As residents of Pennsylvania and across the country prepare for the November election, bestselling author Daniel Ziblatt comes to Harrisburg to talk about his latest books, How Democracies Die and Tyranny of the Minority.

Ziblatt will join former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania’s 17th District at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore on Thursday to discuss the many serious challenges facing democracy today.

Ziblatt and his co-author and Harvard political scientist Steven Levitsky identify the Constitution as the culprit behind the erosion of democracy, which, as Ziblatt told NPR, “no longer stands on safe ground.”

Look forward to a lively conversation in which we try to answer the questions: How did we end up here and where do we go from here?

What is democracy at its core? Ziblatt and Levitsky define it as “a political system with periodic, free, and fair elections in which adult citizens of all ethnic groups have the right to vote” and “enjoy equal protection of democratic and civil rights.”

The discussion will address both the crisis and possible solutions to repair the guardrails that protect the essential elements of democracy and thus restore trust in the democratic system.

The event, which runs from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., is co-sponsored by democracyFIRST. There will also be a question-and-answer session and a book signing afterwards.

The event is free and open to the public. More information is available on the Midtown Scholar website. The discussion will also be live-streamed.