Matt Qvortrup is a professor of political science at Coventry University. Described by the Financial Times as “a world authority on referendums,” he has published more than a dozen books on democracy and presented the BBC Program, “How to Kill a Democracy.”

As a political scientist, Matt studies democracy – its evolution, and particularly how democracies decline.  In this edition of Innovating Leadership Co-Creating Our Future, Matt shares with Maureen his perspective on the rise of populism across the world, how that leads to un-democratic leaders, then answers the question, “Is American democracy a brittle twig or a supple bamboo?”  He offers solutions, too; every strong democracy in history thrived on disparate points of view – and leaders who welcomed diverse opinions.