Democracy Paradox
221 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago -Is it possible for a democracy to govern undemocratically? Can the people elect an undemocratic leader? Is it possible for democracy to bring about authoritarianism? And if so, what does this say about democracy? My name is Justin Kempf. Every week I talk to the brightest minds on subjects like international relations, political theory, and history to explore democracy from every conceivable angle. Topics like civil resistance, authoritarian successor parties, and the autocratic middle class challenge our ideas about democracy. Join me as we unravel new topics every week.
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Episodes
Anne Applebaum on Autocracy, Inc
May 09, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MBWe are at a moment of very, very high risk and I'm not sure that people really know that or understand it, or if they do, if they care. Anne Applebaum Access Bonus Episodes on Patreon Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. Some of her books include Gulag: A History, Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine, and most recently Twilight of ...
Marsin Alshamary on Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy
May 02, 2023 09:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBThe thing that really astonishes me is that there's never any agency given to Iraqis, both during the war and the occupation, but also 20 years later. It always goes back to what the Americans did. There's a defeatism about Iraq's ability to do anything on its own and I think that's at the heart of why people can't see anything democratic in the country. Marsin Alshamary Access Bonus Episodes on Patreon Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www....
Jamie Susskind Explains How to Use Republican Ideals to Govern Technology
April 25, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 34 MBThe problem in both cases is not Zuckerberg or Musk, but the idea of a Zuckerberg or Musk. The idea that, simply by virtue of owning and controlling a particular technology, someone wields arbitrary or unaccountable power which can touch every aspect of our liberty and our democracy. Jamie Susskind Access Bonus Episodes on Patreon Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Jamie Susskind is an author and barrister. He has h...
James Goldgeier on NATO, its Enlargement, and its Future
April 18, 2023 09:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBWho would be a better ally than Ukrainians? These are people who are fighting so bravely and have shown so much resilience. That's what we should want in an ally. James Goldgeier Access Bonus Episodes on Patreon Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. James Goldgeier is a a Professor of International Relations at American University. He is also a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University's Center on International Security ...
Steven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in Iraq
April 11, 2023 09:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBThe Iraqis suffered so heavily and not just because of the 2003 war. The first war in 1991 inflicted terrible damage on Iraq and then the next 10 years of sanctions immiserated the populace and inflicted an especially punishing blow on Iraqi women and children. Steven Simon Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Steven served on the National Security Council staff from 1994 to 1999 and again fro 2011 to...
Larry Bartels Says Democracy Erodes from the Top
April 04, 2023 09:00 - 53 minutes - 37.1 MBDemocracy is a much more complicated thing than we often give it credit for and certainly speaking dichotomously about democracy being in crisis or not is an oversimplification. Larry Bartels Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Larry Bartels is the May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University and a Co-Director for the Center for the Study of Democratic Institu...
Samuel Woolley on Bots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Propaganda
March 28, 2023 09:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MBOne of the things that we see happening online is sort of a democratization of propaganda. Samuel Woolley Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Samuel Woolley is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and the project director for propaganda research at the Center for Media Engagement. His most recent book is Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaga...
Josh Chin on China's Surveillance State
March 21, 2023 09:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MBIt's hard to believe what was happening in Xinjiang and most Chinese people didn't believe, but now they do. A lot of them do. Josh Chin Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Josh Chin is the Deputy Bureau Chief for China at the Wall Street Journal and the coauthor with Liza Lin of the book Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control. Key Highlights Introduction - 0...
Staffan Lindberg with a Report on Democracy in the World
March 14, 2023 09:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBDemocracy dies with the lies. Even that simplest form of democracy, which is that we vote on a politician or we don't and we vote on another politician depends on the truth. Because if you can lie about what you did in office or lie about what you didn't do, that sort of vertical accountability breaks down. It becomes meaningless. Staffan Lindberg Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Staffan Lindberg ...
Srdja Popovic on Dilemma Actions
March 07, 2023 10:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBIt is one Putin when you see him on a calendar. It's yet another Putin when he needs to arrest a snowman. Srdja Popovic Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Srdja Popovic is the co-founder of CANVAS, and was a founding member of the Otpor! (“Resistance!”) a movement that had a crucial part in bringing down the Milosevic regime in Serbia. He recently coauthored an article in the Journal of Democracy wi...
Wendy Hunter on Lula, Bolsonaro, January 8th and Democracy in Brazil
February 28, 2023 10:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBI do want to underscore this should not be read as a victory of the left. It's a victory of Lula and a narrow victory. And it's Lula the person. It's not so much Lula from the PT as the party that won. Wendy Hunter Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Wendy Hunter is a Professor of Government at the University of Texas Austin. Recently, she cowrote an article with Timothy Power in the Journal of Democ...
Jennifer Piscopo on the Constitutional Chaos in Chile
February 21, 2023 10:00 - 55 minutes - 37.8 MBI think voters right now, remember the circus of the convention over the substance of what it did. I think there is a bit of an amnesia over the mandate for change that existed in 2019 and 2020 that the Constitution delivered on, that voters had moved away from that mandate to change by the time the Constitution went for approval. Jennifer Piscopo Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Jennifer Piscopo ...
Martin Wolf on the Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
February 14, 2023 10:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBI think democracy and capitalism are individually in crisis in that they're not working very well and that the combination of the two in one political and economic system, which we have come to think of as the Western Way, is in crisis not only because the two component parts are in crisis, but because they're in crisis interactively. Martin Wolf Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Martin Wolf is the...
Anna Grzymala-Busse on the Sacred Foundations of Modern Politics
February 07, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBWhile war creates the need for a state, it obliterates the capacity to deliver one. We're seeing that in Ukraine right now. That if you want to develop a state, you need peace, not war. War may create the need for a state, but peace is what allows you to build one. I think that that might be a lesson worth emphasizing, especially these days. Anna Grzymala-Busse Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Ann...
Francis Fukuyama Responds to Liberalism's Discontents
January 31, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 29.4 MBI think that there is a core set of shared values that liberals have to embrace. You know, if they don't believe in a rule of law, they don't believe in the fundamental legitimacy of their constitutional order, that's a big problem. But as I said, probably the strongest argument in favor of liberalism is this pragmatic one. That this is something that allows pluralistic diverse societies to live in peace with one another. Francis Fukuyama Click Here to Join Patreon and Access the Bonus Epi...
Patrick Deneen Offers a Powerful Critique of Liberalism
January 24, 2023 10:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBBy my reading of political philosophy every regime in a sense ultimately comes to an end because its contradictions ultimately undermine whatever virtues it might have had. I don't have a crystal ball, but I think it's a very real possibility that we're in a hinge of history where the next thing is in the offing and my hope is that that next thing is going to be a better and more humane way of organizing our society because the prospects of a worse and less humane way is also ever real and e...
Michael Walzer on Liberal as an Adjective
January 17, 2023 10:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MBIt doesn't have a fixed character. It's a mindset that has to do with a respect for human rights and civil liberties, toleration of different religions, and an ability to live with ambiguity. So, I like the idea of liberal as a qualifier on other and more specific and coherent commitments. Michael Walzer Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Michael Walzer is an emeritus professor at the Institute for ...
Robert Kagan Looks to American History to Explain Foreign Policy Today
January 10, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBWe think that because we’re children of the Enlightenment, the way the world is moving is gradually toward liberalism. I think the natural course of the world is away from liberalism and it has only been American power that has sustained this aberration in world history. Robert Kagan Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Robert Kagan is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, a columnist at The Was...
Olivier Zunz on Alexis de Tocqueville
January 03, 2023 10:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBTocqueville’s Democracy in America is only partly a book on America. It's also a book of comparative thinking and it's a book of theoretical invention. So, Democracy in America is a theory of democracy. Part of it is about America and part of it is Tocqueville’s theoretical genius pushing through. Olivier Zunz Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Olivier Zunz is the James Madison Professor Emeritus of...
Lynette Ong Describes How China Outsources Repression
December 27, 2022 10:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBThe state is able to take advantage of the social capital by deploying social actors and in exercising social capital, through the process of persuasion. They'll be putting on pressure on these families, but the pressures being put on them are social pressures. People would often cave into this social pressure. So, there is compliance, but it doesn't feel like state repression. Lynette Ong Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at w...
Olga Onuch and Henry Hale Describe the Zelensky Effect
December 20, 2022 10:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBI just want to say that I don't think Zelensky has changed Ukraine. He amplified it. He mirrored what was already there in his time as an actor and comedian. He tried to show the realities and positions of ordinary Ukrainians as they saw them themselves and he then amplifies that and emphasizes that as a Ukrainian. Olga Onuch Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Olga Onuch is a Senior Lecturer in Poli...
Elizabeth Economy in a Wide Ranging Conversation About China
December 13, 2022 10:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBBut if you think that China can change and that Xi Jinping is not inevitable and Xi Jinping two and three and four and five are not inevitable, then I think that leads you to a slightly different set of policy recommendations. A set that's probably more open to discussion to ensuring that we continue to quote ‘Engage with China.’ Elizabeth C. Economy Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Elizabeth C. E...
Richard Wike Asked Citizens in 19 Countries Whether Social Media is Good for Democracy
December 06, 2022 14:00 - 40 minutes - 27.7 MBWhen people think about social media, they think about the upsides of it. It speaks to what they want in democracy that they're not getting. They feel disconnected, voiceless, and not empowered. So, if there's ways that social media can play a role in empowering people and giving them a voice and holding accountable leaders that they don't think listen to them, those are upsides and that's some of the reasons why you get more positive evaluations of social media than we might think. Richard...
Naunihal Singh on the Myth of the Coup Contagion
November 29, 2022 10:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBSometimes I found people who I was talking to and their coup happened after an elected leader became less democratic. They could very convincingly tell me that their coup was in response to those actions. Then I'd find out that they started plotting the coup years in advance or entertaining it when the situation was very different. Naunihal Singh Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Naunihal Singh is ...
Mohammed Ali Kadivar on Paths to Durable Democracy and Thoughts on the Protests in Iran
November 22, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 41.3 MBIt's been exciting and it's been overwhelming. It's exciting to see people are rising, to see the amount of bravery on the streets, how these young women and men will stand up against the armored police with bare hands. It's been inspiring. Mohammad Ali Kadivar Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Mohammad Ali Kadivar is an assistant professor of sociology and international studies at Boston College. ...
Michael Ignatieff Warns Against the Politics of Enemies
November 15, 2022 10:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBDemocracy is the stage in which we mount the battle for power and we fight out our competing visions of what would be good for a society. But at the same time, the most dangerous of all things we try to do in a democracy is argue about what is democratic and what is undemocratic. Michael Ignatieff Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Michael Ignatieff is a historian and former Leader of the Liberal Pa...
Emilee Booth Chapman Has Ideas About Voting with Profound Implications
November 08, 2022 10:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBThere is this idea on the one hand of this mass collective participation, but on the other hand that there's a lot of attention being given to the sort of dignity of each individual contribution. So, I think the experience of voting that is most valuable is when you have these two experiences juxtapose with each other Emilee Booth Chapman Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Emilee Booth Chapman is an...
Jason Brownlee Believes We Underestimate Democratic Resilience
November 01, 2022 09:00 - 41 minutes - 28.4 MB71% of Americans are concerned about democracy. And apparently that number, roughly 71%, holds for both parties. So, if listeners are concerned about democracy, they can expect that there's someone from the other party who's also concerned about democracy from a different perspective. Jason Brownlee Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. Check out the podcast Entitled A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Jason Brownlee is a professor of ...
Allie Funk of Freedom House Assesses Global Internet Freedom
October 25, 2022 09:00 - 40 minutes - 28 MBThe Internet's a battle space. I think this year unfortunately we've seen that more than ever with Russia's brazen invasion of Ukraine about how the internet and digital platforms are used to pursue authoritarian ends or to promote democracy and freedom and help people stay safe during armed conflict. Allie Funk Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Allie Funk is the Research Director for Technology an...
Jeremi Suri on America's Unfinished Fight for Democracy
October 18, 2022 09:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBOur democracy is an evolving machine. The machine was built by a small group of people who were all men and looked the same. Over time the strength of American society is that it has grown and become more diverse and become very different. Our democracy has in an inefficient, episodic way been able to adjust and been able to at least account for some of that. But it hasn't done that in about a generation, and it's long time we do that. Jeremi Suri Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation...
Frank Dikötter on the History of China After Mao
October 11, 2022 09:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBThis is a party absolutely determined to maintain a monopoly of power and absolutely determined to crush any attempt by any group to suggest that there ought to be anything like separation of powers. No labor unions. No civil society. No freedom of press. No judicial independence. The mere suggestion of it seems to be so offensive that people end up in jail and that’s a constant theme that runs throughout this entire period. Frank Dikötter Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Demo...
Larry Diamond on Supporting Democracy in the World and at Home
October 04, 2022 09:00 - 40 minutes - 28 MBThe world can't wait for us to counter Russian and Chinese disinformation, support democratic struggles abroad, help to stabilize and improve democratic institutions, forge partnerships between our democratic organizations and actors and parties and theirs, and otherwise promote democracy around the world. The world can't wait for us to do that. Larry Diamond Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Larry...
Lynn Vavreck on the 2020 Election and the Challenge to American Democracy
September 27, 2022 09:00 - 36 minutes - 25.3 MBThe people who win get to enact policy and they get to change the world we live in. But we're at this moment where the candidates who lose, if they think that they don't have to abide by election outcomes, that's very important and that affects the kind of world we live in. Lynn Vavreck Become a Patron! Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Order The Bitter End: The 2020 Presidential Campaign and the Challenge to Ameri...
Sarah Cook on China's Expanding Global Media Influence
September 20, 2022 09:00 - 40 minutes - 27.7 MBIn country after country - we've counted over 130 news outlets of 30 countries that were republishing content that was produced by Chinese state media outlets or the Chinese embassy. So, these state media outlets are actually formally under the control of the Communist Party's propaganda department. Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes, ad free episodes and exclusive updates and information. Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. A full transcript is available ...
Constitution Makers on Constitution Making: Hassen Ebrahim on South Africa's Constitution
September 19, 2022 18:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBBack then as a child, when it was normal that we couldn't ride on all buses and sit on all park benches and be allowed to go and watch a movie in a cinema together. Today, our children simply don't know that we had those experiences. But in it lies the wonders of the successes of what we have achieved. And if we managed to change that, then I think we have the ability to change from where we are currently into the future. Hassen Ebrahim Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episod...
Simon Usherwood on Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and the Nested Games of British Politics
September 06, 2022 05:00 - 46 minutes - 32.2 MBPolitics requires complex and ongoing engagement by all of us. There are lots of elements that hang together. The Brexit process has really highlighted that whatever we decide to do that has knock-on consequences and those knock-on consequences have knock-on consequences of their own which might come back and affect our original decision. Everything is connected and we are never going to have something that's going to make everybody happy. Simon Usherwood Support Democracy Paradox on Patre...
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way on the Durable Authoritarianism of Revolutionary Regimes
August 30, 2022 09:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBPeople like Lenin, Stalin, Mao, they basically lashed out at the entire capitalist world and that lashing out created a counterrevolutionary armed struggle, which in turn contributed to their durability. So, it's that reckless behavior in creating enemies that ultimately led to their creating very strong authoritarian institutions. Lucan Way Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes, ad free episodes and exclusive updates and information. Preorder Steven Levitsky and Lucan ...
Laura Gamboa on Opposition Strategies to Resist Democratic Erosion
August 23, 2022 04:00 - 41 minutes - 28.2 MBThere's always another set of elections. So, let's set up for elections. Let's figure out how to mobilize people. Let's figure out how to engage them and answer the question, ‘Why they elected this person? What did we miss? What do we need to build? Which kind of program.’ I think using the streets is great, but definitely you need training… A lot of training.This is a long-term effort. It's not about calling you on Facebook for a demonstration and that's it. Laura Gamboa Support Democracy...
Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary, Viktor Orbán, and its Democratic Decline
August 16, 2022 09:00 - 50 minutes - 34.3 MBSo, I came back from that trip and said to one of my good friends back in Budapest, ‘I think I've met the most dangerous person I've ever met personally.’ And she said, ‘Oh Viktor, he's nothing. He's like a kid. He's in his thirties.’ I mean, he was an aspiring politician at this point. His party was at the bottom of the polls. It didn't look like he had any future. And I said, ‘No, this guy has something. It's hard to define what it is, but we're going to be hearing from him.’ Kim Lane Sch...
Jessica Pisano on How Zelenskyy Changed Ukraine
August 09, 2022 09:00 - 35 minutes - 24.7 MBThere were lots of opportunities for a certain part of Ukrainian society to encounter Zelenskyy and to feel that they knew him. He was not an unknown quantity when he ran for president. So, I think that's important for us to keep in mind. I would say the so-called Western World is still discovering who he is, but his loyalty, his integrity, his ideas or his group's ideas about Ukrainian political nationhood have been in the works for a long time. Jessica Pisano Support Democracy Paradox on...
Neil DeVotta on the Protests in Sri Lanka
August 02, 2022 09:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBAs long as people are able to cast their ballot, irrespective of the illiberalism, irrespective of all these other shortcomings, democracy, at least from a voting standpoint, has the capacity to surprise. Neil Devotta Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Neil DeVotta is professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University. His article "Sri Lanka's Ag...
Aynne Kokas on the Intersection Between Surveillance Capitalism and Chinese Sharp Power (or How Much Does the CCP Already Know About You?)
July 26, 2022 09:00 - 45 minutes - 31 MBThe US consumer system is uniquely exploitative. US consumers are exploited by American companies, by French companies, by German companies, by Chinese companies, because there aren't laws protecting consumer data privacy that extend widely across the US consumer ecosystem. The main difference with Chinese companies is that the Chinese government has established an entire framework that pressures Chinese firms to share their data with Chinese government regulators. Aynne Kokas Support Demo...
Michael McFaul and Robert Person on Putin, Russia, and the War in Ukraine
July 19, 2022 09:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBThere are a lot of people quietly who are deeply frustrated with this war. Every rich person in Russia with one or two exceptions are frustrated with this war. I think many of the so-called liberal technocratic elites in the government are frustrated with this war. Lots of regional leaders are frustrated with this war. It's not just the vocal opposition. I think there's a quiet minority and maybe even majority that is exhausted with what Putin has done. Michael McFaul Support Democracy Par...
Scott Mainwaring on Argentina and a Final Reflection on Democracy in Hard Places
July 12, 2022 08:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBI think they're really important. But I don't think that they are a complete safeguard. Certainly, when you create democracies in hard places, you want to think very carefully about what institutions you want in place and how you strengthen them. But if you get illiberal governing parties in democracies in hard places, they can run over institutions. Scott Mainwaring Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. A full transcript is availa...
Lucan Way on Ukraine. Democracy in Hard Places
July 05, 2022 09:00 - 41 minutes - 28.4 MBThe war is never going to really end. Because even in the most optimistic scenario where Ukraine regains its territory and it goes back to the 1991 borders, Russia is almost certainly going to present a permanent threat to Ukrainian sovereignty. I think objectively it will. But even if objectively it wasn’t, after such an invasion, you can imagine the political environment's going to treat it as one. Lucan Way Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates an...
Michael Coppedge on Why Democracies Emerge, Why They Decline, and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)
June 28, 2022 09:00 - 35 minutes - 24.7 MBDemocracy is a complex concept. It has to do with elections. It has to do with legislatures. It has to do with civil society organizations and courts and political styles of politicians. There's a lot packed into the concept and it's multidimensional, because some of these components don't move together. Michael Coppedge Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Michael Coppe...
Rachel Beatty Riedl on Benin. Democracy in Hard Places.
June 21, 2022 09:00 - 47 minutes - 32.4 MBSo, at some level, a belief in democracy was necessary in Benin as in elsewhere. Support for it - Absolutely. But what's interesting in the Benin case is that you were lacking that level of political elite leadership that were committed democratic ideologues. Rachel Beatty Riedl Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com. Rachel Beatty Riedl is the John S. Knight Professor of I...
Ashutosh Varshney on India. Democracy in Hard Places
June 14, 2022 09:00 - 54 minutes - 37.6 MBNehru is asked several times in those early years, ‘Aren’t you doing something which has never been done before? You are 17% literate. Half of your country is below the poverty line. Under such conditions no democracy has ever stabilize itself and perhaps has not emerged.’ And his argument repeatedly is that we shouldn't be constrained by the history of the West. Ashutosh Varshney Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. A full transc...
Evan Lieberman on South Africa. Democracy in Hard Places
June 07, 2022 09:00 - 49 minutes - 33.7 MBWhen you hear people talk in such disparaging tones, that everything is broken, that nothing is possible, you need to ask yourself, is that right? When you look around, the answer is no. There are these examples where things do go right, where people work together and create a neighborhood or a community for themselves in which they can be prosperous and build better lives. And that's really what the democratic project is all about. Evan Lieberman Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for b...
Dan Slater on Indonesia. Democracy in Hard Places
May 31, 2022 09:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBThis might sound like a cliche, but in Indonesia it's really, really true. My hope rests in the Indonesian people and the voters. I mean, the voters, they show up. The voters have been the ones to defend democracy. They've been the ones to reject the most anti-pluralistic candidates, not all Indonesian voters, but a slim majority. They've been managing to do it. Dan Slater Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information. A full transcript is ...