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 →
William Howell and Terry Moe join the Democracy Paradox to discuss the missed opportunities of the American Presidency. This is the 20th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast. It offers a reflection on the role of the President days before the 2020 Election in the United States. William Howell and Terry Moe... Continue Reading →
John Matsusaki joins the Democracy Paradox to make the case for National Referendums. He is the Charles F. Sexton Chair in American Enterprise at the University of Southern California and the author of Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge An Absence of National Referendums The United States has... Continue Reading →
Takis Pappas explains his theories of populism and liberal democracy. He uses comparative analysis to establish a theoretical context. Before this conversation was recorded, Justin Kempf wrote a reflection on his recent book Populism and Liberal Democracy. Populism as Illiberal Democracy A lot has been made about Viktor Orbán. Indeed, some have argued too... Continue Reading →
As populism and polarization have become part of the common vocabulary of political writings, their meaning has become less provocative. There is a general acceptance of its existence which no longer shocks the senses. But anti-system retains a powerful emotive force for the political scientist. It catches the reader off guard and gains their immediate... Continue Reading →
There is a growing literature on the decline of democratic governance. Larry Diamond declared the world was in a democratic recession years ago and Freedom House has confirmed a long-term decline in democratic governance in their annual assessments. Of course, the literature has warned about a crisis of democracy in the past. Samuel Huntington cowrote... Continue Reading →
