In this episode of The Civic Forum, Rory leads a conversation with four leading scholars of democratic erosion — Steven Levitsky (Harvard), Adam Przeworski (NYU), Susan Stokes (UChicago), and Daniel Ziblatt (Harvard) — on the current state of American democracy. They discuss the impact of recent politics, the prospects for effective opposition, and potential paths to democratic resilience and renewal.

In this week’s episode of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex is joined by Kevin Arceneaux, professor at Sciences Po and leading expert on political psychology, to explore how Americans really think about democracy, authoritarianism, and political violence.They discuss:- Why most Americans support democracy in the abstract, but may condone bad behavior when their side benefits.- The rise of the “need for chaos”- How Americans view political violence and how escalation can be stopped- What citizens and leaders can do to reduce polarization and defend democracy.

Is American democracy in crisis? In this week’s episode of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex is joined by Dartmouth professors John Carey and Brendan Nyhan, co-founders of Bright Line Watch, the project tracking democratic backsliding in America.They discuss:

• Why expert ratings of U.S. democracy have dropped to historic lows.
• Why the U.S. may now resemble countries like Brazil or Hungary more than Canada or the U.K.
• The failure of Congress and political elites to check presidential power.
• Whether Democrats should “fight fire with fire” or risk deepening the spiral.
• What ordinary citizens can do to push back against authoritarianism.