Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Josiah Ober, Stanford University
I propose an alternative formulation of the question addressed by the working group Is liberal democracy sustainable?, that will be meeting simultaneously with this seminar, by asking three related questions:
(1) Is democracy understood as citizen self-government, predicated on the rule of law and political liberties recoverable after an authoritarian takeover?
(2) If so, what can be done to restore and defend liberal democracy, by forestalling (if not definitively preventing) the next takeover?
Cases drawn from ancient and modern history show that the answer to (1) is Yes - although recovery is no sure thing. But the answer to (2) is less clear. The Athenian case on which I have spent much of my career offers options for restoring democracy and forestalling tyranny, by fostering effective collective action through (e.g.) reducing pluralistic ignorance, incentivizing first-movers, rebuilding trust in institutions, and civic education. Athens was (by the definition above) democratic, but not (by the definition below) liberal.
So a hard question remains (3) What post-authoritarian, tyranny-forestalling options are available that also sustain liberalism understood as an extensive set of clearly defined and legally enforced human rights and freedoms (for example, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the full US Constitution, including Amendments, as interpreted by liberal jurists)?
Learn more, follow us on social media and check out our podcasts:
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Josiah Ober, Stanford University
I propose an alternative formulation of the question addressed by the working group Is liberal democracy sustainable?, that will be meeting simultaneously with this seminar, by asking three related questions:
(1) Is democracy understood as citizen self-government, predicated on the rule of law and political liberties recoverable after an authoritarian takeover?
(2) If so, what can be done to restore and defend liberal democracy, by forestalling (if not definitively preventing) the next takeover?
Cases drawn from ancient and modern history show that the answer to (1) is Yes - although recovery is no sure thing. But the answer to (2) is less clear. The Athenian case on which I have spent much of my career offers options for restoring democracy and forestalling tyranny, by fostering effective collective action through (e.g.) reducing pluralistic ignorance, incentivizing first-movers, rebuilding trust in institutions, and civic education. Athens was (by the definition above) democratic, but not (by the definition below) liberal.
So a hard question remains (3) What post-authoritarian, tyranny-forestalling options are available that also sustain liberalism understood as an extensive set of clearly defined and legally enforced human rights and freedoms (for example, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the full US Constitution, including Amendments, as interpreted by liberal jurists)?
Learn more, follow us on social media and check out our podcasts:
https://linktr.ee/sfiscience
