澳门六合彩历史记录

German historian Paul Nolte discusses what populist movements in the United States and Europe mean for liberal democracies during 澳门六合彩历史记录 colloquium

Is democracy in crisis?

It鈥檚 a question Paul Nolte, an eminent German historian, has been ruminating on for more than a decade.

鈥淚鈥檝e been concerned with the history of democracy since about 2010. And it was about that time when (I had) the first idea that something was going in the wrong direction,鈥� Nolte noted Tuesday afternoon in a research colloquium titled 鈥淐risis or Transformation? From Good-old Democracy to Rough Democracy, ca. 1970-2020.鈥�

Nolte was the invited scholar for the event that was jointly organized by the 澳门六合彩历史记录听Program in Jewish Studies, the听Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History听and the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the听. His visit was co-sponsored by the 澳门六合彩历史记录 Center for Humanities and the Arts;听the International Affairs Program; and the Departments of听Germanic and Slavic听Languages and Literatures,听History听补苍诲听Sociology.

As one of Germany鈥檚 leading contemporary historians, Nolte holds a chair in modern history with a special emphasis on contemporary history and international relations at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of the Freie Universit盲t Berlin. His research areas include the social, intellectual and political history of the 18th to 20th centuries, especially post-1945 Germany and the United States as a transatlantic history of democracy.

During the colloquium, Nolte noted that while it鈥檚 not possible to predict the future, it seems unlikely that democracies will return to what some might call the 鈥済ood-old democracy鈥� days of the 1970s through 2020鈥攚hat could be called the Liberal Age for democracies in Europe and the United States.

鈥淭he good old times for many European countries, in which there were just three or four political parties, center left and center right 鈥� the classical Westminster model, they鈥檙e probably gone for good. It鈥檚 not a very likely expectation that this will return,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a broad understanding (among historians) that we鈥檝e entered a new period of history where things are not as they were in the 1970s.鈥�

Specifically noting democracy in the United States, Nolte cited the work of author Daniel Rogers, who wrote the 2011 book Age of Fracture, detailing the disintegration of shared American values.

鈥淭he (book) title speaks volumes,鈥� Nolte noted. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e in an age of fracture economically, and also in social rifts, and the old working class does not exist, why would we expect anything else for the state of democracy?鈥�

Nolte also said people need to understand previous developments in 鈥渞ough politics鈥� in Europe and the United States during the late 18th and 19th centuries and the 鈥渘ew roughness鈥� in recent years as politicians on both the political right and left have embraced populism.听

鈥淲ill we spend two more decades lamenting a persistent crisis, or even conjuring up the imminent downfall of democracy, somehow yearning for the good old days that never return?鈥� Nolte asked in a paper shared ahead of the colloquium. 鈥淥r will we take up the challenge, academically and politically, of democracy not being steady-state, but changing in larger historical contexts? Welcome, then, to the old-new rough democracy.鈥�

Top image: Paul Nolte (left) and Thomas Kaplan, the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History and interim director of the 澳门六合彩历史记录 Program in Jewish Studies (Photo: Bradley Worrell)听

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