Yascha Benjamin Mounk (born 10 June 1982) is a German-born American

political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...

. , he is currently Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

in Washington, DC.

Early life

Mounk was born and raised in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. His mother was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and was forced to leave

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in 1969 due to antisemitism. He wrote that much of his mother's side of the family was killed in

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. He has said he felt like a stranger in Germany and though

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

is his native language, he never felt accepted as a "true German" by his peers. Mounk received a

BA degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in history from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he was a member of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. He then received a PhD from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the United States with the dissertation ''The Age of Responsibility: On the Role of Choice, Luck and Personal Responsibility in Contemporary Politics and Philosophy''. He remained in the US as a lecturer on government and was named a senior fellow in the Political Reform Program at the think tank New America. Mounk became an American citizen in 2017.

Career

He was executive director of the Renewing the Centre team at the

Tony Blair Institute for Global Change The Tony Blair Institute (TBI), commonly known by its trade name the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is a non-profit organisation set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to provide advice to governments and "to help political leader ...

. As a

freelance journalist ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

he has written for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. He runs a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

called ''The Good Fight''. His dissertation on the role of personal responsibility in contemporary politics and philosophy has been published by

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

. In July 2020, he founded ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for Social influence, influence. Persuasion can influence a person's Belief, beliefs, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, Intention, intentions, Motivation, motivations, or Behavior, behaviours. ...

'', an online magazine devoted to defending the values of free societies.

Political views

Mounk joined the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

(SPD) as a teenager. In 2015 he resigned from the party, doing so by publishing an open letter to then-chairman

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

. He cited the lack of helpfulness of German institutions to refugees, the passive attitude of SPD leaders and other parts of the party during the Crimea crisis in 2014, and the SPD's policy on Greece, which he called a "betrayal of the social democratic dream of a united Europe". In a February 2018 interview published in ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

'', Mounk stated that he had changed his position on

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. He initially considered it a relic of the past that must be overcome, but he now advocates an " inclusive nationalism" to head off the threat of aggressive nationalism. On the German television newscast ''

Tagesthemen ''Tagesthemen'' is one of Germany's main daily television news magazines, presented by journalists Caren Miosga and Ingo Zamperoni. Second only to the 20:00 ''Tagesschau'' ("Review of the Day") ''Tagesthemen'' ("Issues of the Day") is ARD's most ...

'', he stated that Germany is on a "historically unique experiment, namely to transform a mono-ethnic and

monocultural Monoculturalism is the policy or process of supporting, advocating, or allowing the expression of the culture of a single social or ethnic group. It generally stems from beliefs within the dominant group that their cultural practices are superior ...

democracy into a

multi-ethnic Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

one." In the Israeli newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'', Mounk advised the "

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

camp" to adopt this inclusive nationalism, to foster a multi-ethnic and democratic society: "The key... is the adoption of the populist demand that people and nations should again feel they have control of their lives or their destiny."

Bibliography

Books

* * ''The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It''. Harvard University Press, 2018, * ''The Age of Responsibility – Luck, Choice and the Welfare State'' * ''The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure'', Penguin Press (2022)

Articles

*"The Great American Eye Exam Scam", ''

'' (November 2019) * "How I Became An American", ''

'' (March 2017) * "Yes, American Democracy Could Break Down", ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' (October 2016) * "How Political Science Gets Politics Wrong", ''

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to rea ...

'' (October 2016) * "Echt Deutsch", '' Harper’s'' (April 2017) * "The Week Democracy Died", ''

'' (August 2016) * "What We Do Now", ''Slate'' (November 2016) * "German, Jewish and Neither", ''The New York Times'' (January 2014) * "Pitchfork Politics", ''

'' (August 2014) * "Responsibility Redefined", '' Democracy: A Journal of Ideas'' (January 2017) * "Signs of Deconsolidation", ''

Journal of Democracy The ''Journal of Democracy'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1990 and an official publication of the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies. It covers the study of democracy, democratic regim ...

'' (January 2017) * "The Danger of Deconsolidation. The Democratic disconnect", ''

'' (July 2016) * Adapted from ''The people vs. democracy''.
"The Undemocratic Dilemma"
''Journal of Democracy'' (April 2018) * "What the New Sokal Hoax Reveals About Academia", ''The Atlantic''
What the New Sokal Hoax Reveals About Academia - The Atlantic
(Oct 2018)

Interviews and profiles

* Sueddeutsche.de, 15 February 2018, von Sebastian Gierke
"Die liberale Demokratie zerfällt gerade"
* Deutschlandfunkkultur.de, 17 February 2018

(0:29:54) * Deutschlandfunk.de, 25 March 2018
''Demokratie in Gefahr?''
(0:29:06) * "How Stable Are Democracies?", ''The New York Times'' (November 2016) * "Containing Trump", ''The Atlantic'' (March 2017) * "Can Yascha Mounk Save Liberal Democracy?", ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' (April 2017)

References

External links

*
Johns Hopkins University profile
* * ''

''
article collection

Biography and articles in Zeit Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mounk, Yascha 1982 births Living people 20th-century German Jews Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge American political philosophers Civic nationalism German emigrants to the United States German philosophers German political philosophers Harvard University alumni People with acquired American citizenship Populism scholars The Atlantic (magazine) people