The State of Democracy in Germany and the US
About the Event
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Germany in late January after learning about a secret meeting between members of the right-wing extremist Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) party and known Neo-Nazis was leaked to have discussed deporting millions of migrants and citizens. Yet, the AfD has been gaining ground across Germany in elections and polls. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump is gaining ground as challenger to President Biden in November in the United States. Join experts Jan-Werner Müller (Princeton), Christiane Lemke (UNC), and Jeff Anderson (Georgetown) for a discussion of the current state of democracy in Germany and the US.
About the Speakers
Jeffrey Anderson is a full professor, holding joint appointments in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government. From 2002 to 2018, he served as Graf Goltz Professor & Director of the BMW Center for German and European Studies in the Walsh School. Anderson received a BA from Pomona College in 1981, and a PhD in Political Science from Yale University in 1988. He has taught previously at Emory University and Brown University. Anderson works at the intersection of comparative political economy and European integration, with a focus on Germany and the European Union. He is also a co-leader of the Transatlantic Heartlands Initiative, which brings together policymakers and researchers interested in charting a prosperous future for the long-suffering heartland industrial regions in the US and Europe, which in recent years have become sources of support for anti-democratic political movements.
Christiane Lemke is Emerita Professor of Political Science at Leibniz University Hannover/Germany and senior non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University. Her research focuses on International Relations, European politics, right-wing populism, and transatlantic relations. She received her phD and Habilitation at the Free University Berlin. She was co-founder of the interdisciplinary Jean Monnet European Studies Center in Hannover and, from 2007 until 2013, she served as the director of the Center. Christiane Lemke was a Visiting Krupp Chair at Harvard University, visiting professor at UNC Chapel Hill, and the Max Weber Chair for German and European Politics at New York University (2010-2014). Her publications include Germany Today. Politics and Policies in a Changing World (Rowman and Littlefield 2018, with Helga Welsh); International Relations (in German, 2018, de Gruyter Oldenbourg); Right-Wing Populism and International Issues. A Case Study of the Alternative for Germany, German Politics and Society, Special Issue on the Alternative for Germany, ed. by Eric Langenbacher, Issue 134, Vol. 38, No. 2, Summer 2020, pp. 90-108. The Battle for the White House. The US Presidential Elections 2020, (Springer VS 2023; with Jakob Wiedekind). Finding Common Ground in Uncertain Times. Assessing the Prospect of Multilateralism in Transatlantic Climate Change Policy. Journal of Transatlantic Studies, 1/2023.
Jan-Werner Müller is Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences at Princeton. His publications include Democracy Rules, What is Populism?, and Constitutional Patriotism.
