Harassment of U.S. funders and their grantees is increasing and is likely to be an ongoing problem as authoritarians erode America’s democratic norms. Harassment comes in many forms, including physical, cyber, legal, and political threats, and it affects a range of organizations and leaders, from social conservatives to progressives. The common thread is that it makes it harder for grantees and their funders to be effective, as it closes the civic space that is vital to any functioning democracy. Harassment drains resources, stops institutions from advancing their missions, and sends a chilling signal to others.

Fortunately, funders are in a position to make a difference on this urgent issue for the field. Please join the Democracy Funders Network and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for a briefing with leading experts, including Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Fellow Rachel Kleinfeld and philanthropic strategist Peter Teague, on the nature of the problem and potential solutions to keep funders and grantees safe and effective, keep the public space open, and de-escalate tensions that lead to violence. This program is relevant for funders in the democracy space as well as a range of other areas such as climate change, education, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ rights.

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Join DFN members in conversation with Rachel Kleinfeld on her new report, Five Strategies to Support U.S. Democracy.

The decline of American democracy is a complex challenge with numerous causes. Crafting philanthropic strategies to address this challenge is therefore an immensely difficult undertaking. This is especially true given the severity of near-term threats and the need to develop strategies that look beyond the next few election cycles to fundamentally change the trajectory of American democracy.

Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Senior Advisor to the Democracy Funders Network, has published a new paper, Five Strategies to Support U.S. Democracy, that offers one of the most comprehensive explorations of the kinds of strategies that can achieve our objective of revitalizing American democracy for the century to come. Even as we approach a critical mid-term election, we hope you’ll join Rachel in conversation with DFN members to discuss what we’ll need to do in the days, months, and years after this election to keep our democracy alive.

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Join Protect Democracy, Unite America, and R Street on Wednesday, February 2 at 12:00pm ET/ 9:00am PT for a discussion panel on how features of the U.S. electoral system are exacerbating America’s authoritarian threat. While those concerned about U.S. democracy justifiably focus on the current far-right campaigns to curtail voting rights nationwide and interfere with election administration, the roots of antidemocratic extremism run much deeper. A new report by Protect Democracy argues that, unlike most other major democracies, the U.S. electoral system—single-member plurality—is structurally and uniquely advantaging authoritarianism: diluting minority voting power, weakening competition between the major parties, preventing an electorally viable new center-right party, and rewarding extreme factions at the ballot box.

This briefing will address the following questions:
>How is America’s electoral system anomalous?
>What challenges does this system present to democratic resilience?
>How can we structurally reverse the authoritarian tide?

At a time when it's easy to feel bleak about the state of our democracy, our panelists will explain why they're still hopeful.

The Speakers for this event include:

• Didi Kuo Associate Director for Research and Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Democracy, Development @Stanford University

• Lee Drutman Senior Fellow, Political Reform Program @New America

• Nick Troiano Executive Director @Unite America

• Matt Germer Resident Elections Fellow, Governance Program @R Street

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One year ago, on January 6, 2021, we watched the insurrection at the Capitol in horror. Images of members of Congress being hunted by mobs, windows and doors smashed, and offices ransacked and desecrated, are seared into our memories.

As stark as they were, the events of January 6th were also incredibly confusing as they unfolded. What were we actually witnessing? Was this a serious attempt to overturn the election or the last gasp of a disappointed Republican base that couldn’t come to terms with the election results? To what extent was the insurrection driven - or actively abetted - by Donald Trump and his allies, publicly or behind the scenes? And what did the attack augur for the future of American democracy?

One year later, thanks in large part to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, we know that the insurrection was part of a broader effort to subvert the results of the 2020 election. In this conversation we will discuss that effort and the status of attempts to hold its perpetrators accountable. And we will explore the work underway to prevent future elections from being overturned and to secure the peaceful transfer of power.

This event will be held on Wednesday, January 5th from 1-2pm PT / 4-5 ET

Speakers:

• Ian Bassin, Executive Director, Protect Democracy

• Joanna Lydgate, Chief Executive Officer, States United Democracy Center

• Ben Wittes, Editor-in-Chief, Lawfare

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Please note this event is for DFN members only. If you haven't yet become a member, you can sign up here. If you have any questions, please email Carly Straus, carly@thirdplateau.com.

The severity of the threats facing American democracy often makes it difficult to look past short-term challenges. But our current democratic crisis, including both the rise of right-wing populism and growing illiberalism on parts of the left, was shaped by political, legal, and cultural ideas developed over many decades—and, some would argue, was aided by an intellectual staleness within the project of liberal democracy itself. Indeed, it is the creation, debate, and evolution of ideas that helps societies and political systems advance, and renewing American democracy will similarly require investing in the development of new ideas to create the political environments of the future: new policy proposals, new legal doctrines, new foreign policy frameworks, and new principles and defenses of liberal democracy.

Please join Shikha Dalmia, Visiting Fellow at the Mercatus Center’s Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange; Francis Fukuyama, Chairman of the Editorial Board of American Purpose; and Yascha Mounk, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Persuasion, for a strategic discussion about the intellectual battle for American democracy and why it matters—even in the here and now.

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Why is democracy so threatened in America and around the world? And what can we do about it? Join Ben Rhodes to explore the answers to these questions and discuss his recent book, After the Fall.

In 2017, as Ben Rhodes was helping Barack Obama begin his next chapter, the legacy they had worked to build for eight years was being taken apart. To understand what was happening in America, Rhodes decided to look outward. Over the next three years, he traveled to dozens of countries, meeting with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that was tearing America apart. Part memoir and part reportage, After the Fall investigates how much America’s fingerprints are on a world we helped to shape, through our post–Cold War embrace of unbridled capitalism and our post-9/11 nationalism and militarism; our mania for technology and social media; and the racism that fueled the backlash to America’s first Black president. At the same time, Rhodes learns from stories of a diverse set of characters—from Barack Obama himself to Cuban rebels to a rising generation of international leaders—that looking squarely at where America has gone wrong makes clear how essential it is to fight for what America is supposed to be, for our own country and the entire world.

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Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who found himself at the center of a firestorm for his decision to report the phone call between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to presidential impeachment, tells his own story for the first time. "Here, Right Matters" is a stirring account of Vindman's childhood as an immigrant growing up in New York City, his career in service of his new home on the battlefield and at the White House, and the decisions leading up to the moment of truth he faced for his nation.

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Join us for a special conversation with Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.

Over the last 10 years, democracies around the world have slipped towards nationalism and authoritarianism. Why have so many countries, including once-stable democracies like our own in the US, been so vulnerable to autocratic encroachment? How can we reverse this illiberal tide? Join DFN for a conversation with Anne Applebaum, author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. In her latest book, Anne describes many of the new advocates of illiberalism around the world, showing how they use conspiracy theory, political polarization, social media, and even nostalgia to change their societies.

Anne will be joining us for a special conversation by video on Tuesday, June 12 from 12-1pm ET / 9-10am PT. Join Anne and funders in conversation about the book and these important questions on the future of our nation and world. If you’d like to read the book before or after the discussion, you can order from Bookshop, your local bookstore, or your go-to book source.

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Please note this event is for DFN members only. If you haven't yet become a member, you can sign up here. If you have any questions, please email Carly Straus, carly@thirdplateau.com.

As deputy national security advisor to President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes played a critical role in shaping U.S. relations with the rest of the world. After the 2016 election, however, he began traveling abroad in the hope of better understanding undemocratic currents at home. In his new memoir, After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made, Rhodes shares insights gleaned from politicians, activists, and dissidents who have been on the frontlines of the fight against authoritarianism and ethnonationalism in their own countries. While clear-eyed about how the United States has contributed to these global trends, he offers a vision of how the country can usher in a brighter future.

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On May 20, 2021, the discussion will focus on appropriate Responses, and whether and how liberal democracies should respond to these threats. Panelists will address the tools and policies available to combat such hazards, as well as their limitations. The featured experts will be Rose Gottemoeller, H. R. McMaster, Jacquelyn Schneider, and Amy Zegart.

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A healthy democracy requires a healthy center-right. Harvard political scientist Daniel Ziblatt, in his groundbreaking book Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, argues that as representatives of status quo interests, conservative parties have a major role to play in either accepting or thwarting the advance of democracy. The modern Republican Party appears to be doing the latter, abandoning many of the principles of liberal democracy in a bid for political power. This is particularly dangerous in a two-party system, in which both parties need to be able to agree on the rules of the road. To what extent do the Republican Party’s current politics represent a genuine desire for authoritarianism, and in what ways might we be misunderstanding what is happening on the right? What does this suggest about plausible futures for the GOP? And how might American democracy be impacted?

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On May 13, 2021, the discussion will focus on Adversaries: how foreign actors such as Russia, China, and Iran interact with domestic threats to institutions and the functioning of liberal democracy. Panelists will examine dangers of sharp and soft power, misinformation, and attacks on sensitive electoral and physical infrastructure. The featured experts will be Elizabeth Economy, Michael McFaul, Abbas Milani, and Kate Starbird.

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As autocracy engulfs ever more countries, how should the world’s remaining democracies respond? Many are struggling to address internal demands from aggrieved citizens and pandemic pressures, while fending off attempts from authoritarian governments to undermine them from without and within. The conventional menu of democracy support tools seems too meager to meet this geopolitical moment. Germany wants a Marshall Plan for Democracy; Sweden emphasizes a Drive for Democracy. Can middle power democracies enact a strategy commensurate with the challenges at hand?

Join the Carnegie Endowment on April 8 from 11:00 am-12:00 pm EDT as we discuss the Carnegie Endowment's recent report on the unique role middle-power democracies can play in supporting global democracy.

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