European Views of America’s Democratic Transition in the 19th Century

• In Event: Analytical Frames in International History and Politics

Abstract

APSA 2024

CONFERENCE PROPOSAL

“EUROPEAN VIEWS OF AMERICA’S DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN THE 19TH CENTURY”

BY

GREGORY MITROVICH, Ph.D
Independent Researcher




Across the world democratic institutions are being undermined by “illiberal” politicians who publicly reject the very concept of democracy itself. Once the brightest examples of democratic transitions, Hungary and Poland have now become prime instances of how democracy can wither, and in turn have inspired advocates in both Europe and the United States who have adopted their model in an effort to undermine democratic institutions in their own countries. Many of these actors, including many within the United States openly contrast democracy’s failings with the supposed advantages of the dictatorship of Vladimir Putin in Russia, and in some cases, even China.

However, this is hardly the first time that democracy has been imperiled by authoritarian challenges. Indeed, the democratic experiment has been under attack since its very inception following the American revolution when a nascent American republic struggled to survive in a world of monarchies and despots. Their reactions to this great experiment confirmed what John Winthrop had prophesied: America would be “as a city on a hill” with the entire world watching the success or failure of its democratic venture.

Many of the concerns we have today regarding democracy’s future echo those of European observers throughout the 19th century who doubted that America could maintain its democracy and republican system while it expanded across an entire continent, struggled to end slavery, recovered from the Civil War, absorbed tens of millions of immigrants from vastly different cultures, and dealt with massive social and economic dislocations caused by the rapid industrialization of the late 19th century.

European observers carefully studied democracy’s evolution in the United States with opponents gleefully publicizing its failings and proponents anxious to apply its lessons to their political systems. In many ways these debates mirror those we see today across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, sparked in large part by Russian and Chinese efforts to challenge Western ideology.


My paper will examine European reactions to the evolution of American democracy in the 19th century and how the American example both inspired many to emulate the example of the United States while convincing others to oppose its adoption in Europe. It will focus on the period between 1820 and 1900 when European leaders both sought to borrow from the American example, for instance, the debate over suffrage, and to warn against adopting too many of democracies principles out of fear of increasing social chaos. It will conclude with the lessons we may discern from this centuries-old battle and how they may inform democracy’s promotion today.

Gregory Mitrovich is the author of Undermining the Kremlin: America's Strategy to Subvert the Soviet Bloc, 1947-1956 published by Cornell University Press. The book was awarded the Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize for outstanding book presented by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He is also the author of the forthcoming book: From Under Her Shadow: The Birth of the American Century in the Age of Britannia which examines the growth of American democracy in the 19th and 20th centuries. His research interests focus on the rise of the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries and the sustainability of the American model in the 21st century. He has held appointments at the Olin Institute of Strategic Studies, Harvard University, the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford, and the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. His awards include research grants from the Department of Defense Minerva Research Initiative, Smith Richardson Foundation, Harry S. Truman Scholar’s Fellowship, Earhart Foundation, and twice recipient of the Kennan Institute’s Research Grant. He received a Ph.D. in international relations from the School of International Relations at USC. He has authored numerous articles in the Washington Post, South China Morning Post, the National Interest, and Responsible Statecraft based on his historical research.

Author

• Gregory Mitrovich