Q&A with the Democratic Erosion Consortium Directors
In a thoughtful exchange featured on Mike Albertus’s Substack, The Good Society, the Democratic Erosion Consortium (DEC) co-directors and the Research Director sit down to reflect on the group’s work. The discussion spans how DEC approaches measuring and teaching about democracy, how to identify democratic threats, and what recent updates to the Democratic Erosion Event Dataset (DEED) mean for researchers, educators, and policymakers.
Measuring democracy: methods, challenges, and teaching implications
The DEC team emphasizes that measuring democracy is an evolving practice that blends quantitative data with qualitative judgment. They describe DEED as a living project designed to track notable events that signal democratic erosion, from procedural shifts to substantive changes in citizen rights and competitive governance. The conversation highlights the importance of transparency in measurement, clear criteria for what constitutes erosion, and the value of teaching this material to students and practitioners. By pairing event data with contextual analysis, DEC aims to help readers understand not just what happened, but why it matters for democratic health.
Why teaching about democratic erosion matters
Education is central to DEC’s mission. The directors argue that students and researchers need accessible datasets paired with robust interpretation to recognize early warning signs. The Q&A underscores the role of data literacy in politics—helping people distinguish between partisan rhetoric and verifiable events, and enabling informed civic discussion. This approach supports a more measured public conversation about democracy that can guide policy responses and organizational actions.
Identifying democratic threats around the world, including the U.S.
Beyond its U.S. focus, the DEC team discusses global patterns of democratic erosion. The dataset is designed to facilitate cross-national comparisons by noting events that disrupt free and fair governance. In the U.S. context, the directors address how recent developments may affect electoral integrity, rule of law, and civil liberties. The conversation emphasizes that threats to democracy can be gradual or sudden, and that close monitoring helps communities respond with timely, evidence-based strategies.
DEED updates: what’s new and why it matters
The Substack dialogue covers the latest edition of the Democratic Erosion Event Dataset. The DEC team explains new data points, refined coding schemes, and enhanced documentation to improve reliability and usability. These updates aim to strengthen researchers’ ability to map erosion trajectories, compare episodes across time, and test hypotheses about the drivers of democratic change. Practitioners can leverage the refreshed DEED to better understand the sequence of events that contribute to democratic backsliding and to craft proactive responses.
A US-focused version of DEED: goals and anticipated impact
A bold new project mentioned in the discussion is the development of a US-focused variant of the dataset. This effort seeks to capture U.S. democratic processes with the same rigor applied internationally, offering analysts a precise lens on electoral dynamics, governance reforms, and civil liberties concerns within the American political system. The initiative is positioned to support scholars, educators, journalists, and policy advocates who need timely, comparable data to examine how and when democratic erosion manifests in the United States.
The interview on The Good Society provides a clear window into how DEC envisions the future of democracy research. By advancing measurement practices, expanding educational resources, and producing more focused datasets, DEC aims to equip communities with the tools to recognize, discuss, and respond to democratic threats—wherever they arise.
