Democracy And Democratization Audio

How is today's Internet driving political fragmentation, polarization, and even extremism—and what can be done about it? Legal scholar Cass Sunstein shares the results of his research.

"Democracy begins in bloodshed and it comes to life only through conflict," says Harvard's James T. Kloppenberg in this masterful talk. How have the French Revolution and civil wars in England and America "poisoned the ethic of reciprocity on which democracy depends"? Why is this so important in 2017?

In this wide-ranging and lively discussion, Alexander Görlach, founder of the debate magazine "The European," tackles the rise of populism and the far right in Europe, Brexit, the results of the U.S. election, the refugee crisis, and more.

How exactly should we define populism?  What led to its current resurgence in Europe and the United States, on both the right and the left?  And in particular, how can we explain the Trump phenomenon? For answers, don't miss this fascinating discussion with author and journalist John Judis.

To avoid disaster, the EU needs to become a real federation, argues Guy Verhofstadt. "That means a small, real European government controlled by two bodies, a parliament representing the citizens and a senate representing the Member States, with a real budget, with a defense union--with everything that is needed to make the Union more effective."

There's a wave of populist leaders around the world right now, from Erdoğan to Trump. What defines a populist exactly, and why are they so dangerous? Learn more in this most timely interview.

BC--before the Constitution--the history of the world was the history of kings, emperors, and tsars. AD--after the document--the world would never be the same again, says Constitutional law scholar Akhil Reed Amar. And the Constitution is particularly important in a fraught presidential election like this one.

On a crusade against the corrupting influence of money in politics, Lawrence Lessig founded a "super PAC" which raised $10 million to support candidates committed to radical reform of campaign financing. Most of them lost, but Lessig is not daunted. He fights on, convinced that the majority of Americans agree with him and that change will come. 

In this candid and thoughtful conversation, General Dempsey tackles the difficult questions, from ISIS to Ebola to cyber threats. And throughout, he stresses the importance of ethics, education, and service.

What are the requirements for a liberal democracy? It's not just voting, says Fukuyama. It needs a distinction between public and private interest; rule of law; and accountability. Although the U.S. started off as a weak, corrupt state, it became a liberal democracy. Yet all political systems are subject to decay, and that's what's happening to the U.S. today.

What if a group decides democratically that they don't want to be liberal--that they want an "illiberal democracy"? Shadi Hamid argues that repression originally compelled Islamists to moderate their politics. But ironically, democratic openings pushed them back to their original fundamentalism, leaving no space for liberal norms such as women's rights.

In this bleak and revealing talk, Iraqi lawyer Zaid al-Ali provides an insider's analysis of Iraq's many failures of governance, from creating a constitution to providing Iraqis with jobs, electricity, and most of all safety.

Jordanian diplomat and scholar Marwan Muasher surveys the situation across the Arab world. He sees reasons for optimism in the long run, particularly in Tunisia, and makes a passionate call for pluralism, which he says is essential for democracy and prosperity.

Democracy is petty, trivial, and short-termist, says David Runciman. But having survived world wars and financial shocks over the last 100 years, it's also the most flexible and successful system of government the world has ever seen. These qualities make democracy quite susceptible to crises, but also able to navigate through them.

Countries the world over are suffering from a deficit of democracy, says Carne Ross, and it's not enough just to protest and/or tinker with the existing system. Radical change is needed. We, the people, must take on the burden of governing ourselves.

Dr. Alterman describes the principal challenges for the Arab Middle East states as "developing human capital and strengthening public policy environments." In aspiring to these, he calls for patience and long-haul commitment, even restraint, from Western donor sources.

Evgeny Savostiyanov was one of two key appointments made by "reformist" Mayor Gavriil Popov during his brief tenure as mayor of Moscow from 1990-92. Savostiyanov was made head of the Moscow KGB, with a view to "dismantling" the old Soviet-era version.

Active in Russian politics since the early days of Perestroika, Arkady Murashev discusses his part in bringing down the Soviet Union and and working towards a new form of government.

In the aftermath of popular uprisings in the Middle East, Western aid-donors are confronted by a difficult dilemma. Should they work with anti-democratic or politically extreme domestic groups? Is excluding some parties in the name of democracy justified?

Turkey's democracy has been extolled as a model in the Middle East, but has also been belittled for its creeping authoritarianism. Does Turkey offer hope to those states making a democratic transformation in the Arab world? Or is its system under threat?