PS 394-lk: U.S. Democracy in Crisis: Perspectives on the Path

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Northwestern University

Fall Quarter 2025

Professor: Anna Galland

Class Schedule: Mondays 1:00 – 3:50 pm

Office Hours: Mondays 4:00 – 4:50 pm

Course Description: US democracy is at an inflection point. After a narrow win in the 2024 election, the White House is claiming a maximum mandate: eliminating major governmental functions, deporting immigrants with maximum shock and awe (and ignoring due process requirements in the process), ignoring federal court orders, and using the vast power of the government to intimidate and punish perceived opponents. Some analysts and scholars believe that the U.S. government has now experienced an “authoritarian breakthrough.” In this context, pro-democracy leaders – which includes a wide range of individuals and organizations, not limited to any political party or narrow ideological perspective – are wrestling with a range of questions. These include: What got us here – and how do we dig out? What can we learn about effective anti-authoritarian movement-building from abroad and from the US’s own history (including, for instance, the work to overturn racial regimes in the Jim Crow South)? What might civil society do to help execute a “U-Turn” towards an inclusive and just rule-of-law democracy? This interdisciplinary seminar will engage nationally-prominent guest speakers as we survey a broad landscape of efforts to renew US democracy in a period of accelerating crisis, with particular emphasis on the role of grassroots movements. Students will analyze issues such as polarization, free and fair elections, authoritarian movements, and the roles of media and technology. They will be asked to develop and refine their own theory of which efforts are most constructive in this turbulent time. Students will have opportunities to connect directly with a wide range of important civil society leaders from a range of backgrounds and perspectives, in part to better understand career options in the common good.. Read More Here.