When can we realistically expect ordinary people to check the authoritarian ambitions of elected politicians? An answer to this question is key to understanding the most common form of democratic breakdown since the end of the Cold War: the gradual subversion of democracy by democratically elected parties and politicians.
Milan Svolik is the Elizabeth S. & A. Varick Stout Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University. He studies the politics of authoritarian regimes, democratization, and democratic erosion. Svolik is the author of The Politics of Authoritarian Rule (Cambridge University Press, 2012). His latest research examines why ordinary people support politicians who undermine democracy.
Part of the Kennedy Center's winter 2025 lecture series, "Building and Brokering Peace."
“Anti election protest Moscow” by Sergey Korneev is licensed under CC BY 4.0.