Dispatch Number Four: Is AUTHORITARIANISM Inevitable in America?
Join us for Salon de Résistance, presented by MSE Properties and Medora Lazer, on October 23rd at Black Iris for a conversation about democracy and authoritarianism at home and abroad titled “Battleground Democracy,” featuring Dr. Alex Keena and Dr. Dana El Kurd.
Is democracy truly at risk? In just ten short months, phrases like “democratic backsliding,” “authoritarian playbook,” and “illiberalism” have been introduced into our political lives, as the debate over democracy moves from the abstract to the everyday. The targeting of political opponents, disinformation, corporate capitulation, election interference, domestic militarization, and the weakening of checks on executive power—things that once seemed unthinkable, now feel dangerously close.
But there are still more questions than answers: Do we have the right vocabulary to describe what’s happening to American democracy? As the election for governor approaches, how will these changes impact us in Virginia and in Richmond? What role does technology play in accelerating these trends? Or maybe this is just another cycle of American politics, destined to pass us by?
Still, America’s not alone in grappling with these challenges. What’s happening abroad cannot be separated from what’s happening at home. For the first time in over two decades, democracy is in retreat across the world. Seventy-one percent of the world’s population now lives under some form of authoritarianism. From India and Turkey to Russia and Hungary, the authoritarian playbook has become a global blueprint in the battleground for democracy. Will its next chapter be written here?
We need to talk about it
Salon de Résistance is honored to host two of Virginia’s leading political scientists to unravel this conversation: Dr. Alex Keena, Associate Professor of Political Science at VCU, whose work on elections and democracy has been featured in the Washington Post, Newsweek, and Scientific America; and Dr. Dana El Kurd, Associate Professor at the University of Richmond and Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Arab Center in Washington DC, whose work on international relations, authoritarianism, and Israel/Palestine has been featured in The Nation, Financial Times, New York Times, and Jewish Currents.
Together, we’ll explore the state of democracy at home and abroad: How authoritarianism takes hold, why democratic institutions falter, and what these global shifts mean for Virginia’s future and America’s role in the world.
Our Guests
Dr. Alex Keena is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University, where his research focuses on legislative politics, elections, and the influence of money on U.S. democracy. He is the co-author of Gerrymandering the States: Partisanship, Race, and the Transformation of American Federalism and Gerrymandering in America: The House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Popular Sovereignty. His research and commentary have appeared in The Washington Post, Scientific America, and Newsweek, and his data on gerrymandering has been cited in arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. A longtime Richmond resident, he is also a close observer of Virginia’s shifting political landscape.
Dr. Dana El Kurd is an Associate Professor at the University of Richmond and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Arab Center Washington. She is an expert in international relations, Palestinian politics, and authoritarianism, with a focus on how these forces intersect with public opinion and international intervention. Her first book, Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine, examines how international involvement can create a divide between elites and the public, insulating political leadership from accountability and strengthening authoritarian control. Dr. El Kurd’s research has been widely published in academic journals and featured in The Nation, Financial Times, The New York Times, Jewish Currents, and she is frequently quoted by Vox, BBC, Voice of America, and Foreign Policy on Middle Eastern politics.
Your Host
Landon Shroder, is the co-publisher and editor-at-large of RVA Magazine; he is also a foreign policy professional, journalist, and filmmaker whose career has spanned more than twenty years across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe in the energy, defense, and security sectors. A former producer and journalist for VICE, he has also written extensively on conflict, culture, and politics for outlets including Fair Observer, War on the Rocks, World Policy Journal, Chatham House, and RVA Magazine.
THE SALON
Salon de Résistance unfolds in three movements: a convergence to begin, a conversation to spark, and a reflection to carry the ideas forward.
6:00pm: Convergence
Drinks and shared conversation, set to vinyl flips from Le Cachet Dulcet.
7:00–8:30pm: Conversation
A live interview with Dr. Dr. Alex Keena and Dr. Dana El Kurd, opening into questions and exchange with the room.
8:30pm: Reflection
Space to connect with our guests, develop perspectives, and imagine what comes next, set to more vinyl flips from Le Cachet Dulcet.
Event page here.
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