In the next episode of Public Square, invited by Ditmir Bushati was Daniel Ziblatt, professor of government at Harvard University, director of the Center for European Studies at Harvard, and co-author of the well-known books How Democracies Die and The Tyranny of the Minority.
The conversation focused on the state of democracy in the United States, the challenges of liberal democracies in the West, the transatlantic relationship, as well as the impact of technology and artificial intelligence on democratic life.
Ziblatt assessed that the US is not simply experiencing a “shift,” but an authoritarian attack on democracy, emphasizing that such signs are visible when the outcome of elections is questioned, when violent rhetoric is used against opponents, and when the legitimacy of political rivals is denied. According to him, these developments have led to the erosion of basic democratic norms and a decline in the quality of American democracy.
A significant part of the discussion was devoted to the unwritten rules of democracy, which Ziblatt considered as important as the constitution and formal laws. He highlighted two fundamental pillars: mutual tolerance, i.e. the acceptance of the rival as a legitimate opponent, and institutional restraint, which requires the government not to use to the maximum every formal competence at its disposal.
In his analysis of international developments, Ziblatt said that the costs to authoritarian regimes are lower today than they used to be, due to the weakening of the Western consensus on democracy promotion. He argued that when democracy is challenged in large and powerful countries like the US, the consequences are not only national, but also shake up the international order.
Speaking about US-Europe relations, Ziblatt defended the thesis that the European Union has been and remains in the strategic interest of the United States, warning that the weakening of the European project and the transatlantic alliance would bring more uncertainty to Europe itself and to the Western order as a whole.
"You said that the US is not engaging with the EU because it no longer sees it as an American project. In my opinion, part of the mistake of current US foreign policy is that it does not recognize that the EU was in fact an American project. This was in the US interest.
The idea that Europe should maintain its weight in terms of military contributions enjoys support, but I think we should not neglect the potential risk that when a great power allows other powers to develop their autonomy in armaments, then it also loses control over those countries and there is a real risk that European countries find themselves in insecure situations.
"To put it simply, I fear the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Europe. I don't think that's in America's interest. I think this project is on the wrong track," he said.
Another important moment of the conversation was the impact of technology and artificial intelligence on democracy. Ziblatt expressed concern about the extreme concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a few technology companies, calling this bad news not only for citizens, but also for democracy itself. He defended the need for democratic states to regulate the digital market and guarantee fair competition.
At the end of the conversation, he emphasized that, despite debates about the economic efficiency of different systems, democracy remains the best form of government for protecting fundamental freedoms, guaranteeing civil liberties, and peacefully removing bad leaders through elections. According to him, if societies fail to provide a convincing answer to the question “why democracy?”, then they risk losing not only democratic institutions, but also the battle for the idea of democracy itself.
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