We don’t need to export ideas about freedom and democracy because those ideas are already really popular around the world. Michael McFaul Why do some powerful countries become adversaries while others remain enduring allies? Michael McFaul joins Justin Kempf on Democracy Paradox to discuss his book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. Drawing on his experience as a democracy scholar and former US ambassador to Russia, McFaul explores how political sys...
Oct 14
46 min
If we want people to support democratic capitalism, it has to be a kind of democratic capitalism that delivers for most people, and we haven't had that. Ian Shapiro What went wrong after the Cold War – and what can democracies learn from the opportunities they missed? Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University and author of After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke Our World, joins Democracy Parado...
Sep 30
49 min
The irony of democratic backsliding is a lot of these things are pitched to people and understood by people as actually pro-democratic. Noam Lupu Support for democracy is rising across the Americas after more than a decade of decline, but what kind of democracy do citizens actually want? Noam Lupu, director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy and LAPOP Lab, joins Justin Kempf to discuss findings from the latest AmericasBarometer and Pulse of Democracy. They explore why bett...
Sep 16
45 min
There was an assumption that influence could only run one direction... but influence could run the other direction as well. Alexander Cooley Authoritarian governments are exercising growing influence not only within their own borders but across the institutions, markets, and organizations that shape global life. Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis, authors of Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics, join Justin Kempf to examine how authoritarian states have l...
Sep 2
49 min
We barely disagree with each other, but we can't stand one another's party. Suzanne Mettler Suzanne Mettler is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University. She is the coauthor of Four Threats with Robert Lieberman and Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide that Threatens Democracy coauthored with Trevor Brown. The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Not...
Aug 19
48 min
I'm by nature optimistic, but am extremely worried because of the structural moment we live in. Rachel Beatty Riedl Political scientist Rachel Beatty Riedl joins host Justin Kempf to examine how extreme economic inequality and the growing power of transnational elites have contributed to democratic backsliding. Drawing on experiences from Africa and other third-wave democracies, Riedl explains how concentrated wealth can weaken states, distort political competition, and prevent citizens’ pref...
Aug 5
47 min
You can only get to the point of restoring democratic institutions if you win the last election with such a huge majority that you really have the public with you as you make radical change. Kim Lane Scheppele Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Some of her articles include “Autocratic Legalism”, “T...
Jul 22
52 min
The question is not whether polarization is dangerous, but the conditions under which it becomes violent. Jeffrey Kopstein Jeffrey Kopstein joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss when polarization turns violent. Drawing on his Journal of Democracy essay “When Polarization Turns Violent” and his book with Stephen Hanson, The Assault on the State, Kopstein explains why affective polarization, struggles over belonging, and the weakening or politicization of state authority can create the conditi...
Jul 8
45 min
We think the next ten years are going to be anti-billionaire. Pepper Culpepper Pepper Culpepper joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss when populism can strengthen democracy. Drawing on his Journal of Democracy article “When Populism Can Be Good” and his book with Taeku Lee, Billionaire Backlash, Culpepper argues that corporate scandals can channel public anger toward billionaires and large corporations in ways that reinforce democratic accountability. The conversation explores good and bad p...
Jun 24
49 min
We think of World War II as this global democratizing event, but what it really did was strengthen left-wing authoritarianism. Dan Slater Dan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center of Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan. He is the coauthor (with Joseph Wong) of the book From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia. More recently, he authored the article "The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave" in t...
Jun 10
47 min
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