Natasha Wheatley is an assistant professor of history at Princeton University. She is the author of The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty. Access Bonus Episodes on Patreon Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox. My book is in some ways trying to help us see not... Continue Reading →
By Camilo González The Breakdown of the State and Democracy Haiti is going through an accelerated collapse of the state, but also of its democracy. The Haitian State is one of the most fragile states in the world. Its Human Development Index has worsened for two consecutive years. Constantly besieged by climate disasters -the last... Continue Reading →
Anna Grzymała-Busse is the Michelle and Kevin Douglas Professor of International Studies at Stanford University. She is also the Director of the Europe Center and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute. Her latest book is Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State. Become a Patron! Make a one-time... Continue Reading →
By María Isabel Puerta Riera This is an updated version of the Spanish article published by Agenda Pública. Venezuela in Crisis Venezuela's crisis has ceased to be a domestic problem, giving way to a regional concern with global implications. The country's deterioration has triggered one of the most severe humanitarian crises of the last decade,... 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 →
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 →
Military Missions in Democratic Latin America was first published in 2016. It offered an examination of the new roles the military had begun to handle in recent years. Its author, David Pion-Berlin, is a widely known scholar of civil-military relations in Latin America. In this book, he went beyond traditional civil-military relations to consider the... Continue Reading →
Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last night. She was a symbol of the left in America for her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and her historic role on the United States Supreme Court. But she was not always an icon of the left. She was considered a moderate voice on the Court in... Continue Reading →
There is an old debate among political theorists regarding the meaning of Machiavelli’s political works. A careless reading of The Prince and Discourses on Livy give the impression they are written by two entirely different authors. Or perhaps it is the same person in two different points of their life with entirely different notions of... Continue Reading →
Early in my life I was drawn to power to impose my ideas onto the world. It was only natural to believe leaders were able to change organizations, businesses or even geopolitics to their whim. But I found my implicit sense of power was entirely wrong. There is a tradeoff between authority and influence. Leadership... Continue Reading →
