Martin Conway is the author of the new book Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945—1968 and a Professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Oxford. Where you and I and, I think, many others start from an assumption that somehow there is a thing called democracy and we sort of know what it is.... Continue Reading →
Western Europe's Democratic Age Over the last few years it has almost become cliché to refer to the democratic recession. Many of the most fragile democracies have reversed or even collapsed. Among the most recent involves the collapse of the government in Afghanistan due to the withdrawal of American troops. The experience serves as a... Continue Reading →
Donald Horowitz joins the podcast to discuss the formation of constitutions in democracies. Donald is the James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science Emeritus at Duke University. His most recent book is Constitutional Processes and Democratic Commitment. The most beautiful thing that happened in Indonesia, by the way, which was a polarized society along... Continue Reading →
Constitutions In October 2020 Chileans made the monumental decision to rewrite their constitution. Many view this as a democratizing event despite the fact that Chile democratized in 1990 with the negotiated transition from the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Nevertheless, the transition to democracy was widely considered as incomplete at the time, because the Pinochet... Continue Reading →
Mexico: An Overview Tomorrow’s podcast features a conversation with Guillermo Trejo and Sandra Ley about the politics of criminal violence in Mexico. Their research transcends Mexican politics to provide insights about democratization and criminal governance. But it helps to have a basic overview of Mexico’s political system. This is not an outline designed for serious... Continue Reading →
Roger Lee Huang joins the podcast to explain the politics and history of Myanmar. He is he author of The Paradox of Myanmar’s Regime Change. I think this actually reflects why we've seen a coup now. Clearly, the coup has really brought serious economic devastation for the entire country and the military itself will... Continue Reading →
Sarah Repucci from Freedom House joins the podcast to offer an assessment of democracy worldwide. Sarah coauthored (along with Amy Slipowitz) the most recent volume of Freedom in the World: Democracy Under Siege. We discuss the global decline of democracy, the impact of the pandemic, and highlight developments in India, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan, and the US. ... Continue Reading →
Michael Miller joins the podcast to offer a novel theory of democratization. We discuss his new book Shock to the System: Coups, Elections, and War on the Road to Democratization. This is the 52 episode of the podcast. So many cases of democratization start with these episodes and this period of elite political violence where... Continue Reading →
James Loxton explains why authoritarian successor parties succeed in democracies through a conversation about conservative parties in Latin America. He is the author of the forthcoming Conservative Party-Building in Latin America: Authoritarian Inheritance and Counterrevolutionary Struggle. This is the 47th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast. They really view their history as one of victimization, one... Continue Reading →
Derek W. Black explains how the expansion of public education has developed alongside democracy in America. His recent book Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy links the current threat to public education to attacks on democracy. This is the 46th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast. I find it hard to believe,... Continue Reading →
