Leah Joy Zell Lecture

Innovating for the Future of Democracy

Over the last century, we have seen the rapid spread of democracy followed by an equally dramatic set of reversals. At the turn of the century, only a handful of countries were democracies—most of the world was governed by empires, monarchies, or colonial rule. After decolonization and post-Cold War transitions in the late 1980s and 1990s, the number of electoral democracies surged, but since then, by almost every metric, democracies have been on the decline and democratic institutions are increasingly distrusted—perceived as less effective and less legitimate than they were decades ago. This has made democracy more vulnerable to authoritarian figures adept at weaponizing such grievances to expand their power. In this talk, Avril Haines discusses her project, which has only just begun, to identify innovations to our democratic political structures and our decision-making processes that could help overcome the current challenges facing Western democracies and make them more effective, responsive, and resilient.