Tom Ginsburg is a professor of international law and political science at the University of Chicago. He is the coauthor of How to Save a Constitutional Democracy with Aziz Huq and the author of Democracies and International Law. At the end of the day, I am optimistic despite all the evidence. First of all, I think... Continue Reading →
International Law and Democracies International is a riddle for the political theorist. It exists despite the absence of any formal state or government. So, not only is there no international body to enforce its edicts, but it lacks any formal institution to promulgate its laws. It bypasses the notion of sovereignty traditional democratic theory depended... Continue Reading →
Karen Greenberg joins the podcast to discuss how the subtle tools threaten American democracy. Karen is the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, a fellow at New America, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Her new book is Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War... Continue Reading →
Military Coups On February 1st, the Tatmadaw arrested the Burmese State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, many other politicians from the National League of Democracy, and declared a state of emergency. The Tatmadaw has formally held power in Myanmar between 1988 and 2011. But it also held power informally as early as 1962. The recent... Continue Reading →
Distinguishing the Law from the State Few political theories take the time to distinguish between the law and the state. This is a catastrophic mistake. This oversight begins with a neglect to reflect on the nature of institutions, but it also involves a carelessness with early political history. Early modern political theory did meditate on... Continue Reading →
Norms and Institutions The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) became law in 1996. It refused to recognize same-sex marriages at the federal level and allowed states to ignore marriage contracts between same-sex couples from other states. The law was never repealed, but was effectively overturned after the Supreme Court Decision Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.... Continue Reading →
Barbara Freese joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss the impact of corporate denials on society. She explains how corporate denials have shaped political culture and public discourse. Barbara Freese on Corporate Denials Democratic values are about more than politics. They permeate throughout society and into the economy. Barbara Freese has examined how corporate leaders... Continue Reading →
Let me begin with an introduction of Duncan McCargo. It is easy to simply describe him as a scholar of Thai politics. But this description leaves out so much. In some ways he is an ethnographer who prides himself on field work where he examines the politics, institutions and reactions in a direct and personal... Continue Reading →
Legal scholars have written some of the best scholarship on democracy in recent years. Rosalind Dixon, Tom Ginsburg and David Landau are among the most creative and insightful minds among scholars of democratic governance. Their articles are not limited to American jurisprudence but analyze the role of the courts within different countries where legal traditions... Continue Reading →
There was a dark side to the democracy of ancient Athens. The sophists were not simply philosophers but also the educators of their time. They exploited the dynamics of the open assembly to teach an empty form of rhetoric without the need for substance as the foundation for their arguments. Indeed, its students learned how... Continue Reading →
