The 2024 US presidential election: Democracy and its discontents

As the United States approaches a pivotal presidential election in November, populism is on the rise and key tenets of American democracy are being tested. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is preparing for two very different versions of the superpower.

Join us for a special Lowy Institute conversation with the head of the Pew Research Center on the upcoming presidential election, the state of democracy, and the role of public opinion in US and global politics.

‍Dr Michael Dimock is the President of Pew Research Center, a US-based nonpartisan institute producing world-leading polling and data-driven research on the trends shaping America and the world. Dimock is an expert on American political opinion and how public attitudes inform politics. He has co-authored several of the Center’s landmark reports, including on trends in American political and social values, and on several presidential election cycles.
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Lydia Khalil is the Director of the Transnational Challenges Program at the Lowy Institute. She manages the Digital Threats to Democracy Project and the Safeguarding Democracy Project, among others. She has spent her career focusing on the intersection between governance, technology, and security. Lydia is the author of Rise of the Extreme Right: The New Global Extremism and the Threat to Democracy.
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Ryan Neelam (moderator) is the Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute and the project lead on the flagship annual Lowy Institute Poll. He previously served as an Australian diplomat in Hong Kong and at the United Nations, New York.