Nate Persily and Josh Tucker discuss the impact of social media on democracy and share their research. Nate is a professor of law at Stanford University and a co-director at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center. Josh is a professor of Political Science at NYU and a faculty director at the Center for Social Media and... Continue Reading →
John Dryzek is among the foremost scholars of deliberative democratic theory. His book Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations offers a strong defense of deliberative theory against rival schools of democratic theory. Justin Kempf reflects on this seminal work of deliberative democratic theory. Liberal Democracy Defined Liberal democracy is a marriage between two independent ideas... Continue Reading →
Nick Rooney conducted a series of interviews with Alexander Dugin for the documentary The Wolf in the Moonlight. Dugin is a controversial Russian intellectual known as "Putin's Brain." He is highly influential, but also an unapologetically illiberal figure. He has been called "The World's Most Dangerous Philosopher." The short video is from the longer film. Nick... Continue Reading →
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson have explored the evolution of the Republican Party in American politics for two decades. Their new book Let them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality explains the strange alliance between the affluent and working class white Americans into an ideology they describe as plutocratic populism.... Continue Reading →
This is a reflection on Serhii Plokhy's The Origins of the Slavic Nations. Plokhy offers the definitive account on the origins of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Justin Kempf considers the implications of their history for how the nation and the state are considered. Dividing the Nation from the State The division between the nation and the... 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 →
Jürgen Habermas is known for his conception of the public sphere. It is the foundation of his political theories related to democracy. The reflection below is based upon his book The Inclusion of the Other. Justin Kempf is the author. The Political Philosophy of Habermas Jürgen Habermas occupies a place somewhere between philosophy and social science.... Continue Reading →
Tamanna Shah is the author of Kashmir in the Age of Modi: Democracy Delusions. Tamanna is in the PhD program at the University of Utah studying sociology. Her research has focused on conflict, war, and terrorism on the people of Kashmir. The photograph was provided by Tamanna from her field research in Jammu and Kashmir. This... Continue Reading →
Zizi Papacharissi discusses her book After Democracy with host Justin Kempf. Zizi has worked at the forefront on political communication in the digital age. She is a professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. A transcript of the podcast is below. What Comes After Democracy Political theorist Takis Pappas has described the... Continue Reading →
The radical politics of Marx has defined the far left. This reflection upon The German Ideology considers the similarities between the radical politics of the far right and the far left to explain the ideology of radicalism. Justin Kempf places Marx in a tradition of radical thought alongside Nietzsche where the radicalism of the left and... Continue Reading →
