Matthew A. Baum

Matthew Baum: No one talks about democratization any more. Is there a better policy?

July 5, 2015 — Matthew Baum, Kalb Professor of Global Communication, and Philip B. K. Potter, assistant professor in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, make the case for the importance of institutions other than elections in maintaining a functioning democracy – including information access. “When it flows freely, citizens can hold their elected leaders to account, forcing them to hew more closely to public preferences. Without it, democratic leaders can start to behave more like autocrats–because citizens don’t have the information they need to hold them back.” Read more in The Washington Post.