event
Carnegie Europe

The Rise of Political Polarization

Wed. November 6th, 2019
Brussels

Political polarization is tearing at the seams of democracies around the world—from Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States to India, Kenya, and Turkey. It damages institutions essential to democracy, degrades societal cohesion, and often leads to rising hate crimes and other political violence.

Why is polarization on the rise in so many different places at once? Is it similar everywhere or are there different patterns and drivers? How can severely divided democracies heal?

Drawing on his new book, Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization, co-edited with Andrew O’Donohue, Carnegie's Thomas Carothers analyzed the global spread of political polarization and explore lessons for Europe in conversation with Steven Erlanger, chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe for the New York Times.

Speakers

Thomas Carothers

Thomas Carothers is senior vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Steven Erlanger

Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe for the New York Times. Follow him on Twitter @StevenErlanger.

EuropeNorth America
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Thomas Carothers

Harvey V. Fineberg Chair for Democracy Studies; Director, Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program

Thomas Carothers, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, is a leading expert on comparative democratization and international support for democracy.

Steven Erlanger

New York Times

Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe for the New York Times. He has spent a long career in overseas postings including Bangkok, Belgrade, Berlin, Brussels, Jerusalem, London, Moscow, Paris, Prague, and, yes, Washington, DC.