S. Erdem Aytaç

“So there I stood in front of the pub in my Russian fur hat, while all the people who had been in Wenceslas Square streamed past me, shouting and carrying placards….

The second decade of this millennium will be remembered as a decade of protest. In early 2011, the Arab Spring surprised the world – as well as the autocrats that these movements targeted. Toward mid-decade, massive demonstrations took place in Brazil, Turkey, Ukraine, and Hong Kong. On January 21, 2017, the largest number of demonstrators ever – five million of them – massed on the streets of American cities for the Women’s March.

A voter casts a ballot at the Hamilton County Board of Elections on Oct. 10, the first day of early voting in Cincinnati. (John Minchillo/AP) This November’s elections set a voter turnout record: 49 percent of the voter-eligible population showed up at the polls, the highest midterm turnout seen since 1914. Why? Most commentators have concluded it was because voters thought the stakes were sky-high.