Angry Populist Politics: Why it is Happening and What to Do About it
hosted by Professor
Eugene Finkel
Ian Shapiro
Yale University
The explosion of populist politics across the democratic world over the past decade is rooted in (i) structural economic changes that have been underway since the 1970s, most importantly wage stagnation and the disappearance of long-term employment security; (ii) geopolitical changes, most importantly the disappearance of communism as a serious threat to capitalism; and (iii) decisions made by leaders of mainstream political parties, most importantly in response to the end of the Cold War and to the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath. Shapiro will elaborate on these causes and discuss the implications for rescuing and revitalizing democratic politics going forward. The talk draws on his forthcoming book
After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke our World that will be published by Basic Books in May, 2026.
IAN SHAPIRO
Ian Shapiro is Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University. He has written widely and influentially on democracy, justice, and the methods of social inquiry.
A native of South Africa, he received his J.D. from the Yale Law School and his Ph.D. from the Yale Political Science Department where he has taught since 1984 and served as chair from 1999 to 2004. Shapiro also served as Henry R. Luce Director of the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies from 2004-2019.
He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Shapiro is a past fellow of the Carnegie Corporation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Cape Town, Keio University in Tokyo, Nuffield College, Oxford, and Sciences Po in Paris.
His most recent books are
Politics Against Domination (Harvard University Press, 2016);
Responsible Parties: Saving Democracy from Itself (Yale University Press, 2018) with Frances Rosenbluth;
The Wolf at the Door: The Menace of Economic Insecurity and how to Fight It (Harvard University Press, 2020) with Michael Graetz; and
Uncommon Sense (Yale University Press, 2024). His current research concerns the relations between democracy and the distribution of income, wealth, and risk. His new book,
After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke our World will be published by Basic Books on May 2026.
