A while back, I had the opportunity to photograph Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, the authors of How Democracies Die and The Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point.
In their books, they explore how American democracy is being undermined by minority rule, pointing to institutions like the Electoral College, the Senate, and gerrymandering—structures that allow a small group to wield disproportionate power. Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that while the U.S. Constitution was once a pillar of democracy, it now enables anti-democratic forces to obstruct majority rule. By examining other democracies, they highlight how constitutional reforms have helped prevent democratic backsliding and advocate for changes to ensure that the will of the majority prevails.
It was an honor to photograph these two influential thinkers and feels so strange that these topics are even more relevant now than when I shot this.