91. Democracy’s Discontents

Has Democracy died? In India? In the West? Did it die when Donald Trump was elected? These questions have tormented many people in liberal democracies over the last ten years. They have also been hotly debated in India after comments by Rahul Gandhi that 'democracy is dead' in India. This episode of the Burning Archive was going to discuss that debate in India and the idea that India is historically the 'Mother of Democracy'. But I had technical problems with my recording. So, I have brought you instead an AI reading of my 2016 essay, 'Democracy and its Discontents'. This piece discusses the surprise election of Donald Trump and the discontent with democracy that it exposed. The episode on India as the Mother of Democracy will appear next week. You can also subscribe to my free newsletter at jeffrich.substack.com. There are some notes on the history of democracy and statecraft in India in this week's newsletter. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://theburningarchive.com/2016/11/15/democracys-discontents/