Anxieties of Democracy

This workshop, held at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, was the third in a series of convenings organized as part of a collaboration between the SSRC’s Anxieties of Democracy program and our namesake European partner program, Anxieties of Democracy, at the Swedish Institute for Futures Studies. The workshop explored political parties as an institution, seeking to assess their current state and explore their future. Topics included changes in the typical left-right cleavages of parties, the decline of traditional parties, the rise of populist parties, and the institutional and social contexts shaping political parties today, such as personalism, non-majoritarianism,

https://www.iffs.se/en/research/research-projects/anxieties-of-democracy/   This workshop, held in Stockholm, Sweden, was the second convening organized as part of a collaboration between the SSRC’s Anxieties of Democracy program and our namesake Swedish partner program, The Anxieties of Democracy Program. The workshop provided an opportunity for American and European scholars to present research that addressed the ability of democratic polities and institutions to ensure protections and resources for future generations. The workshop was generously supported by the Swedish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Institute for Future Studies.

https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/news/democracy-retreat-anxieties-democracy-programme   This workshop, held at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, was the first in a series of convening’s organized as part of a collaboration between the SSRC’s Anxieties of Democracy program and our namesake Swedish partner program, The Anxieties of Democracy Program. The workshop addressed the question of democratic performance, and why democracies are sometimes outperformed by autocracies. Topics included political legitimacy, socio-economic inequality, control of corruption, and sustainable public finances. The workshop was generously supported by the Swedish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Institute for Future Studies.

http://www.democratic-anxieties.eu/berlin/   This workshop, held in Berlin, Germany, continued the partnership between SSRC’s Anxieties of Democracy program and the Democratic Anxieties project supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The workshop provided an opportunity for American and German scholars of political institutions to present their research. Topics included legislative polarization, democratic institutional safeguards, the positives and setbacks of majoritarian institutions, and more.