The Democracy We Need

On November 8th, we held our first event on the resilience of democratic institutions, with regional comparative perspectives from Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. We are so grateful to Professors Sheri Berman, Consuelo Cruz, and Malik Mufti for generously donating their time to come and speak to a crowd of interested students. 

Speaker Insights:

“One thing that makes democratic institutions stronger is that people need to believe in them. Institutions don’t have a life of their own, they continue to exist because people believe that they are the best way to solve problems.” - Sheri Berman

“Every regime has characteristic pathologies- every regime can give way to a worse version of that regime. And therefore, this conception of political activism isn’t sustaining or accelerating progress, but correcting imbalances.”

- Malik Mufti

"Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Chile, all three, have stories of democratic exceptionalism, and they reinforce the stories after democratic breakdowns... National myth making is one of those ingredients that helps hold together democratic institutions, so that when those institutions come under assault you can buttress them."

- Consuelo Cruz For those interested in listening to the recording, you can view it here: https://lnkd.in/eqDJwfDG