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Dr. Martina Klicperova-Baker, a senior researcher from the Institute of Psychology & Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic, spoke at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

She opened her presentation on the state of democracy in Europe by referencing her own experience of living with, and losing, democracy in her own country.

Thank you for sharing with me your solar eclipse, Klicperova-Baker said. The day of the Soviet invasion [of the Czech Republic] in 1968 was the day of the eclipse. It is a day ingrained in our memory. It began an age of totality that lasted 20 years.

Klicperova-Baker was invited by the universitys Czech and Global Studies programs to utilize her specialties in the psychology of democracy, the transition to democracy and political psychology to discuss democracy in Europe.

She began the program by discussing the institution of democracy.

Quoting Madeleine Albright, Klicperova-Baker said, While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run it is the most fragile.

Despite the permanent tension of democracy, Klicperova-Baker said its the regime that best secures the rights and self-actualization of its citizens.

Democracies are killing fewer of their own citizens than other regimes, Klicperova-Baker said. And real democracies do not wage war with each other.

Klicperova-Baker pointed to democracies around the world, such as Canada and Australia, as examples of secular democratic systems in which citizens enjoy a high quality of life, yet conceded that, while democracy is imperfect, we dont have anything better.

The more we approach [an ideal democracy], the more it is running away from us, Klicperova-Baker said. It is always on the horizon.

Klicperova-Baker said the number of people living in democratic institutions around the world is growing, but the number of those in autocracies remains stable.

She attributed the difficulty of maintaining a healthy democracy as a reason autocracies remain prominent.

Humans are not necessarily naturally predisposed to a positive democratic coexistence, Klicperova-Baker said. The human psyche is, to a great degree, selfish and self-serving.

Klicperova-Baker then moved to the structure of democracy, breaking it down to its simplest values by alluding to the French Revolutions motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

Liberty, or freedom, is exemplified by less frustration and, in turn, less aggression, Klicperova-Baker said. Equality, or vertical closeness, appears when the gap between the law and popular sovereignty is small. Fraternity, or horizontal closeness, is apparent in humanism, civic culture and civility.

Expanding on her final point of civility, Klicperova-Baker said, Civility is the most important aspect of democracy. Benevolence and respect: that is the cushion, that is the buffer to the permanent conflicts.

According to Klicperova-Baker, the Velvet Revolution and the Velvet Divorce are two events in Czech history that feature the importance of civility.

They were not even stepping on the grass, Klicperova-Baker said. It was a moral revolution, more like a cultural festival.

The Velvet Revolution was a number of peaceful protests in the late 1980s that ultimately led to the split that created the Czech Republic and Slovakia, also known as the Velvet Divorce.

Klicperova-Baker closed by examining the state of democracy in Europe, stressing the importance of looking at specific groups of people rather than entire nations.

To summarize her speech, Klicperova-Baker said, What is important? We found democrats, whether religious or secular, in every country. We cannot forget about the minority, the people who have it very tough in those countries.

How does one remember the minority? According to Klicperova-Baker, The democrats have to stand their ground; they have to fight for free and honest media.

To call this era post-factual or post-truth we must not accept that, Klicperova-Baker said. We cannot let that kind of language win.

news@dailynebraskan.com

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Czech researcher speaks at UNL on Europe's state of democracy - Daily Nebraskan