EP 566 Diverse Democracies Can Easily Come Apart. Can We Keep This One Together?

 

President Biden has been stressing the fragility of democracy in the context of a growing authoritarian strain around the globe. Poster child for this is the most irascible person on the international stage, Russian thug Vladimir Putin. And then there are authoritarian populists in our own midst, like Donald Trump, making the cause of democracy a challenge even in a free state. This form of populism is often ascribed to economic stagnation and the harmful effects of disinformation on social media. Often left out of the list of causes is the trick of turning a monoethnic democracy into multi ethnic one. Now you might say that America doesn’t fall into that category given our history as a nation of immigrants. However, key ethnic minorities in America, such a African-Americans, are newly enfranchised in the 1960’s with repeated and ongoing efforts to limit their impact at the voting booth. Clashes between different identity groups is a major driver of human conflict around the globe. It takes many forms. Political scientist, Yascha Mounk, in his new book ‘The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure’, describes what is happening as fissures in our body politic play out. The good news is that we can rise above our differences and create a better place for all of us. The question is do we have the leadership and will to do it.

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