This talk begins with a nuanced definition of democracy and goes on walk you through the main arguments of Levistsky and Ziblatt’s How Democracies Die.
Alternatively, you can watch Ziblatt give his talk at the American Academy in the Fall of 2019. Perhaps better to tune into the expert in lieu of this impostor đ
With campaigning well under way for general elections on 16 February, these are the men – and they invariably are men – who pull the strings behind the scenes.
They are political sponsors, who use money and influence to win support for their preferred candidates.
Their “godsons”, it is believed, are not always selected for their political acumen, but rather on their ability to repay and enrich their godfather.
This is a cartoon from 1933, starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was originally created by Walt Disney. By the time this cartoon was made, he belonged to Walter Lantz, who went on to create Woody Woodpecker. Confidence shows the effects of the Depression and what people need to get past it.
In the 1860s and 70s, photographer Timothy O’Sullivan created some of the best-known images in American History. After covering the U.S. Civil War, O’Sullivan joined a number of expeditions organized by the federal government to help document the new frontiers in the American West. The teams were composed of soldiers, scientists, artists, and photographers, and tasked with discovering the best ways to take advantage of the region’s untapped natural resources. O’Sullivan brought an amazing eye and work ethic, composing photographs that evoked the vastness of the West. He also documented the Native American population as well as the pioneers who were already altering the landscape. Above all, O’Sullivan capturedâfor the first time on filmâthe natural beauty of the American West in a way that would later influence Ansel Adams and thousands more photographers to come.
In the middle of a discussion on how to fashion their public relations in regard to what the “average man” cares about, President Richard Nixon and his aides White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman and Chief Domestic Advisor John Ehrlichman discuss the new television show, All in the Family. The episode that Nixon watched and described to his aides in detail dealt with homosexuality. This leads Nixon into a larger discussion of homosexuality in history and more generally. This conversation is featured in the documentary, “Our Nixon.”
The August 1965 Watts Riots (or Watts Rebellion, depending on oneâs perspective and politics), were among the bloodiest, costliest and most analyzed uprisings of the notoriously unsettled mid-1960s. Ostensibly sparked by an aggressive traffic stop of a black motorist by white cops, the six-day upheaval resulted in 34 deaths, more than 3,400 arrests and tens of millions of dollars in property damage (back when a million bucks still meant something).
A year after the flames were put out and the smoke cleared from the southern California sky, LIFE revisited the scene of the devastation for a âspecial sectionâ in its July 15, 1966, issue that the magazine called âWatts: Still Seething.â
The images, all printed in 1930, reflect the governmentâs promotion of early-childhood health and well-being in the early years of the Soviet Union.
This biography explores whether Americans should celebrate Jackson or apologize for him. The program reveals the world of America’s 7th president, who boldly founded the Democratic Party – yet was viewed by his enemies as an American Napoleon. Narrated by Martin Sheen, the film tells a story with startling relevance to the modern presidency by bringing to life one of the most remarkable, yet divisive presidents in our history.
Tom Sutcliffe discusses Napoleon with historians Andrew Roberts, Sudhir Hazareesingh and Jenny Uglow and musicologist Gavin Plumley.
On Nov. 20, 1969, more than 70 Native Americans gathered before dawn on a dock in San Francisco Bay. They boarded three boats and sailed from the small, foggy harbor in Sausalito, Calif., to Alcatraz Island. They intended to make landfall on territory belonging to the United States government with the intent of claiming it for themselves. Or reclaiming it, depending on your point of view.
Read the NY Times reflect on this event, 50 years later.
Americans are likely to think of New Yearâs Eve and New Yearâs Day as a time to celebrate the fresh start that a new year represents, but there is also a troubling side to the holidayâs history. In the years before the Civil War, the first day of the new year was often a heartbreaking one for enslaved people in the United States.
In the African-American community, New Yearâs Day used to be widely known as âHiring Dayâ â or âHeartbreak Day,â
McCarthy chronicles the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator whose zealous anti-communist crusade would test the limits of American decency and democracy.
In 2018, Xi decided to abolish presidential term limits, signaling his intention to stay in power indefinitely. He has indulged in heavy-handed purges, ousting prominent party officials under the guise of an anticorruption drive. What is more, Xi has suppressed protests in Hong Kong, arrested hundreds of human rights lawyers and activists, and imposed the tightest media censorship of the post-Mao era. His government has constructed âreeducationâ camps in Xinjiang, where it has incarcerated more than a million Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities. And it has centralized economic and political decision-making, pouring government resources into state-owned enterprises and honing its surveillance technologies. Yet all together, these measures have made the CCP weaker: the growth of state-owned enterprises distorts the economy, and surveillance fuels resistance. The spread of the novel coronavirus has only deepened the Chinese peopleâs dissatisfaction with their government.
Is the Chinese regime a “paper tiger”?
A special undercover report from Chinaâs secretive Xinjiang region. FRONTLINE investigates the Communist regimeâs mass imprisonment of Muslims, and its use and testing of sophisticated surveillance technology against the Uyghur community.
Lecture Outline:
Enjoy!