skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump's resignation offer; California state lawmakers are taking action to enact safeguards against federal immigration enforcement; Study shows air quality disparities from industrial ag in NC.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

Scholars gather in PA to discuss growing authoritarian threats to U.S. democracy

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 29, 2024   

With Pennsylvania a crucial state in this year's presidential election, political scholars gathered in Philadelphia last night to share their insights into the fragility of democracy and the increasing authoritarian challenges.

Harvard University Government Professor Daniel Ziblatt said he believes rising polarization is causing people to view political opponents as enemies, and is fueled by economic stagnation and inequality.

He added that there are other factors behind the emerging global threats to democracy.

"For example, social media, the new rise of new technologies," said Ziblatt, "makes it harder and harder for people to kind of figure out what's true, what isn't true, the rise of misinformation."

Ziblatt said immigration-driven diversity is another factor, and has significantly reshaped Western Europe and the United States.

He said it has sparked a backlash, creating an environment that demagogues can exploit to undermine democracy. Conservative critics of immigration say they fear the impact on the nation's culture and fear vote fraud.

Harvard University Government Professor Steven Levitsky highlighted the ongoing threat to global democracy posed by historical patterns - like extreme polarization and authoritarianism.

While 20th-century authoritarian takeovers often involved military coups, he said today's democratic backsliding is more insidious, relying on tactics like undermining democratic institutions and electoral manipulation.

"Today in the 21st century, is for democracy to die a much slower, more gradual death, often at the hands of elected leaders themselves," said Levitsky. "Elected presidents and elected Prime Ministers who use the very institutions of democracy to subvert it. This is Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. It's Viktor Orban in Hungary, Erdogan in Turkey."

Ziblatt and Levitsky said these threats have risen during former President Donald Trump's political ascent. Both have written books on democratic decay in the U.S. and have proposed various solutions.

A series of events on the topic will take place in battleground states. The group democracyFIRST is highlighting the questions.




get more stories like this via email
more stories
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, Mississippi has the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation. (Katerina Holmes/Pexels)

Social Issues

play sound

Mississippi families struggling with food insecurity are bracing for another difficult summer after state officials declined millions in federal fundi…


Environment

play sound

Some experts predict arable land per person will shrink by two-thirds by 2050. To combat it, Michigan students are being trained in "smart" …

Environment

play sound

A new study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found nitrate levels have continued to rise across the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater …


Currently, insurance companies get to decide how much of a public ambulance service's rate to pay, which can lead to patients being charged the unpaid balance. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado lawmakers are working to ensure all Coloradans with health coverage for ambulance services are not hit with surprise bills or charged higher …

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups in Maine are calling on the state's congressional delegation to protect federal funding for clean energy technologies. A new …

Osprey, bluefish, red drum and cobia rely on menhaden populations for food. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

Atlantic menhaden weigh less than a pound and measure little more than a foot long but the small fish has big consequences for the Chesapeake Bay ecos…

Social Issues

play sound

Gov. Kay Ivey delivered her 2025 State of the State address this week, focusing on education, public safety, and economic growth in Alabama. She …

Social Issues

play sound

In rural states such as South and North Dakota and large urban centers around the U.S., protests were held Wednesday amid fears about the first wave …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021