By: Rylan Daniels Julien
Portrait of Steven Levitsky provided by Cape Cod Speaker Series board of trustees president Gene Guill.
The Cape Cod Speaker Series, a nonprofit that brings notable speakers to 4Cs, will host Harvard professor Steven Levitsky for a night of “insight and inspiration,” according to the organization. The event will take place on Oct. 17, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. at 4Cs’ Tilden Performing Arts Center.
The Cape Cod Speaker Series, a young organization that hosted its first event in August, has set ambitious goals for future events. Responding to Cape Cod’s rapidly changing residential population, particularly after the rise of remote work, the organization aims to “embrace these changes by providing a forum for meaningful conversations and lifelong learning,” said Gene Guill, president of the Board of Trustees.
Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University and New York Times best-selling author of “How Democracies Die”, is a Stanford and UC Berkeley graduate specializing in democracy and authoritarianism worldwide. His talk, titled “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” will explore the challenges facing an increasingly multiracial U.S. democracy and the backlash these changes have sparked. He will compare the U.S. with other countries undergoing similar transitions and examine why American democracy may be faltering.
Tickets are $10 for students, $50 for general admission, and $100 for premium seats, which include exclusive access to a post-talk reception with Levitsky. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online.
The event is expected to last 90 minutes, with the first half devoted to Levitsky’s presentation and the second half featuring a Q&A with the audience.
As an additional incentive to attend, ticketholders should know that they will be supporting 4Cs students directly, as all surplus revenue from Cape Cod Speaker Series events goes back toward funding financial aid to allow more students to access 4Cs. For more information about this talk and upcoming events, visit capecodspeakers.org.
