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Democracy Paradox: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Justin Kempf
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.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 3 days ago48 min
Francis Fukuyama Reflects on the End of History and His Legacy
I'm not sure that that understanding of American exceptionalism is that powerful and that the United States may be a much more ordinary kind of democracy than I used to think. Francis Fukuyama Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), a faculty member of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. He's...
- 2 weeks ago46 min
Michael McFaul Says Powerful Autocracies as a Lasting Threat
We don’t need to export ideas about freedom and democracy because those ideas are already really popular around the world. Michael McFaul Why do some powerful countries become adversaries while others remain enduring allies? Michael McFaul joins Justin Kempf on Democracy Paradox to discuss his book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. Drawing on his experience as a democracy scholar and former US ambassador to Russia, McFaul explores how political sys...
- Sep 30, 202649 min
Ian Shapiro Says the Left's "Preemptive Capitulation" to Neoliberalism Paved the Way for Populism
If we want people to support democratic capitalism, it has to be a kind of democratic capitalism that delivers for most people, and we haven't had that. Ian Shapiro What went wrong after the Cold War – and what can democracies learn from the opportunities they missed? Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University and author of After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke Our World, joins Democracy Parado...
- Sep 16, 202645 min
Noam Lupu Says Support for Democracy Is Growing in the Americas, But Not Necessarily Liberal Democracy
The irony of democratic backsliding is a lot of these things are pitched to people and understood by people as actually pro-democratic. Noam Lupu Support for democracy is rising across the Americas after more than a decade of decline, but what kind of democracy do citizens actually want? Noam Lupu, director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy and LAPOP Lab, joins Justin Kempf to discuss findings from the latest AmericasBarometer and Pulse of Democracy. They explore why bett...
- Sep 2, 202649 min
Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis Fear Autocracies Are Hijacking the International Order
There was an assumption that influence could only run one direction... but influence could run the other direction as well. Alexander Cooley Authoritarian governments are exercising growing influence not only within their own borders but across the institutions, markets, and organizations that shape global life. Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis, authors of Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics, join Justin Kempf to examine how authoritarian states have l...
- Aug 19, 202648 min
Suzanne Mettler Says the Rural-Urban Divide Threatens American Democracy
We barely disagree with each other, but we can't stand one another's party. Suzanne Mettler Suzanne Mettler is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University. She is the coauthor of Four Threats with Robert Lieberman and Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide that Threatens Democracy coauthored with Trevor Brown. The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Not...
- Aug 5, 202647 min
Rachel Beatty Riedl Says Economic Inequality Is Fueling Democratic Backsliding
I'm by nature optimistic, but am extremely worried because of the structural moment we live in. Rachel Beatty Riedl Political scientist Rachel Beatty Riedl joins host Justin Kempf to examine how extreme economic inequality and the growing power of transnational elites have contributed to democratic backsliding. Drawing on experiences from Africa and other third-wave democracies, Riedl explains how concentrated wealth can weaken states, distort political competition, and prevent citizens’ pref...
- Jul 22, 202652 min
Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary's Narrow Path Back to Democracy
You can only get to the point of restoring democratic institutions if you win the last election with such a huge majority that you really have the public with you as you make radical change. Kim Lane Scheppele Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Some of her articles include “Autocratic Legalism”, “T...
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About Democracy Paradox
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.
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