Agenda
Thursday, February 25
Thursday’s sessions explored democratic erosion around the world and the impact of ongoing challenges—from rising inequality to the coronavirus pandemic and sophisticated disinformation campaigns—that have eroded trust in democratic governance and increased the risk of democratic decline. Speakers examined these trends and challenges, exploring how citizens and political leaders alike can safeguard democratic ideals in a rapidly changing world.
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Introduction
Time Details 8:00 AM Welcome and Introduction
Welcoming remarks from:
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Chairman, Alliance of Democracies, Former Prime Minister of Denmark, and Former Secretary General of NATO
- Fritz Mayer, Dean, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver
- Jeremy Haefner, Chancellor, University of Denver
- Michael Hancock, Mayor, City of Denver
Announcements
- Jeanne Meserve, former anchor and correspondent, CNN and ABC News
- Ryan Heath, Senior Editor, Politico
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Democratic Erosion Around the World: Trends, Challenges and Responses
Time Details 8:05 AM The State of Democracy Around the World
- Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
- Michael Abramowitz, President, Freedom House
- Moderator: Fritz Mayer
8:30 AM Regional Perspectives on Democratic Decline
- Andrés Velasco, Dean of the School of Public Policy, London School of Economics
- E. Gyimah-Boadi, Interim CEO and Board Chair of Afrobarometer; former Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana)
- Milada Anna Vachudova, Jean Monnet Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science, UNC Chapel Hill
- Milan Vaishnav, Director and Senior Fellow, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Moderator: Ryan Heath
9:15 AM Great Powers, Democratic Decline, and Global Liberalism
- James Goldgeier, Robert Bosch Senior Visiting Fellow, The Brookings Institution; Professor of International Relations, American University; Co-Director, Bridging the Gap
- Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, AEI
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
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Climate Change, COVID-19, Disinformation and Other Existential Threats to Democratic Governance
Time Details 9:40 AM Threats to Democracies
- Condoleezza Rice, 66th U.S. Secretary of State
- Moderator: Fritz Mayer
This discussion with Condoleezza Rice, the sixty-sixth secretary of state of the United States and current Director of the Hoover Institution, will focus on the constantly-evolving yet persistent challenges posed by information warfare, civil unrest, climate change, and infectious disease outbreaks. Secretary Rice is uniquely positioned to address whether current political institutions can adequately address these global developments.
10:00 AM Protecting Democracy from Disinformation: The Case of Taiwan
- Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Taiwan
- Moderator: Jonas Parello-Plesner, Executive Director, Alliance of Democracies Foundation
Taiwan’s comprehensive approach to mitigating the effects of disinformation has been held out as an example to other open democracies combating disinformation and media manipulation. This discussion with Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister since 2016, will focus on her country’s efforts to engage citizens, businesses, and civil society in the government’s fight against disinformation, and how democracies can learn from and work together to reestablish a shared sense of truth.
10:10 AM Protecting Democracy from Disinformation
- Adrian Shahbaz, Director of Technology and Democracy, Freedom House
- Jan Neutze, Senior Director, Defending Democracy Program, Microsoft
- Jason Crow, Congressman, Colorado
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
Disinformation has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges for the world’s democracies. From foreign interference in elections to the unchecked proliferation of conspiracy theories on social media, this session will explore how disinformation has undermined democratic functioning and the efforts of government, business, and civil society to mitigate and potentially thwart this damage.
10:50 AM Can Democracies Manage the Climate Crisis?
- Jessica Green, Associate Professor of Political Science and the School of Environment at University of Toronto, St. George
- Annika Hedberg, Head of Sustainable Prosperity for Europe programme, European Policy Center
- David Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Oberlin College
- Moderator: Ryan Heath
11:30 AM Governing Challenges: COVID-19, Climate Change, and Civil Unrest
- Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
11:50 AM Recap of the day’s sessions with Dean Fritz Mayer and Kevin Kallaugher, Cartoonist at The Economist, and Denver Democracy Summit Artist in Residence
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Breakout Sessions (Simultaneous)
Time Details 12:00 PM Democracy under Threat: Perspectives from the Front Lines
- Brett Lacy, Associate Director, Democracy Program, Carter Center
- Laszlo Bruszt, Co-director of the CEU Democracy Institute and Professor of Sociology, Central European University
- Moderators: Professors Rachel Epstein and Timothy Sisk, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
The erosion of democracy has prompted soul-searching on the conditions under which key characteristics such as protection of human rights and free and fair electoral processes can be resilient. While much has been made of global trends and patterns of democratic erosion, understanding how “autocratization” unfolds on the front lines of political contestation is essential to identifying measures that can promote resilient institutions and improve democratic processes. This breakout session brings front-line perspectives to these issues and asks from a front-line perspective, how can democracy be protected and advanced?
*Please note: To participate in this breakout session you must register here by February 23.
12:00 PM Tracking Bugs: COVID-19 and the Role of Surveillance in Society
- Jennifer Williams, Senior Foreign Editor at Vox and co-host of Worldly Podcast
- Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin and distinguished scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law
- Moderators: Professors Cullen Hendrix and Jonathan Moyer, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
This session explores the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic is reinvigorating debates and discussion around the role of surveillance technology in society. The pandemic has led to a proliferation of testing, contact tracing, and mobility monitoring to more effectively protect public health, though concerns about privacy protections, data security, and state power may only be beginning. Do modern challenges necessitate more invasive surveillance states, or is this overreach?
*Please note: To participate in this breakout session you must register here by February 23.
Friday, February 26
Friday’s sessions focused on the state of democracy in the United States and the underlying trends that culminated in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Discussions also centered on democratic engagement in our current moment, both in the U.S and around the world, with a focus on young people’s actions and attitudes toward government and the importance of political and civic engagement in its many forms.
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Introduction
Time Details 8:00 AM Announcements
- Jeanne Meserve, former anchor and correspondent, CNN and ABC News
- Ryan Heath, Senior Editor, Politico
Welcome and Introduction
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Chairman, Alliance of Democracies, Former Prime Minister of Denmark, and Former Secretary General of NATO
- Fritz Mayer, Dean, Josef Korbel School
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State of U.S. Democracy and Implications for the Democratic World
Time Details 8:05 AM Can the United States Lead a Global Democratic Vanguard?: Implications for the World
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Chairman, Alliance of Democracies, Former Prime Minister of Denmark, and Former Secretary General of NATO
- Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institute (IRI)
- Derek Mitchell, President, National Democratic Institute (NDI)
- Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Kelly and David Pfeil Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute; Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Georgetown University
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
From the false claims of fraud in the presidential election to the January insurrection and assault on the U.S. Capitol, the United States’ democratic system has been stress-tested. As a new administration takes on the challenge to get the U.S. back at the table to re-engage on an array of global issues, President Biden has called for a summit of democracies. But can the U.S. lead this global initiative? This session will bring together experts from both sides of the Atlantic who engage with the world’s emerging and established democracies to discuss why it is important to create an alliance of democracies and whether the U.S can or should try to stay at the helm.
8:45 AM State of U.S. Democracy: How Much Trouble are We In?
- Sarah Lenti, Former Executive Director, The Lincoln Project
- Steve Israel, Former U.S. Representative, New York and Director, Cornell University Institute of Politics and Global Affairs
- Susan Glasser, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
- William Kristol, Editor at large, The Bulwark
- Moderator: Ryan Heath
9:30 AM Rising Beyond Partisanship
- Jeff Flake, former U.S. Senator, Arizona
- Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator, Colorado
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
This moderated conversation with Senate leaders on opposite sides of the aisle will focus on the challenges facing U.S. democracy—from rising partisanship to the collapse of social cohesion, declining trust in government, and the aftershocks of the January 6th attack on the Capitol—and ways forward, including the importance of political and civic engagement in our current moment.
10:00 AM A Hard Look in the Mirror: Race and American Democracy
- Leslie Herod, State Representative, Colorado
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
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Civic Engagement
Time Details 10:20 AM Democracy in Action: Youth Movements for Social Change
- Hasler Iglesias, Youth Coordinator, Voluntad Popular, Venezuela
- Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth
- Juela Hamati, Former President, European Democracy Youth Network
- Tay Anderson, Member, Denver Public Schools Board of Education and Community Activist
- Moderator: Ryan Heath
11:00 AM Civic Engagement and Robust Democracies
- Christopher Walker, Vice President for Studies and Analysis, National Endowment for Democracy
- Dawn Nakagawa, Executive Vice President, Berggruen Institute
- Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director, European Endowment for Democracy
- Moderator: Jeanne Meserve
11:40 AM The Future of Democracy
- Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado
- Moderator: Naazneen Barma
Robust democracies require ongoing and sustained citizen engagement to uphold democratic institutions and norms. Colorado Governor, Jared Polis, will close the two-day virtual conference and share his thoughts on how our democracy might be made stronger, fairer, more responsive, and more equitable and the important role civic engagement plays in making this possible.
11:50 AM Recap of the day’s sessions with Dean Fritz Mayer and Kevin Kallaugher, Cartoonist at The Economist and artist in residence for the Denver Democracy Summit
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Breakout Sessions (Simultaneous)
Time Details 12:00 PM Bolstering Democracy at Home and Abroad?
- Daniel Baer, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution
- William J. Dobson, Co-Editor, Journal of Democracy
- Moderators: Professors Deborah Avant and Naazneen Barma, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Has democratic erosion in the United States hindered the country’s ability to promote democracy abroad? Have U.S. efforts abroad affected processes at home? The democratic sheen of the United States has been visibly tarnished at the same time that the U.S. has ceded leadership on this issue globally. This session will address the potential linkages between these two trends in ways that might inform strategies to reverse them together. Can a genuine attempt to strengthen attention to democracy at home – including commitment to social justice practices on race, gender, and LGBTQ rights, for example – make the U.S. a more effective advocate abroad? Can greater attention to inclusive processes on global issues draw in domestic audiences and strengthen commitments to these processes at home? How can the U.S. best facilitate a global push to turn back the tide of democratic erosion and form part of a renewed democratic wave?
*Please note: To participate in this breakout session you must register here by February 23.
12:00 PM Right-wing Populism vs. Popular Democracy: Brazil, Philippines, and the World
- Jean Wyllys, Congressman, Brazil
- Khuzaimah Maranda, Bangsamoro Youth Agenda, Philippines
- Moderators: Professors Marie Berry and Aaron Schneider, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Anti-democratic forces have taken proto-fascist, ethno-nationalist, and right-wing populist turns in countries including the United States, Brazil, and Philippines. In each of these countries, attacks on the media and fake news coincide with political violence and violations of the rights of excluded populations such as women, LGBTQ+, and minoritized ethnic, racial, and religious communities. To resist, popular movements support participatory, inclusive, and equitable democratic institutions
*Please note: To participate in this breakout session you must register here by February 23.