Departures With Robert Amsterdam

Following the demise of the Nazi regime in Germany at the end of the second World War, European nations set about a series of reforms to their political systems which would continue to entail popular representation expressed through a stronger set of institutions, bureaucracy, and law to constrain the potential abuses which sparked the war. Oxford historian Martin Conway has recently published a fascinating study of this period in his book, "Western Europe’s Democratic Age 1945-1968." In this conversation with Robert Amsterdam, Conway explains that we have been remarkably fortunate with the success of these efforts, as we often forget that there was never any sort of preordained roadmap for Europe to follow. The democratic models that evolved during this period were the result of complex social forces, economic interests, and historical experiences and could have easily failed. Conway said that the lessons that most European elites drew from the Weimar Republic was that there had been "too much democracy," an