Study Group: How to Save a Democracy? What Theory, Research, and Global Cases Can Teach Us

This study group explores one of the defining challenges of our time: the global erosion of democracy and the rise of resilient authoritarian regimes. While threats once came from military coups, warlords, or totalitarian parties, today’s authoritarians operate in subtler but equally dangerous ways—eroding institutions from within, capturing narratives, and weaponizing democratic procedures against democracy itself. 
 
Led jointly by a leading journalist and expert on authoritarianism (Dobson) and a frontline activist and researcher (Guevara), this series bridges theory and practice. Students will be invited to bring their own concerns and perspectives into dialogue with cutting-edge research, historical cases, and lived experience. 
 
The goal is to equip participants with both analytical foundations and practical insights for defending democracy in the 21st century. 

Session Dates

• October 1

• October 8

• October 22

• October 29

• November 5

A light lunch will be provided.

About the Speakers

Freddy Guevara Cortez is a political leader, freedom fighter, and democracy advocate.

Guevara co-founded the Venezuelan progressive party Voluntad Popular in 2010, was the top-voted congressman in 2015, Vice President of Venezuela’s Parliament in 2016, and leader of the non-violent civil uprising against Maduro’s dictatorship in 2017. As a result of his political activism, Guevara became a target of political persecution, resulting in the loss of his freedom for three years. During this time, he was a refugee in the Chilean Embassy in Caracas, a political prisoner, and has been in exile since August 2021. He was appointed to the Opposition Unitary Platform in negotiations with Maduro’s regime, and in 2023 as President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Venezuelan Parliament in exile.

Guevara’s work at the Harvard Kennedy School has spanned the gamut. He worked as a research fellow for the Democracy in Hard Places Initiative headed by Tarek Masoud and graduated from the Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration program in 2024. Guevara currently works with Erica Chenoweth as a research fellow at the Nonviolent Action Lab, a program that he’s been involved with since 2022.

William Dobson is the coeditor of the Journal of Democracy. Previously, he was the Chief International Editor at NPR where he led the network’s award-winning international coverage and oversaw a team of editors and correspondents in 17 overseas bureaus and Washington, DC. He is the author of The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy, which examines the struggle between authoritarian regimes and the people who challenge them. It was selected as one of the “best books of the year” by Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The Telegraph, and Prospect, and it has been translated into many languages.

Prior to joining NPR, Dobson was Slate magazine’s Washington Bureau Chief, overseeing the magazine’s coverage of politics, jurisprudence, and international news. Previously, he served as the Managing Editor of Foreign Policy, leading the editorial planning of its award-winning magazine. Earlier in his career, Dobson served as Newsweek International’s Asia Editor, managing a team of correspondents in more than 15 countries. His articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. Dobson holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University. He received his Bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Middlebury College.

Registration Information

Registration link is here.

Please register as soon as possible. If capacity is reached, we will notify students if they have been accepted or assigned to the waitlist. We will also include the HKS room location at that time.