Global Democracy Conference, Kellogg Institute, University of Notre Dame —Lessons Learned Part 1

Over 100 political scientists, sociologists, activists, policy analysts and more gathered May 19-20 at the annual Global Democracy Conference hosted by the Kellogg Institute and School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. The two main research and reflection questions – “Why is there public support for anti-democratic leaders?” and “How do we strengthen democratic resilience, action and narrative-building in our world?” The most fascinating part of the gathering was that in attendance were researchers and activists from other countries with the same struggle – from Brazil, Chile, Hungary, to Serbia- leaders spoke of key lessons learned in their fight to ensure a democratic future for their citizens.

In this Part 1 report, I will share some of the key lessons for the first main inquiry of the conference—“Why is there public support for anti-democratic leaders?”

I’ll highlight the researchers you should follow for more on these key lessons.

1.     Growing income inequality and grievance pushes citizens toward a populist who makes commitments to address economic inequality and social grievances. This point was made clear by the social action research, involving the interviewing of young men in Argentinian barrios, led by Rodrigo Zarazaga from the Center for Research and Social Action (CIAS).  Researching the reasons why young men ages 14-18 from the “shanty towns” of Argentina were for authoritarian leader, Javier Milei, Zarazaga recounted that they were highly influenced by social media messaging that the cause of their economic despair was due to feminism.  Milei thus promised recognition of this grievance and a commitment to address their economic instability.

 2.     Ecosystem for the anti-democratic leader is broad and deep. Looking across various nation’s support of anti-democratic leaders, there is a trend of broad civil society, think tanks, nonprofits, churches that support a hard right turn for that society. In some cases, international support of anti-democratic leaders is also evident in this coalition. (topic covered by researchers, Ann Mische, University of Notre Dame and Tomas Gold, University of Southern California).

 3.     Human rights violations don’t feel personal, until they are. There is some research to show that individuals may not worry about overall human rights as a key issue – until they are personally impacted. Therefore, even the threats on human rights from anti-democratic leaders are not taken seriously by the broad public. (topic covered by researchers Luis Schiumerini, University of Notre Dame and Laura Gamboa, University of Notre Dame.)