How Democracies Die
Wednesday, October 30 - Sunday, November 3, 2024
A theatrical exploration of the New York Times best-selling book by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. The play, devised by UNH students, will delve into the book’s examination of how we have arrived at this moment in our democracy. As stated in the Wall Street Journal’s review; “The authors argue, with good evidence, that democracies aren’t destroyed because of the impulses of a single man; they are, instead, degraded in the course of a partisan tit for tat dynamic that degrades norms over time until one side sees an opening to deliver the death blow.” The result of more than twenty years of studying the breakdown of democracies from the 1930s to the present, the book’s authors have provided an artistic springboard to understand how democracies die, and how ours can not only be saved, but thrive.
The creation of this play was supported in part by a generous grant from the Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project (RGSCP). The play will be part of a larger program, How Democracies Die/Thrive, that will feature speakers and panels leading up to the production.
How Democracies Die is a work of nonfiction by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (Crown, 2018).
Tyranny of the Minority:
Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point
Monday, April 8
4pm in 210 Ham Smith
Dr. Steven Levitsky
David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and
Professor of Government
Harvard University
Dr. Daniel Ziblatt
Eaton Professor of Government
Harvard University
Please join us for the annual John T. Holden Lecture as we welcome Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt of Harvard University.
Drawing on insights from their latest book, Tyranny of the Minority , Levitsky and Ziblatt will present a wealth of examples – from 1930s France to present-day Thailand – to explain why and how political parties turn against democracy. They will also offer reflections on the current state of democracy in the United States, and the ways the Constitution leaves the United States vulnerable to attacks from within, arguing that It is a pernicious enabler of minority rule, allowing partisan minorities to consistently thwart and even rule over popular majorities. Levitsky and Ziblatt will also present examples from other democracies – from Germany and Sweden to Argentina and New Zealand – who have taken steps to update and strengthen their governmental frameworks, and present strategies for reforming U.S. democracy.
The Holden Lecture is supported by the John T. Holden Memorial Fund in the College of Liberal Arts, which was established in 1995 in memory of John Holden, one of the university’s outstanding professors of political science, who served that department for 25 years, many as chair. The fund is dedicated to bringing signal scholars in the social sciences to UNH.
What can we learn from Claudine Gay?: The politics of citation, plagiarism, & the spread of ideas in the social sciences
Thursday, February 22, 12:40-2:00PM, MUB Theater II
Join us for a roundtable discussion reflecting on the recent resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay, a political scientist, due to plagiarism allegations. Topics to be addressed include the politics of how we value and attribute ideas in academia and society, the role of technology in enabling and identifying plagiarism, and how academic citation serves as a tool to trace the spread of original ideas. Panelists include faculty from the political science and international affairs department, and Dimond Library. Refreshments will be served. Event is supported by the Responsible Governance & Sustainable Citizenship Project (RGSCP).
Il Cinema Ritrovato
April 1-5, 2024
