutions resist the rise of autocratic regimes?
Populism
Which inequalities and cultural conflicts aid populist challengers and deepen polarization?
Regime Cleavage
Under what conditions do citizens lose faith in political institutions—and even democracy itself?
Get Involved at Einaudi
Explore Global Public Voices in the Media
Our Global Public Voices advocacy initiative promotes Einaudi experts’ engagement on public policy questions, global current events, and more. Check out Global Public Voices in the Media to see selected media appearances and op-eds from Global Public Voices fellows and alumni.
Democratic Threats in the Media
More than Red and Blue: Political Parties and American Democracy
As U.S. voters brace for a contentious campaign season, a July 2023 report from the American Political Science Association (APSA) and Protect Democracy confronts the serious risk of democratic backsliding in the United States. Einaudi Center director Rachel Beatty Riedl served on the APSA Presidential Task Force on Political Parties and wrote Chapter 10: Factions, Moderation, and Democratic Responsibility.
Read about the report and what it tells us about U.S. political parties, polarization, and the potential for change.
Government PhD Candidate Vincent Mauro
Vincent Mauro is completing a dissertation on why some democracies redistribute income more effectively than others. His Einaudi-funded research took him to archival collections in Brazil and Colombia to study how Latin American party systems shape social reform and economic inequality.
In this international archives explainer, Mauro shares his strategies for making the most of limited research time in archival collections outside the U.S.
From DTR Faculty
Riedl: Senegal Fights for Freedoms
Mettler: Partisanship and the ACA
Roberts qtd. in NYT: Berlusconi’s Legacy
People
Kenneth Roberts: Democratic Threats Faculty Fellow
Kenneth Roberts leads Einaudi’s democratic threats and resilience research priority in academic years 2022–24. If you're a researcher interested in contributing, please reach out by email.
Read about his work with the Cornell Global Hub in Ecuador.
Postdoctoral Fellow Paul Friesen
Paul Friesen graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a PhD in political science. He studies democratization, elections, political parties, and political behavior in sub-Saharan Africa. Check out his article in Why Democracies Develop and Decline, an edited volume published by Cambridge University Press in June 2022.
Scholars Under Threat
Global Cornell leads campus and community support for international scholars, students, and human-rights defenders whose work puts them at risk in their home countries. The Einaudi Center hosts the visitors during their time at Cornell, providing a welcoming intellectual community, collaborators and connections, and opportunities to build a sustainable career in the United States. Einaudi is currently hosting Dmitry Bykov (IES).
- Chronicle: For Bykov, Fight for Russia's Future is Personal
- Learn more about Global Cornell's Scholars Under Threat initiative.