Ian Bassin
{{Short description|American lawyer, writer, and activist}}
Ian Bassin is an American lawyer, writer, and activist who serves as executive director of Protect Democracy.{{Cite web|title=What Might Accountability For President Trump Look Like?|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/10/955479397/what-might-holding-president-trump-accountable-look-like|access-date=2021-05-24|website=NPR.org|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Williamson|first=Elizabeth|date=2021-01-11|title=Beyond Impeachment, a Push for Ethics Laws That Do Not Depend on Shame|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/politics/trump-ethics-democracy-biden.html|access-date=2021-05-24|issn=0362-4331}} He previously served as Associate White House Counsel under President Obama.{{Cite web|last=Dovere|first=Edward-Isaac|title=Obama lawyers form 'worst-case scenario' group to tackle Trump|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/obama-trump-lawyers-worst-case-235280|access-date=2021-05-24|website=POLITICO|language=en}}
Bassin is a recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Award" for "working to strengthen the structures, norms, and institutions of democratic governance in the United States."{{Cite web |title=Ian Bassin |url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2023/ian-bassin |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=www.macfound.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cartwright |first=Hope |date=2023-10-06 |title=3 Things to Know About DC's New MacArthur Genius |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/10/06/3-things-to-know-about-dcs-new-macarthur-genius/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |language=en-US}} He has also received the Skoll Award for Social Innovation.{{Cite web |title=Skoll {{!}} Beyond the Vote: Innovating Our Everyday Democracies |url=https://skoll.org/2024/07/17/beyond-the-vote-innovating-our-everyday-democracies/ |access-date=2025-02-25}}
In 2023, Bassin gave a TED talk on "'How to Spot Authoritarianism and Choose Democracy,'" detailing the seven steps of the authoritarian playbook and advocating for freedom.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/ian_bassin_how_to_spot_authoritarianism_and_choose_democracy |title=How to spot authoritarianism — and choose democracy |date=2024-06-17 |last=Bassin |first=Ian |language=en |access-date=2025-02-25 |via=www.ted.com}} In 2024, Bassin was named to the Time100 Next list of emerging global leaders,{{Cite magazine |last=Dean |first=John |date=2024-10-02 |title=2024 TIME100 Next: Ian Bassin and Justin Florence |url=https://time.com/7023500/ian-bassin-and-justin-florence/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |magazine=TIME |language=en}} and he has repeatedly been named by Washingtonian magazine as one of the 500 most influential people in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-04 |title=Ian Bassin on His Efforts to Preserve Democracy |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/12/04/dcs-new-genius-ian-bassin-on-his-efforts-to-preserve-democracy/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2024-05-02 |title=Washington DC's 500 Most Influential People of 2024 |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2024/05/02/washington-dcs-500-most-influential-people-of-2024/ |access-date=2025-02-25 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-05-03 |title=Washington DC's 500 Most Influential People |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/05/03/washington-dcs-500-most-influential-people/ |access-date=2022-05-11 |language=en-US}}
Education
Ian Bassin graduated with a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1998 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2006.{{Cite web|title=Bassin '98 Named Deputy Associate Counsel|url=https://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2009/02/13/bassin/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=News @ Wesleyan|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Profs tackle future of Supreme Court - Yale Daily News|url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2005/09/15/profs-tackle-future-of-supreme-court/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=yaledailynews.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2019-11-01|title=Ian Bassin: What a Collapsing Middle Class Means for Democracy|url=https://lithub.com/ian-bassin-what-a-collapsing-middle-class-means-for-democracy/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Literary Hub|language=en-US}} While at Yale Law School, he and Justin Florence co-founded a group called "Law Students Against Alito," opposing the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.{{Cite news |last=Liptak |first=Adam |date=2005-11-13 |title=Yale Law Frets Over Court Choices It Knows Best |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/politics/politicsspecial1/yale-law-frets-over-court-choices-it-knows-best.html |access-date=2022-05-09 |issn=0362-4331}}
Early career
In 2007, Ian joined the Obama campaign’s policy team, and later the Obama-Biden transition team.{{Cite web|last=McNeil|first=Michele|date=2008-12-01|title=UPDATED: Obama's Ed Policy Working Group|url=https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/updated-obamas-ed-policy-working-group/2008/12|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Education Week|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2008-11-28|title=President-Elect Obama Selects Dr. John H. Jackson, Schott Foundation President and CEO, to serve on Obama-Biden Transition Team|url=http://schottfoundation.org/about/press-releases/president-elect-obama-selects-dr-john-h-jackson-schott-foundation-president-and|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Schott Foundation for Public Education|language=en}} From 2009 to 2011, he served in the White House Counsel’s Office.{{Cite web|title=Obama Announces Key Additions to the Office of the White House Counsel|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/realitycheck/node/2093|access-date=2021-05-24|website=The White House|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Lithwick|first=Dahlia|date=2019-03-16|title=Former White House Lawyer Ian Bassin on His Legal Strategy for Combating Authoritarianism|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/protect-democracy-ian-bassin-on-rising-authoritarianism-and-the-constitution-take-care-clause.html|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}} As Associate White House Counsel, Ian worked on democracy issues and the rules that govern executive branch behavior.{{Cite web |last=Dovere |first=Edward-Isaac |title=Obama lawyers form 'worst-case scenario' group to tackle Trump |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/obama-trump-lawyers-worst-case-235280 |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}
After leaving the White House, Ian was reportedly involved in a number of social activism efforts around the world.{{Cite web|title=UNGA Session Draws Broad Palette of Protesters|url=https://www.voanews.com/usa/unga-session-draws-broad-palette-protesters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524151146/https://www.voanews.com/usa/unga-session-draws-broad-palette-protesters|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 24, 2021|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Voice of America|language=en}} In 2012, he helped organize a campaign that freed more than 100 migrant laborers in Bahrain who were being held against their will and in violation of international human rights law.{{Cite web|title=TN villager wins a battle for Bahrain's Indian workers|url=https://www.sify.com/news/tn-villager-wins-a-battle-for-bahrains-indian-workers-news-columns-mhsrX9begjisi.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524151147/https://www.sify.com/news/tn-villager-wins-a-battle-for-bahrains-indian-workers-news-columns-mhsrX9begjisi.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 24, 2021|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Sify|language=en}} In 2013, Ian directed a litigation effort in South Africa that reaffirmed the right under the South African Constitution to publicly criticize the president.{{Cite web |title=Boost for war on lion bone trade |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/boost-for-war-on-lion-bone-trade-1601337 |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=www.iol.co.za |language=en}} He also helped with organizing efforts in support of Syrians during Bashar al-Assad’s war.{{Cite web |title=UNGA Session Draws Broad Palette of Protesters |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/unga-session-draws-broad-palette-of-protesters/1756515.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=VOA |language=en}} In 2014, he was involved in a campaign to protect women’s rights in Afghanistan.{{Cite web |title=1 million sign petition against new Afghan law to protect women abusers |url=https://avapress.com/en/72698/1-million-sign-petition-against-new-Afghan-law-to-protect-women-abusers |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=AvaPress {{!}} Breaking Updated news and Latest headlines from Afghanistan |language=en |archive-date=2022-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512155434/https://avapress.com/en/72698/1-million-sign-petition-against-new-Afghan-law-to-protect-women-abusers |url-status=dead }}
In 2015, when he was Deputy Counsel to the Mayor of New York City, he was criticized by the New York Post for his early and public denunciation of Eric Garner's killing by New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo.{{Cite web|last=Board|first=Post Editorial|date=2014-07-24|title=Mayor's lawyer cops out|url=https://nypost.com/2014/07/23/mayors-lawyer-cops-out/|access-date=2022-02-11|website=New York Post|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2014-07-24|title=Cops furious over de Blasio lawyer's apology tweet to 'chokehold' victim|url=https://nypost.com/2014/07/24/cops-furious-at-de-blasio-lawyers-apology-tweet-over-choke-death/|access-date=2022-02-11|website=New York Post|language=en-US}} While Deputy Counsel to the Mayor, to reduce arrests of youth who danced on New York City subways, Ian created a city-sponsored training and performance program for street dancers called “It’s Showtime NYC.”{{Cite news|last1=Goodman|first1=J. David|last2=Flegenheimer|first2=Matt|date=2015-09-15|title=Instead of Arrests, Subway Dancers Are Getting a Stage Above Ground|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/nyregion/instead-of-arrests-subway-dancers-are-getting-a-stage-above-ground.html|access-date=2022-02-11|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|title=It's Showtime NYC|url=http://itsshowtime.nyc/|access-date=2022-02-11|website=It's Showtime NYC|language=en-US}} He worked with the Chief of the NYPD Transit Division to divert subway dancers into the program, in lieu of arrest.{{Cite news|last1=Goodman|first1=J. David|last2=Flegenheimer|first2=Matt|date=2015-09-15|title=Instead of Arrests, Subway Dancers Are Getting a Stage Above Ground|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/nyregion/instead-of-arrests-subway-dancers-are-getting-a-stage-above-ground.html|access-date=2022-02-11|issn=0362-4331}}
In 2016, Ian was part of the team at GiveDirectly, a non-governmental organization operating in Kenya that launched one of the largest universal basic income experiments in history.{{Cite news |last=Lowrey |first=Annie |date=2017-02-23 |title=The Future of Not Working |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/magazine/universal-income-global-inequality.html |access-date=2022-03-01 |issn=0362-4331}}
Protect Democracy
In 2016, Ian also co-founded the nonprofit organization Protect Democracy.{{Cite magazine|last=Kroll|first=Andy|date=2020-06-23|title=Donald Trump's Presidency Is a Saturday-Night Massacre That Never Ends|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/william-barr-donald-trump-justice-department-geoffrey-berman-roger-stone-michael-flynn-1018964/|access-date=2021-05-24|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} According to Time Magazine, Protect Democracy is a “defender of America’s system of government against the threat of authoritarianism.”{{Cite magazine|title=Trench Lawfare: Inside the Battles to Save Democracy From the Trump Administration|url=https://time.com/5859215/protect-democracy-trump/|access-date=2021-05-24|magazine=Time|language=en}} The organization includes progressives, moderates, and conservatives who have worked for Democratic and Republican elected officials.{{Cite news|title=Opinion {{!}} Here's how we'll recover from Trump|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/07/05/heres-how-well-recover-from-trump/|access-date=2021-05-24|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=People Archive|url=https://protectdemocracy.org/our-staff/|access-date=2021-05-24|website=Protect Democracy|language=en}}
In his role as executive director, Ian has been a frequent commentator on the state of American democracy, the dangers it faces, and what is needed to save it.{{Cite web|title=United to Protect Democracy|url=https://www.wgbh.org/program/the-open-mind/united-to-protect-democracy|access-date=2021-05-24|website=WGBH|language=en}} He is a critic of unchecked presidential war powers under both President Obama and President Trump.{{Cite news|last1=Bassin|first1=Ian|last2=Florence|first2=Justin|date=2019-04-01|title=Opinion {{!}} Trump's Acts Show the Urgent Need to Curb the Imperial Presidency|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/opinion/trump-mueller-barr-letter.html|access-date=2021-05-24|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=Bassin|first=Ian|date=2013-08-30|title=How Obama Can Get Out of the Syrian Bind He's In|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/obama-syria-intervention_b_3840582|access-date=2021-05-24|website=HuffPost|language=en}} He was credited by The Daily Beast with causing then-candidate Joe Biden to clarify and walk back remarks suggesting he would defy a congressional subpoena during the first Trump impeachment.{{Cite news|last=Nadeau|first=Barbie Latza|date=2019-12-28|title=Biden Says He Would Defy Impeachment Subpoena—Then Tries to 'Clarify'|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-biden-says-he-would-defy-impeachment-subpoenathen-tries-to-clarify|access-date=2022-02-22}}
Bassin coined the term “autocratic capture," describing “a form of systemic corruption in which politicians have improper influence on private companies [and] use government power to put pressure on businessmen and to force them, or their employees, to toe a political line.”{{Cite news|title=Opinion {{!}} How tragic that a Republican president is undermining economic and political freedom|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-tragic-that-a-republican-president-is-undermining-economic-and-political-freedom/2019/09/13/d9ba1d1a-d640-11e9-9343-40db57cf6abd_story.html|access-date=2022-02-22|issn=0190-8286}}
In October 2024, Bassin and Maximillian Potter wrote an article for the Columbia Journalism Review, titled "On Anticipatory Obedience and the Media," which one media critic called "the most prophetic essay of the year."{{Cite web |last1=Bassin |first1=Ian |last2=Potter |first2=Maximillian |title=On anticipatory obedience and the media |url=https://www.cjr.org/analysis/anticipatory-obedience-bassin-potter-scheppele-orban-trump-hungary-media-punish.php |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Last |first=Jonathan V. |title=The Guardrails Are Already Crumpling |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/p/bezos-kills-washington-post-endorsement-guardrails-falling |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=www.thebulwark.com |language=en}}
References
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Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:American political commentators
Category:United States presidential advisors
Category:Obama administration personnel
Category:American political consultants
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Wesleyan University alumni