Summary

News

About

Web Links

• Website

Democracy Days

At Johns Hopkins University’s annual Democracy Day, new students learn about the importance of—and threats to—modern democracies.

Democracy Day 2023

Source: HUB

All of us have a role to play’ to ensure democracy survives and flourishes

At Johns Hopkins University’s annual Democracy Day, new students learn about the importance of—and threats to—modern democracies

Claire Goudreau, Published Aug 28, 2023

For most Johns Hopkins undergraduates, the college experience is filled with a long list of firsts—including the first election in which they are eligible to vote. With that in mind, JHU held its third annual Democracy Day on Saturday, offering students an introduction to the democratic process and the ways they can engage with it.

Much of this year’s programming focused on the problems facing democracy, a theme JHU President Ron Daniels echoed in his opening remarks.

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

“Liberal democracy … is not a self-executing endeavor,” he said. “We have seen time and time again throughout history that it can be derailed through apathy and indifference on the one hand, and nativism and fear on the other. For democracy to survive and to thrive, it must always be re-examined, re-energized, and renewed by lawyers, historians, philosophers, elected officials, and organizers. By scholars and practitioners like those at our SNF Agora Institute and the Center for Social Concern. By the protestors who are in and outside of this room … . And, critically, of course, by people like you. All of us have this role to play in helping liberal democracy achieve justice for all people.”

Daniels also shared his family’s personal experience with democracy and fascism, explaining how his Jewish father emigrated from Poland to Canada just six months before Hitler invaded in the late summer of 1939, narrowly escaping the Holocaust.

“I care, like so many of you, deeply about the health of liberal democracy,” Daniels said. “Because of it, my father and his siblings were able to build lives of meaning and purpose, free from the specter of fascism. And yet their story very clearly also exposes the autocratic and illiberal strains that continue to lurk within even well-established liberal democracies.”

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

After his remarks, Daniels introduced Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, who previously served as the state’s lieutenant governor and as a U.S. Congressman representing Maryland’s 4th Congressional District. Brown stressed that democracy depends on more than just individual participation.

“The cornerstone of our democracy is inclusion,” Brown said. “If our democracy is to live up to its ideals of true equality, then our democracy must reflect who we are. That requires not only your participation. That requires that you welcome and invite and even demand the inclusion of others.”

Attendees also heard from SNF Agora Director Hahrie Han and faculty member Andy Perrin, whose research focuses on what people need to to practice democratic citizenship, and how institutions can foster those behaviors.

After the day’s opening remarks, students dispersed to attend in-person pop-up seminars with SNF Agora and JHU faculty members. Each seminar was centered around a “leading problem” in modern democracy, such as corruption, issues in education, and the threat of fascism.

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Alongside these seminars was Democracy Day’s first-ever debate, held between political science professors Steve Teles and Lester Spence. The pair discussed whether higher education should be free, offering students a chance to hear from both sides of an issue.

First-year student Michael Newbold, who attended the debate, thought it was a great addition to the Democracy Day line-up.

“Personally, I have never seen something of this magnitude … play out at my high school or any venues I have been to before,” he said. “This is an important event for all people, even if you’re not necessarily into democratic studies.”

First-year student Hussein Ismail agreed, stressing how vital it is for universities to promote open dialogues.

“The fact that [Johns Hopkins] has debates in general, open and accessible, allows us to strengthen freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” he said. “It allows us to be more open to new ideas.”

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

After the seminars and debate, Democracy Day concluded with its Community Engagement Fair on Wyman Quad. Here, students were able to register to vote in their home states with help from Hopkins Votes. The fair also featured booths from various local organizations and student groups, as well as a meet-and-greet with current JHU and SNF Agora faculty and fellows.

The Community Engagement Fair was meant to demonstrate different ways that students could get involved with democracy during their time at Hopkins, said Catherine Pierre, SNF Agora’s director of communications.

“Democracy isn’t just for political scientists,” she said. “If there are students who are coming here thinking, ‘Well, I’m just going to be a musician or an artist or a scientist or a doctor, so this democracy stuff isn’t for me,’ this is our opportunity to introduce them to the idea that there are a lot of ways that you can engage with democracy.”

Democracy Day 2022

Source: HUB

Young people are not just our future, but our right now

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, university President Ron Daniels, and expert faculty discuss the value of democracy, as well as threats to it
Hub staff report – Published Aug 30, 2022

Democracy is in retreat around the globe. Just over 45% of the world’s population lives in some form of democracy, according to The Economist magazine’s latest Democracy Index of more than 160 countries. It’s democracy’s lowest showing since the index began 16 years ago. More than a third of the world’s population now lives under an authoritarian regime.

Such figures only added urgency to the university’s second annual Democracy Day, held Saturday. After remarks by university and civic leaders, undergraduate students participated in 21 pop-up seminars led by faculty from across Johns Hopkins that were designed to foster critical thinking about the challenges of democratic governance. The talks particularly focused on helping first-year students explore the rights and responsibilities of democratic engagement during their time at Johns Hopkins.

Professor Hahrie Han, inaugural director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins, which helped organize the event, opened the day and introduced JHU President Ron Daniels. In his remarks, he discussed the importance of liberal democracy, which refers to a type of government where the majority rules, but has limits on what it can do. The majority, for example, cannot infringe on the fundamental rights of an individual, and cannot undermine core institutions like the rule of law.

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

“To my mind, liberal democracy at its best, is responsive to the will of the majority, takes seriously the idea of free and unfettered elections where people vote en masse, and where the majority rules,” Daniels said. “But still, [liberal democracy] is profoundly, deeply committed to protecting freedom of thought, minority rights, holding elected officials to account, and limiting the exercise of coercive or corruptive power.”

He shared his family’s own history with the erosion of democratic norms. His paternal grandfather emigrated from Warsaw, Poland, to Canada in March, 1939, just six months before Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began. Although Daniels attributed the successes—and survival—of his family to the benefits of liberal democracy, he also discussed the antisemitism espoused by some members of the Canadian government at the time.

“My family’s story thus exemplifies both sides of the democratic coin,” Daniels said. “It’s imperative, I think, that we hold both of these truths in mind: recognizing the immense blessings and virtues of democratic society, but also understanding the ways in which it can, and too often does, fall tragically short of its aspirations.”

Special guest Brandon Scott, Baltimore’s youngest mayor in more than a century when elected in 2020 at age 36, discussed the power of young people to make a difference in their communities, both in spite of and because of their age. Reflecting on his own experiences, he implored the audience to know their personal power and use it to effect change.

“Our young people are not just our future, but our right now,” he said. “You all are living in an amazing, yet scary, time to be alive. American democracy, fairness, and decency are under constant assault every day. In my humble opinion, it must be our young people who save it. Every major movement in the history of this country has been powered by young people, and the movement to save American democracy should be the same. You each have experiences, insights, and solutions that our city needs–not after you leave Hopkins, but right now.”

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Speakers also included Professor of Sociology Andrew Perrin and SNF Agora Institute Visiting Fellow Farida Nabourema, a human rights activist, writer, and dissident who’s been fighting to bring democracy to her native Togo—currently ruled by Africa’s oldest single-family autocracy—since she was 13.

Opening remarks were followed by the pop-up seminars where leading scholars from around the university addressed the common theme of “What is a leading challenge to democracy?” Seminar leaders included Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Dean Chris Celenza; Beth Blauer, associate vice provost for public sector innovation; Odis Johnson, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of social policy and STEM equity; and Lilliana Mason, an associate professor of political science. Students attended up to three seminars on topics such as election security, gerrymandering, the negative impact of two-party politics on women, K-12 gaps in preparing students for good citizenship, and more.

The day ended with a Democratic and Civic Engagement Fair, where local neighborhood associations and organizations, such as the Charles Village Civic Association and Black Girls Vote, shared engagement opportunities to students. Johns Hopkins Center for Social Concern student organizations and civic engagement programs, including Hop Help Tutoring, the Tutorial Project, and the Charm City Science League, which work with Baltimore City school students, were also on hand to share their opportunities for engagement with student attendees.

Democracy Day 2021

Source: HUB

New students get crash course on threats that imperil democracy

Participants in Johns Hopkins University’s inaugural Democracy Day learn about the role of a university in a democratic society and the value of free inquiry, civic engagement

Hub staff report – Published Sep 1, 2021

Johns Hopkins University hosted its first ever Democracy Day on Saturday, Aug. 28, an event designed to prompt students—first- and second-year students in particular—to think critically about the political world they inhabit and their own rights and responsibilities as citizens and democratic actors.

JHU President Ron Daniels kicked off the day with remarks on the role of a university in a democracy, and the university values—like free inquiry and dissemination of facts—that are so critical to helping democracies thrive.

“Today is an opportunity for all of you to begin exploring some of the problems facing democracies alongside your professors and to ask the hard questions of what must happen for democracies to thrive in the years and decades ahead,” Daniels said. “There is truly no better place to ask these questions than a university, because it is here that we approach questions with an attitude that is open to dissent, eager to exchange ideas with those who may think differently, and committed to arriving at truth. We are a place apart, a place where new ideas are born and refined through contestation, experimentation, and debate.”

Following the kickoff portion of the event, more than 550 students participated in 20-minute pop-up seminars with leading Hopkins scholars on threats that imperil democracies—including disinformation and polarization, money’s corrosive effect on politics, the shortcomings of civic education in the U.S., lack of access for marginalized communities, and the allure of authoritarianism.

The event—co-organized by JHU’s Center for Social Concern, Orientation team, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins—also helped participants appreciate why democracy and civic participation should matter to them, no matter their country of origin or field of study, and taught them how they can be constructive participants in it.

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

“On your way into college, I bet some of you have been thinking that democracy is in real trouble,” Andy Perrin, an expert on issues of democratic citizenship and engagement who recently joined the SNF Agora Institute as a professor of sociology, told the assembled students. “Some of you probably think it’s doing all right. Some of you were born or grew up in places that have less democracy than here in the United States or, let’s face it, more. And I’m betting a lot of you just think the fate of democracy isn’t your concern. Maybe you’re interested in something else: art, architecture, medicine, music, science, robotics. You’re content to leave democracy to the poli sci majors.

“Sorry, but you can’t. No matter who you are, no matter what you do or where you want to go in life, the fate of democracy will matter to you. A vibrant artistic culture depends on a free society, not to mention public support; the arts also help all of us imagine a society that might be different. Designing buildings, neighborhoods, and cities affects how people interact with one another and with their environment. Who has access to the best medicine, and how the government invests in health care, science and innovation—these are all core questions of democracy.”

Image caption:SNF Agora Institute Director Hahrie Han addresses students on the inaugural Democracy Day at Johns Hopkins.

IMAGE CREDIT: WILL KIRK / JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Hopkins Votes ambassadors were on hand to help students register to vote and speak with them about the importance of casting a ballot in every election. More than 400 students logged into TurboVote to register to vote, check their registration status, or access educational materials. Representatives of student organizations focused on civic engagement and near-campus community associations were also in attendance as part of a democratic and civic engagement fair on Wyman Quad.

“One of the big hypotheses underlying the creation of the SNF Agora Institute is the idea that the agora—the spaces where everyday people like you and me come together to engage with each other—are fundamental to making democracy work,” said Hahrie Han, director of the SNF Agora Institute and a scholar of grassroots political organizing. “That’s why we are called the Agora Institute—because democracy should not be something that only happens every four years when there is a presidential election. Instead, it is about the way you engage with your classmates who might disagree with you, about the way you all participate and come together in student organizations to solve problems with each other, about all the ways in which each of us can try to make our communities and our world a better place. Democracy is like a garden—it has to be nurtured and cultivated—and all of us are the gardeners.”