By Justin Kempf The Debate About Democracy Far too often we take the meaning of democracy for granted. It's a complex idea with many different interpretations. However, we frequently label actions as undemocratic without any pause or hesitation. Even when we cannot clearly define democracy, we believe we can easily recognize what is undemocratic. What... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! Preorder Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way's Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism here. Revolutions and Counterrevolutionary Reaction Successful revolutions depend on counterrevolutionary reaction. Without counterrevolutionary response a revolutionary regime fails to establish the foundations for a durable long lasting regime. It's absolutely counterintuitive, but makes perfect sense for those who... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! What is a Fifth Column? During World War II, the United States incarcerated 120,000 people of Japanese descent in internment camps. Somewhere around two-thirds were American citizens. At the time, Americans in government and civil society feared the presence of a fifth column who would work against the war effort. A fifth... Continue Reading →
Democracy Books This Week I'd like to believe every war is an avoidable war. So, the new book from Kevin Rudd is quite appealing. He believes conflict between the United States and China is not simply possible but necessary. It's an important read as the world inches closer to outright conflict with Russia. Other titles... Continue Reading →
Become a Patron! Why Patreon It's exciting to introduce Democracy Paradox on Patreon. It's an opportunity for listeners of the podcast and readers of the blog to support the project through modest monthly contributions. Patreons will gain access to the notes used for recent interviews complete with the original questions, quotes from the book, and quotes... Continue Reading →
Bryn Rosenfeld discusses her book The Autocratic Middle Class. Bryn introduces her groundbreaking research on the behavior of the state dependent middle class in authoritarian governments. She is an assistant professor of government at Cornell University. A transcript of her conversation with the host, Justin Kempf, is below. The Middle Class and Democratization Barrington Moore... Continue Reading →
Dahl’s majoritarianism has never made sense to me. I get the feeling Dahl has different ideas he believes relate to democracy. But he never completely ties them together. There are so many loose ends which he dances around. It’s a beautiful chaos because he is a genius who is completely honest with his intellectual curiosity... Continue Reading →
The traditional definition of democracy emphasizes the principle of majority rule and the institution of elections. This is where the genesis of the “tyranny of the majority” claim emerges. Typically, political theorists have required the marriage of liberalism and democracy to establish limitations on majority rule. This approach assumes there is a conflict between traditional... Continue Reading →
It is common to qualify democratic governance as not simply democracy but liberal democracy. This is natural because freedom has been associated with democracy dating back to the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. It is difficult to imagine an illiberal democracy which retained the foundations of democratic governance within an authoritarian or even totalitarian context.... Continue Reading →
Because the President is likely to become impeached due to a phone call with the Ukrainian President, it might help readers to have a little background on this little-known country. Just thirty years ago it was a part of the Soviet Union. It wasn’t simply part of the Warsaw Pact like Hungary or Poland. The... Continue Reading →
