Global Democratic Backsliding
November 10 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Our ongoing World Affairs Council of Charleston partnership continues with Princeton University’s Policy Task Force Director, Laura Thornton, who specializes in elections, hybrid threats, disinformation, democratic resilience, and civic engagement. With more than 30 years’ experience as a practitioner and advocacy expert, Laura has supported civil societies across Central and Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, Black Sea and Eurasia region, Belarus, and Ukraine to bolster democratic resilience through civic education, media literacy, and public awareness campaigns. With former positions at the McCain Institute, the Democracy Hub at the German Marshall Fund, and Stockholm-based International IDEA, Laura will speak to her research in public opinion and the health of democracy around the world.
This program is in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Charleston.
About Laura Thornton
Laura Thornton has spent more than 30 years in the democracy, governance, and security space both as a practitioner and policy and advocacy expert. She lived more than two decades in Asia and the former Soviet Union.
Thornton leads initiatives to build communities of best practice, advocate support for frontline democracies through policy outreach, and forge alliances across borders. She serves in numerous global networks as a leader and expert in the democracy community.
Thornton served as senior director for global democracy programs at the McCain Institute, where she led election missions, democracy workshops, and the Institute’s Ukraine programming. Prior to joining McCain, Thornton was senior vice president of the Democracy Hub at the German Marshall Fund. Thornton oversaw the Alliance for Securing Democracy, through which GMF tracks, analyzes, and builds strategies to thwart malign internal and external influence operations that target democracies worldwide. She also led GMF’s Transatlantic Trusts, supporting civil society organizations and actors in Central and Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, Black Sea and Eurasia region, Belarus, and Ukraine that bolster democratic resilience through civic education, media literacy, public awareness campaigns, and media and watchdog activities.
Thornton was also the director of global programs at International IDEA, a Stockholm-based intergovernmental think and do tank with the mission to advance democracy. She led multiple teams across Europe focused on constitution-building, parliamentary processes, elections, gender and inclusion, political parties, and democracy assessment and analysis. She also spearheaded IDEA’s global comparative research, including the Global State of Democracy report measuring the health of democracy around the world.
Thornton served more than 20 years overseas at the National Democratic Institute, working across Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka) and in Georgia (country). She has written extensively about political party development, political finance and corruption, elections, and disinformation, and has led multiple election observation missions across the globe. At NDI, Thornton designed numerous public opinion research efforts, including national polls, focus groups, and experimental research designs concentrated on disinformation, security, geopolitics, democracy and human rights, and political developments. She co-authored the book Political Parties in Asia: Promoting Reform and Combating Corruption in Eight Countries (NDI, 2003).
Thornton did her graduate work at Princeton University (MPA) and Oxford University and earned her BA from Northwestern University.
About the World Affairs Council
The World Affairs Council of Charleston (WACC), formerly the Charleston Foreign Affairs Forum, was founded in the early 1980s as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. The Council works to deepen our community’s global perspective through speaker programs, discussion groups, and educational experiences. The membership represents a cross-section of individuals from the business community, academia, government service, and civic backgrounds. We welcome participants of all ages and from all backgrounds. The WACC is a 501(c)(3) organization and is a member of the World Affairs Councils of America, a network of 90+ independent, nonpartisan councils across 40 states.