Democracy and Crisis with Wolfgang Merkel

In our third Vienna Coffee House Conversation Ivan Vejvoda talks to Wolfgang Merkel, professor emeritus of political science at Berlin’s Humboldt University, author and editor of numerous influential books – including 2018’s Democracy and Crisis: Challenges in Turbulent Times – and a visiting IWM fellow. Starting with a discussion of his article, "Who Governs in Deep Crises?: The Case of Germany" – published as the world reckoned with the spread of coronavirus in May 2020 – Merkel and Vejvoda discuss the challenges facing and the dynamics at play in democratic societies in times of political and social strife. They address the decline of mainstream parties, the shortfall of representation on one side of a new political divide and the political modesty of Merkel’s powerful namesake.