Democracy in Danger

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Democracy is founded on the idea that the ultimate power of governance lies in its people.  In essence, power to govern flows upwards from the bottom not down from the top as is characteristic in autocratic regimes.

Democracy is dynamic. It can adjust to ever-changing environments and societal differences. US democracy is one of the oldest in today’s world, but it is also just one of many forms that have been tried since democracy’s origins in 6^th century BCE Athens. Some have succeeded and others failed.  Ultimately, all democratic governments provide legal structures. Some do so through written constitutions. Others rely on a set of agreed-upon laws that are underpinned by the values of liberty, independence, free speech, justice and fair play for all and yes, even the pursuit of happiness.

US democracy has changed substantially since it was introduced in the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the US Constitution in 1789. Both are amazingly concise and revolutionary documents for their time that set out a framework designed to unite 13 disparate, quarreling, multiethnic, multilinguistic and multireligious British colonies governed by a king.  This new framework was created to mitigate against the over concentration of power in a single individual or group by dispersing it through a system of checks and balances – from federalism, three branches of government, free media and speech, to regular elections run in the states.

But what if those 17^th century guardrails are breached?  When threatened, is democracy resilient enough to resist?  Is it worth fighting for? Can it be protected?  If so, how? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Its basic elements?  Is it still even the best way to govern?  And how should this form of government look and operate in the future?

Much of US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War was based on the mantra that the spread of democracy worldwide helps guard against wars.  In fact, the spread of democratic values has been at the foundation of US foreign policy since the end of WWII. The current international system itself – now under challenge – is also based on democratic principles and aspirations – derived from this 18^th century US experiment.

Yet today the democratic form of government is under threat. Has democracy run its course?  Or does power still rest with “we the people”?  And if so, how best can this great experiment function in states and nations here at home and abroad in the twenty-first century?

This year’s symposium will address and try to answer these and other questions.