Repairing Democratic Backsliding: Six Strategies for Higher Education

The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent the views of the SNF Agora Institute or Johns Hopkins University.

Authors: Jonathan Pinckney, Humza Khan

During a period of global democratic decline, the democratic purposes of higher education are a matter of increasing urgency. Recognizing that fact, many colleges and universities have sought to repair democracy, for instance, by creating democracy institutes or initiatives. Yet this nascent field has yet to coalesce around a common understanding of its key theories of change. How can colleges and universities most impactfully protect, repair, and improve democracy? In this report, we seek to answer that question, blending findings from the growing research field on democratic backsliding with research on potential interventions.

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