Visions of Democracy: Inaugural Democracy Dialogue

October 16, 2025

Visions of Democracy: Inaugural Democracy Dialogue

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How Should We Fight for Democracy? The Regime Question in Comparative and Historical Perspective

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Public Opinion and Democracy

The crisis of democracy in the United States and around the globe is an urgent shared challenge. The newly launched Georgetown Democracy Initiative supports research, teaching, and programming on democracy across the university, fostering the generation of new knowledge about democracy's futures, and serving as a platform to disseminate that knowledge.

This inaugural Democracy Dialogue considers the multiple intersections between public opinion and democracy—how citizens’ views do and do not align with democracy’s core principles, and the ways in which public sentiment can both bolster and undermine democratic regimes, the very existence of which depends upon the consent of the governed.

This event is sponsored by the Georgetown Democracy Initiative.

Program

9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. | Introduction

Thomas Banchoff, Vice President for Global Engagement, Georgetown University
Diana Kapiszewski, Associate Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University

9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. EDT | Keynote: How Should We Fight for Democracy? The Regime Question in Comparative and Historical Perspective

Amel Ahmed, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. EDT | Coffee Break

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EDT | Panel Discussion: Public Opinion and Democracy

Amel Ahmed, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Rodolfo Pastor de Maria y Campos, City Council Candidate, San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Sonja Gloeckle, Senior Director, Center for Insights in Survey Research, International Republican Institute
Hans Noel (moderator), Associate Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University

12:00 p.m. EDT | Reception in Maguire Hall 304

Participants

Amel Ahmed

Amel Ahmed is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her main area of specialization is democratic studies, with a special interest in elections, voting systems and rights, legislative politics, and party development. She is author of Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice: Engineering Electoral Dominance (2013), winner of the 2014 Best Book Award from the APSA European Politics and Society Section. Her new book, The Regime Question: Foundations of Democratic Governance in Europe and The United States (2025) examines the history of regime contention in Western democracies.

Sonja Gloeckle

Sonja Gloeckle (SFS'02) joined the International Republican Institute (IRI) in September 2017 as the founding senior director of the Center for Insights in Survey Research (CISR), where she steers IRI’s global public opinion research portfolio covering over 100 countries and examining a wide range of topics such as democracy, citizen priorities, political parties, elections, and information sources. Prior to joining IRI, she served as director of research at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). Sonja holds a BSFS from Georgetown University and a M.Sc. in politics and communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Rodolfo Pastor de Maria y Campos

Rodolfo Pastor de Maria y Campos (G’23) is a Honduran and Mexican political scientist, diplomat, and politician. Pastor was in charge of political affairs at the Honduran Embassy in Washington, DC, from 2008 to 2009. He helped found the LIBRE political party in Honduras in 2012. He also served as the secretary of the presidency under Honduran President Xiomara Castro from 2022 to 2024. He ran for mayor of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where he is now a candidate to the city’s council. He studied political science and public administration at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and also holds a master’s degree in Latin American studies from Georgetown University.

Hans Noel

Hans Noel (moderator) is associate professor of government and co-director of the Georgetown Democracy Initiative. His research is on political coalitions, political parties, and ideology, with a focus on the United States. He is the author or co-author of four books, including Political Ideologies and Political Parties in America (2013) and The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform (with Martin Cohen, David Karol, and John Zaller, 2008) His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Politics and Perspectives on Politics, among other journals.