Book Club - The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure by Yascha Mounk

ABSTRACT

Some democracies are highly homogeneous. Others have long maintained a racial or religious hierarchy, with some groups dominating and exploiting others. Never in history has a democracy succeeded in being both diverse and equal, treating members of many different ethnic or religious groups fairly. And yet achieving that goal is now central to the democratic project in countries around the world. It is, Yascha Mounk argues, the greatest experiment of our time. The Great Experiment provides real reason for hope about the outcome that can be achieved by using crucial insights from the past to illustrate how to do better in the future.

BIOGRAPHY

Yascha Mounk is a writer and academic known for his work on the rise of populism and the crisis of liberal democracy. Born in Germany to Polish parents, Mounk received his BA in history from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, and his PhD in government from Harvard University. He is now a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University and the founder of Persuasion. Mounk is also a contributing editor at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.