Yascha Mounk
Liberalism, populism, and free inquiry (Persuasion).
German-American political scientist, Professor of the Practice at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and founder of the pro-liberal-democracy publication Persuasion. He is known for writing on the crisis of liberal democracy, populism, and identity politics, and is the author of five books including 'The People vs. Democracy' and 'The Identity Trap' (2023). As of 2026 he writes a weekly column at Persuasion and hosts 'The Good Fight' podcast.
Latest posts
A wonderful way to finish a difficult year: The Identity Trap was chosen as a Best Book of 2023 by publications including The Economist, The Financial Times, and Prospect Magazine. If you want to understand the new ideology transforming our culture, please give it a look. https://t.co/OoMNRLHldx
2y ago · 512 likes
Universities must protect free speech. This means they can’t punish students for saying stupid things, however offensive. But part of protecting free speech is to punish students who violate the rules that make free speech possible for everyone else. This includes punishing
2y ago · 5,513 likes
It’s not anti-Semitic to criticize the Israeli government. It’s not anti-Semitic to put the current conflict in historical context. It’s not anti-Semitic to mourn the death of Palestinian civilians. But if you describe the slaughter of 1,400 civilians as “military action” or
2y ago · 28,277 likes
Academic freedom absolutely does *not* entail professors giving students better grades for parroting their political point of view.
3y ago · 4,541 likes
The strongest case
Classical-liberal values — free speech, viewpoint diversity, and equal individual rights — must be defended symmetrically against both right-wing populist authoritarianism and left-wing identitarian orthodoxy, because open discourse is the only durable antidote to both.
And against
Critics argue he flattens a range of left-wing thought into a single 'identitarian' caricature, and that his even-handed centrism can understate the asymmetry of the threats he compares.
How to support
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On the record: no documented legal record found in a primary source.