Talk: Why Democracy Beats Populism

     

Presentation by Dr. Kurt Weyland, Mike Hogg Professor of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin

     

Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt in their 2018 book—How Democracies Die (Crown)—raised concerns that populist leaders such as Peru’s Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), and Hungary’s Viktor Orban (2010-present), among others, increasingly smothered democracy in their countries. They did so by getting elected democratically but then undermining the institutions that provide checks and balances once in office. Weyland, however, is more optimistic about democracy’s ability to survive populist leaders such as these. He argues that if you look at 40 cases between 1985 and 2020 in which populist leaders tried to overthrow democracy, these leaders only succeeded in seven of the cases. Democracy was more robust than Levitsky and Ziblatt’s analysis suggested.

     

Public parking on street.