Join us for a discussion of how to understand authoritarianism in the world today?  Systems that we call "authoritarianism" vary greatly--most have parliaments, judicial systems, and other structures we encounter in democratic systems. How do we understand how they differ from democracies--and how they differ from each other? How should those who seek to promote democracy approach such institutions?   Julian Waller and Nathan Brown will present some findings from their coauthored book (with Steven Schaaf and Samer Anabtawi), Autocrats Can't Always Get What They Want State Institutions and Autonomy under Authoritarianism (University of Michigan Press, 2024), joined by Tom Caothers, director of the Carnegie Endowment's Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program and Mona El Ghobashy, clinical associate professor of liberal studies at New York University.