The Fate of Democracy in the 21st Century

With end the Cold War in 1989, many in the international community heralded the arrival of a new historical era, in which the world’s nations would all converge on democratic forms of governance. However, the last 15 years have witnessed a trend in the opposite direction, as democracy and civil liberties have come under threat in a wide variety of countries and regions. This begs a number of essential questions: Why is democracy being challenged in so many places around the world? And what will be the fate of democracy in the 21st century? Even more basically, is democracy really the best available political system in the information age? We hope in this Master class to stimulate your thinking about these fundamental questions, and maybe even provide some preliminary answers!