Three centers at the University of Chicago—the Center for Effective Government, the Chicago Center on Democracy, and the Center in Paris—recently convened a group of scholars and practitioners in Paris for a set of roundtables on vulnerabilities to democracy. Those present hailed from nine countries across Europe and North America, coming together at the Center in Paris in February 2023 to discuss topics including “Democracy in International Politics,” “The War of Ideas in Ukraine and Beyond,” and “Grassroots activism.”
Our aim with this convening was to lay the groundwork for a new Cross-Atlantic Democracy Initiative, involving scholars and practitioners devoted to the study of democracy. This will be a diverse group of scholars and practitioners with deep knowledge about the vulnerabilities of democracy and the political forces that, by turn, reinforce and undermine its expansion.
