Steven Levitsky, Carol Anderson hold engaging talk on American politics

Students, faculty and staff crowded into Emory University’s Micheal C. Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall on Sept. 18 to hear Harvard University (Mass.) David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government Steven Levitsky and Robert W. Woodruff Professor of African American Studies Carol Anderson address the current state of American democracy. The event was part of the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry’s yearlong lecture series on democracy. Levitsky, author of “How Democracies Die” and “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” delivered the keynote lecture on the fragility of American democracy in the face of the upcoming presidential election. Anderson, author of “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide,” spoke after Levitsky and described the historical evolution of American democracy to the present. During his speech, Levitsky described America’s transition toward a multiracial democracy and responses to this trend. Levitsky said that American politics is in the midst of democratic backsliding, which he attributed to the Republican party’s inability to find a diverse voting base in a multiracial democracy. “Refusing to accept election results, flirting with political violence and endorsing an openly authoritarian candidate are clear signs of a party that is...