Daron Acemoglu at The Brattle Theatre
About this Event
Harvard Book Store welcomes Daron Acemoglu—recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics and coauthor of the New York Times-bestseller Why Nations Fail—for a discussion of his new book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy?: Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity. He will be joined in conversation by Michael Sandel—Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University, and acclaimed author of The Tyranny of Merit.
Ticketing
There are two ticket options for this event.
- Book-Included Tickets: Includes admission for one and one hardcover copy of What Happened to Liberal Democracy? pre-signed by Daron Acemoglu.
- Admission-Only Tickets: Includes admission for one.
Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event.
About What Happened to Liberal Democracy?
From Daron Acemoglu, 2024 Nobel laureate in economics and coauthor of the runaway bestseller Why Nations Fail, an ambitious and expansive take on the biggest story in global politics over the last hundred years: the rise and fall of liberal democracy.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was supposed to herald the "end of history.” The post-World War II era had seen a battle between liberal democracy (a political philosophy centered on individual freedoms, protection of the most vulnerable, and commitment to self-government) and more autocratic, largely communist regimes—and liberal democracy had won. Soon, it seemed, we would all be living in functional democracies, with sustained economic growth benefiting all segments of society, and war would be a relic of the past. A generation later, one can only ask: What happened?
Liberalism, Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu argues in this powerful and persuasive new book, was a philosophy built to challenge power—yet it still has not adjusted to being in power. Acemoglu, using the wide interdisciplinary lens that has won him acclaim, traces the history of liberal political thought from the Roman Republic to the Renaissance to the present day. He shows the extraordinary progress, unparalleled in human history, that this system of government has created—and explains why it has gone off the rails in recent years.
Looking at rapid advances in technology, shifts in regulatory environments, global political history, and economics, Acemoglu lucidly lays out the successes and failures of the most important political system human beings have conceived of—and what we must do now to rescue it.
Bios
Daron Acemoglu is an Institute Professor at MIT. Among his previous books is the New York Times bestseller Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. He is the recipient of the 2005 John Bates Clark Medal and the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics. Photo Credit: Byrce Vickmark
Michael Sandel teaches political philosophy at Harvard University. His books—on justice, democracy, ethics, and markets—have been translated into more than 30 languages. He has been described as a “rock star moralist” (Newsweek) and “the world’s most influential living philosopher.” (New Statesman) In 2025, he was named the recipient of the Berggruen Prize, the most prestigious global award for philosophy. Sandel’s book The Tyranny of Merit: Can We Find the Common Good? seeks a way beyond the polarized politics of our time. A new edition of his classic book Democracy’s Discontent has been described as “essential—and ultimately hopeful—reading for all those who wonder if our democratic experiment will survive in the twenty-first century.” His previous books include Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?; What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets; and The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Sandel’s free online course “Justice” has been viewed by tens of millions of people. His BBC series “The Global Philosopher” explores the ethical issues lying behind the headlines with participants from around the world. Sandel has been a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, delivered the Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Oxford, served on the President’s Council on Bioethics, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His lectures have packed such venues as St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park, and an outdoor stadium in Seoul (S. Korea), where 14,000 came to hear him speak. Photo Credit: Kiku Adatto
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 6.24 to USD 42.99
