Why Eco-authoritarianism Is Not the Solution – Nomi Claire Lazar and Jeremy Wallace on Why, Despite Its Many Flaws, We Should Stick to Democracy in Our Quest to Solve the Climate Crisis

We are thrilled to bring you the next episode of our monthlyspecial in cooperation with the Journal of Democracy. In the framework of this new partnership, our editors discuss outstanding articles from the newest print issue of the journal with their authors.

In this conversation with Nomi Lazar, Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, and Jeremy Wallace, Professor of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, we engagewith their spirited defense of democracy in the face of calls for the deployment of emergency powers to come up with solutions to the worsening climate crisis. Nomi and Jeremy highlight the pitfalls of emergency legislation and spell out the key resources that in their view democracies andonly democracies bring to the table in the combat to prevent climate breakdown.The conversation also touches on China’s impressive climate record, the shortcomings of liberal democratic government, the need for more egalitarian forms of democracy, and some of the ways in which well-designed emergency legislation could still prove useful.

The conversation is based on their joint article, “Resisting the Authoritarian Temptation,” published in the January 2025 (36/1) issue of the Journal of Democracy.