Highlights from Philip H. Gordon's Keynote on Democracy

Keynote Address by Philip H. Gordon: Spring Symposium 2025 Highlights

The Clough Center’s Spring Symposium on March 21-22, 2025, focused on “Envisioning Democratic Futures.” Philip H. Gordon, former National Security Adviser, highlighted democracy’s decline due to populism and erosion of institutions. He attributed this shift to factors like income inequality and citizens’ alienation from elites, impacting global democratic health.

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On March 21-22, 2025, during a two-day conference, the Clough Center held its flagship event of the year, the Spring Symposium, which brought together an array of faculty members, scholars, and policymakers to provide their thoughts and reflections on “Envisioning Democratic Futures,” the theme of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Philip H. Gordon, Clough Center’s Spring Symposium, March 22, 2025

On the concluding day of the event, the Clough Center was pleased to welcome Philip H. Gordon, who delivered a speech on “The Current State and Future of Democracy Worldwide.” Gordon served as the National Security Adviser to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (2022-2025). He also served as the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in the Obama administration.

Gordon initiated his speech with an overview of the status of democracy worldwide, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic institutions over the past fifteen years. He mentioned that democracy is not solely about elections, but it must be a political system with free and fair elections, respect for the rule of law by elected leaders, and broader protections for civil liberties. However, the current trends, he said, are towards populism in countries with previous records of democracy. Although strongmen come to power through elections, Gordon said, they tend to intimidate the press, bully opposition figures, and use incumbency to influence elections.

Gordon explained that a variety of factors were at play, such as income inequality and backlashes against globalization, leading to the election of populist leaders. Gordon noted that many citizens feel that elites did not look after them, which causes deep resentments. This sense of alienation creates a perception that the whole system is broken and needs a strong individual to solve the problems that the elites neglected.

Gordon concluded his speech on the quality of democracy in the rest of the world, from Russia, Mexico, Guatemala, Turkey, and India. You can watch the full video through the link below.