Democratic Transition: with H.E Danny Faure, former Seychelles President, and Professor Maya Tudor, University of Oxford

Democracy is in retreat across the globe. To try to understand why, we talked to His Excellency Danny Faure, former President of the Seychelles and Professor Maya Tudor, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.   Danny Faure discusses his role as the head of several Commonwealth Election Observation Missions stretching from Antigua and Barbuda to Gabon. He outlines some of the key day-to-day threats to democratic transition, including AI deepfakes, incumbents refusing to give up power, or unrest during elections. He also outlines the key role of the Election Observation Missions, and how elections can be supported by key institutions like the courts, the police and the media. Professor Maya Tudor discusses how we should go about defining democracy, the impact of colonialism on democratic transition, and how different varieties of nationalism can either enable or prevent a democratic transition. She also discusses some of the reasons for democratic backsliding across the globe. This episode was researched and recorded by CPA Communications Officer, Oz Russell, with additional research by CPA Deputy Head of Programmes, James Pinnell. Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue) Subscribe to the podcast or listen on your favourite platform: https://www.cpahq.org/knowledge-centre/podcast/   Recorded in May and June 2025.