Why Republics Die
In the third Making Public Histories event of 2026, Prof Peter McPhee will be moderating a panel of historians from three distinct periods to consider how democratic and republican regimes fail. Are they vulnerable to authoritarian and military threats, or are they victims of their own shortcomings?
Dr Ángel Alcalde
‘Fascism and the Destruction of European Democracies in the 1930s’
Dr Ángel Alcalde is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Melbourne. His recently completed book The Global Rise of Fascism is under contract with Cambridge University Press.
Dr Julia Bowes
‘Make America Great Again? A Historical Perspective on the Right and the Decline of Democracy in the United States’
Dr Julia Bowes is a Lecturer in Gender History at the University of Melbourne. Her first book, Every Man’s Home A Castle: Parental Rights and the Makings of Modern Conservatism, will appear with Princeton University Press this April.
Frederik Vervaet
‘Reform Unwillingness and the Death of the Roman Republic’
Frederik Vervaet (PhD Ghent, Flanders) is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Melbourne where he specialises in Roman sociopolitical and institutional history and its ceaseless relevance to our modern era. He is one of the editors of the collection, How Republics Die: Creeping Authoritarianism in Ancient Rome and Beyond.
About Making Public Histories
Coordinated by Margaret Anderson, and presented in conjunction with the Old Treasury Building and Monash University History, the Making Public History series (4 events in 2026) provides free webinars on topics of significance.
These events are free.