When European conservatives accept democracy, stability tends to ensue
Daniel Ziblatt, a Harvard professor of government, recently visited the Center for European Studies to discuss his new book, “Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy.” During a Q&A session earlier, he discussed the issues of governance and stability that he examines in it. GAZETTE: Why did you decide to write a book on the history of democracy? ZIBLATT: When I began working on this book, I was struck by a deep historical question that also resonates with our times. If you looked back at Europe in the middle of the 19th century, many of the factors that we today know make creating and sustaining democracy such a truly difficult process — economic inequality, stratification, repressive states — were actually present there as well. Nearly all countries, from Britain to Germany to Southern Europe, were highly stratified societies governed by deeply hierarchical and repressive states, all ruled by restricted suffrage. So I...