Threats to democracy: a historical perspective

BRLSI’s Democracy Under Threat series invites you to pause and take stock by surveying the wealth of history and political thinking which underpins our long-held democratic systems and institutions. It explores the laying down of democratic principles from Ancient Athens to the present day, and takes in current scenarios in international geopolitics, while considering Britain as its own small island with its own set of political traditions.

At present it seems the world is afflicted by a sense of democratic despondency. Experts see diverse countries spread across the world as providing reasons for concern. Authoritarianism is strengthening, they tell us, even in countries where democracy was supposedly more established. They include the US under Donald Trump and – perhaps – the UK. This pessimism contrasts significantly with the pessimism of the late twentieth century, and what was known as the ‘Third Wave’ of international democratisation.

What has happened? How bad is it? And what – if anything – can we do about it? This talk approaches these questions using an historical perspective, focusing in particular on the past of the UK.

Professor Andrew Blick (King’s College London)

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