On October 10, 2024, the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College will host the highly anticipated Fall 2024 Colloquium, part of a broader series centered on the Center’s 2024-2025 theme, Envisioning Democratic Futures. Daniel Ziblatt and Theda Skocpol of Harvard University, Hélène Landemore of Yale University, and John King of CNN are among the featured speakers. They will offer their insights on the future of democracy and explore pathways for its development and sustainability.
Daniel Ziblatt serves as the Director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and the Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University. Renowned for his research on the comparative study of democracy, particularly in Europe, Ziblatt has made significant contributions to understanding the rise and fall of democratic regimes. His best-known work, How Democracies Die (2018), co-authored with Steven Levitsky, became a New York Times best-seller and has been translated into thirty languages. The Economist lauded it as “the most important book of the Trump era.” Ziblatt’s most recent publication, Tyranny of the Minority (2023), also co-authored with Levitsky, extends his comparative analysis to American democracy, addressing the pressing threats it faces today. His earlier works, Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy (2017) and Structuring the State (2006), provide comprehensive historical accounts of democracy and state-building in Europe. Ziblatt’s contributions have earned him widespread recognition, including his election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023.
Hélène Landemore, a professor of political science at Yale University, specializes in democratic theory and political epistemology. Her work critically engages with the principles of democracy, particularly its evolving nature in the context of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Landemore’s role as a fellow at the University of Oxford’s Ethics in AI Institute and as an advisor to OpenAI’s Democratic Inputs to AI program underscores her commitment to exploring the ethical dimensions of AI’s intersection with democratic governance. Her expertise extends beyond academia into real-world democratic practice, having served on the Governance Committee of the French Citizens’ Convention. She is currently engaged in research supported by Schmidt Futures’ AI2050 initiative, focusing on the implications of AI for democratic institutions.
The 2024 Fall Colloquium promises to be an intellectually enriching event, providing attendees with insights into how democracy can be fostered, sustained, and adapted in the face of contemporary challenges. This conversation will serve as a critical platform for envisioning not only the future of democracy but also the innovative ways in which it can continue to thrive.
As part of the Clough Center’s ongoing efforts to explore the future of democratic governance, the Fall Colloquium will contribute significantly to the academic and public discourse on how we can envision and create democratic futures for generations to come.
- Photo Credit: Harvard/Yale
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