All Episodes

Suzanne Mettler Says the Rural-Urban Divide Threatens American Democracy

Rachel Beatty Riedl Says Economic Inequality Is Fueling Democratic Backsliding

Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary's Narrow Path Back to Democracy

Jeffrey Kopstein Explains Why Polarization Turns Violent

Pepper Culpepper Says Good Populism Can Save Democracy

Dan Slater Says Authoritarian Ideologies Still Matter

Guillermo Trejo on Accountability, Impunity, and the Fate of New Democracies

Kenneth Roberts Says the Left Pays a Steep Price for Breaking with Democracy

Sheri Berman Says the Democratic Recession Was Not a Surprise

Christopher Walker Revisits Sharp Power

Hugo Drochon Says Elites Are Inevitable

Milan Svolik Asks: Do Voters Really Support Democracy?

Minxin Pei Warns China Has Descended into Totalitarianism

Erica Frantz says Personalist Parties are Democracy's Latest Threat

Javier Pérez Sandoval Reveals Democracy’s Hidden Vulnerability: The Hollowing of the State

Kate Baldwin Explains Why Christianity Fights for Democracy in Africa

Natalie Wenzell Letsa Describes the Autocratic Voter

Russell Muirhead Warns Ungoverning Threatens Democracy

Luis Schiumerini on Incumbency Bias

Adam Przeworski Asks Who Decides What is Democratic

Killian Clarke Warns Counterrevolution is a Threat to Nascent Democracies

Amel Ahmed Says the Regime Question Has Returned

Tom Carothers Says We Misunderstand Democratic Backsliding

Javier Corrales on Intentional Polarization

Susan Stokes on Democratic Backsliders

The Last Episode. Elizabeth Saunders on How Democracies Wage War and Make Peace

When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad

When Democracy Breaks: Scott Mainwaring on Argentina

When Democracy Breaks: 1930s Japan with Louise Young

When Democracy Breaks: Ancient Athens with Josiah Ober and Federica Carugati

Alexander Keyssar on Why We Still Have the Electoral College

Robert Kagan on the Threat of Antiliberalism

Rep Mikie Sherrill on Whether the Bipartisan Consensus on Foreign Policy Will Hold and on Threats to American Democracy

Saskia Brechenmacher on Promoting Gender Equality Through Democracy Assistance Aid

Democracy in a Postmodern Era with Bruce Ackerman

Adam Casey on How Military Aid Can Stabilize and Destabilize Foreign Autocrats

Disinformation is a Threat to Democracy Says Barbara McQuade

Grading Biden's Foreign Policy with Alexander Ward

Peter Pomerantsev on Winning an Information War

Is Democracy Still in Decline? Yana Gorokhovskaia on the Freedom in the World Report

When We Misread Dictators... Steve Coll on Saddam Hussein and the American Invasion of Iraq

Why is the Immigration System Broken? Jonathan Blitzer on How American Foreign Policy in Central America Created a Crisis

The Surveillance State in China Began With Mao Says Minxin Pei

After a Coup, Can the Constitutional Order Be Repaired? Adem Abebe on Rebuilding Constitutions in West Africa

Can Poland Repair its Constitutional Democracy? Tomás Daly Believes it Can

Simon Shuster on Zelensky in War and Peace

Marcela Rios Tobar on the Failed Constitutional Process in Chile

Kurt Weyland on the Resilience of Democracy

Is a New Jim Crow Emerging in India? Ashutosh Varshney Gives a Warning

Does Democracy Rely on a Civic Bargain? Josiah Ober Makes the Case

Is Islamism Democratic? Sebnem Gumuscu on Islamist Parties in Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey

Can America Fight Back Against the Authoritarian Economic Statecraft of China? Bethany Allen Believes We Can

Does Democracy Die in Darkness? Katlyn Carter on Transparency and Secrecy in Early Representative Governments

How Can Democracy Survive in an Age of Discontent? Rachel Navarre and Matthew Rhodes-Purdy on Populism and Political Extremism

Rachel Schwartz on How Guatemala Rose Up Against Democratic Backsliding

Who is Alexey Navalny? David Herszenhorn Paints a Picture

Leadership is Not a Formula Says Moshik Temkin

Patricia Evangelista Says The Philippines is an Example of What Happens When Autocrats and Dictators Rise and We Let Them

Cenk Uygur is Running an Unorthodox Campaign for President

Shadi Hamid on Democracy, Liberalism, and the Middle East

Branko Milanovic on Different Visions of Inequality

Yascha Mounk Warns Against a Misguided New Ideology

Heather Cox Richardson on History, Conservatism, and the Awakening of American Democracy

Daniel Ziblatt on American Democracy, the Republican Party, and the Tyranny of the Minority

Is Reunification Still Possible? Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo on Korea

Deng Xiaoping is Not Who You Think He is. Joseph Torigian on Leadership Transitions in China and the Soviet Unio

Robert Kaplan on the Politics of the Past and Future of the Greater Middle East

Is India Still a Democracy? Rahul Verma Emphatically Says Yes

Cass Sunstein on Interpreting the US Constitution

Marc Plattner Has Quite a Bit to Say About Democracy

Is McKinsey and Company a Threat to Democracy? Michael Forsythe Shares His Reporting

Sergei Guriev Revisits Spin Dictators

Berk Esen and Sebnem Gumuscu on the Disappointing Elections in Turkey... or How Democratic (or Autocratic) is Turkey Really?

Hal Brands Thinks China is a Declining Power... Here's Why that's a Problem

Natasha Wheatley Raises Some Really Difficult Questions About Sovereignty

Sebastian Edwards on the History of Neoliberalism in Chile

Dan Slater on Thailand's Revolutionary Election

Peter Turchin Wants to Avoid Political Disintegration

Isabel Kershner on Israel and its Divisions

Cole Bunzel on Wahhābism

Daron Acemoglu on Technology and the Struggle for Shared Prosperity

Serhii Plokhy on the Russo-Ukrainian War

Anne Applebaum on Autocracy, Inc

Marsin Alshamary on Iraq’s Struggle for Democracy

Jamie Susskind Explains How to Use Republican Ideals to Govern Technology

James Goldgeier on NATO, its Enlargement, and its Future

Steven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in Iraq

Larry Bartels Says Democracy Erodes from the Top

Samuel Woolley on Bots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Propaganda

Josh Chin on China's Surveillance State

Staffan Lindberg with a Report on Democracy in the World

Srdja Popovic on Dilemma Actions

Wendy Hunter on Lula, Bolsonaro, January 8th and Democracy in Brazil

Jennifer Piscopo on the Constitutional Chaos in Chile

Martin Wolf on the Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

Anna Grzymala-Busse on the Sacred Foundations of Modern Politics

Francis Fukuyama Responds to Liberalism's Discontents

Patrick Deneen Offers a Powerful Critique of Liberalism

Michael Walzer on Liberal as an Adjective

Robert Kagan Looks to American History to Explain Foreign Policy Today

Olivier Zunz on Alexis de Tocqueville

Lynette Ong Describes How China Outsources Repression

Olga Onuch and Henry Hale Describe the Zelensky Effect

Elizabeth Economy in a Wide Ranging Conversation About China

Richard Wike Asked Citizens in 19 Countries Whether Social Media is Good for Democracy

Naunihal Singh on the Myth of the Coup Contagion

Mohammed Ali Kadivar on Paths to Durable Democracy and Thoughts on the Protests in Iran

Michael Ignatieff Warns Against the Politics of Enemies

Emilee Booth Chapman Has Ideas About Voting with Profound Implications

Jason Brownlee Believes We Underestimate Democratic Resilience

Allie Funk of Freedom House Assesses Global Internet Freedom

Jeremi Suri on America's Unfinished Fight for Democracy

Frank Dikötter on the History of China After Mao

Larry Diamond on Supporting Democracy in the World and at Home

Lynn Vavreck on the 2020 Election and the Challenge to American Democracy

Sarah Cook on China's Expanding Global Media Influence

Constitution Makers on Constitution Making: Hassen Ebrahim on South Africa's Constitution

Simon Usherwood on Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and the Nested Games of British Politics

Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way on the Durable Authoritarianism of Revolutionary Regimes

Laura Gamboa on Opposition Strategies to Resist Democratic Erosion

Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary, Viktor Orbán, and its Democratic Decline

Jessica Pisano on How Zelenskyy Changed Ukraine

Neil DeVotta on the Protests in Sri Lanka

Aynne Kokas on the Intersection Between Surveillance Capitalism and Chinese Sharp Power (or How Much Does the CCP Already Know About You?)

Michael McFaul and Robert Person on Putin, Russia, and the War in Ukraine

Scott Mainwaring on Argentina and a Final Reflection on Democracy in Hard Places

Lucan Way on Ukraine. Democracy in Hard Places

Michael Coppedge on Why Democracies Emerge, Why They Decline, and Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)

Rachel Beatty Riedl on Benin. Democracy in Hard Places.

Ashutosh Varshney on India. Democracy in Hard Places

Evan Lieberman on South Africa. Democracy in Hard Places

Dan Slater on Indonesia. Democracy in Hard Places

Kathryn Stoner on How Putin's War has Ruined Russia

Scott Radnitz on Why Conspiracy Theories Thrive in Both Democracies and Autocracies

Dan Banik is In Pursuit of Development

Ronald Deibert from Citizen Lab on Cyber Surveillance, Digital Subversion, and Transnational Repression

Thomas Piketty on Equality

Marta Dyczok and Andriy Kulykov on the Media, Information Warriors, and the Future of Ukraine

Yascha Mounk on the Great Experiment of Diverse Democracies

Mark Beissinger on Contemporary Urban Civic Revolutions

Craig Whitlock on the Lessons Learned in Afghanistan

Miles Rapoport on How We Can Achieve Universal Voting

Between Russia and China: Anja Mihr on Central Asia

Moisés Naím on the New Dynamics of Political Power

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili on Afghanistan, Local Institutions, and Self-Governance

Sarah Repucci from Freedom House with an Update on Freedom in the World

Elisabeth Ivarsflaten and Paul Sniderman on the Inclusion and Respect of Muslim Minorities

Debasish Roy Chowdhury and John Keane on the Decline of Indian Democracy

Lisa Disch on Representation, Constituencies, and Political Leadership

Joseph Fishkin on the Constitution, American History, and Economic Inequality

Bilal Baloch on Indira Gandhi, India's Emergency, and the Importance of Ideas in Politics

Sara Wallace Goodman on Citizen Responses to Democratic Threats

Joseph Wright and Abel Escribà-Folch on Migration's Potential to Topple Dictatorships

Robert Lieberman, Kenneth Roberts, and David Bateman on Democratic Resilience and Political Polarization in the United States

Angus Deaton on Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism

Zeynep Pamuk on the Role of Science and Expertise in a Democracy

Caitlin Andrews-Lee on Charismatic Movements and Personalist Leaders

Stephan Haggard and Robert Kaufman on Democratic Backsliding

Joshua Yaffa on Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia

Zoltan Barany on the Ineffectiveness of the Gulf Militaries

Amory Gethin on Political Cleavages, Inequality, and Party Systems in 50 Democracies

Daniel Brinks on the Politics of Institutional Weakness

Elizabeth Perry and Grzegorz Ekiert on State-Mobilized Movements

Susan Rose-Ackerman on the Role of the Executive in Four Different Democracies

Tom Ginsburg Shares his Thoughts on Democracy and International Law

Robert Meister Believes Justice is an Option

Martin Conway Believes "Democracy Owes its Durability Not to its Principles but to its Flexibility." Democracy in Western Europe from 1945 to 1968

Donald Horowitz on the Formation of Democratic Constitutions

Guillermo Trejo and Sandra Ley on the Political Logic of Criminal Wars in Mexico

Rana Siu Inboden on China and the International Human Rights Regime

Timothy Frye Says Putin is a Weak Strongman

Kathryn Stoner on Russia's Economy, Politics, and Foreign Policy

Karen Greenberg on the War on Terror, Donald Trump, and American Democracy

Charles Kupchan on America's Tradition of Isolationism

Aldo Madariaga on Neoliberalism, Democratic Deficits, and Chile

Roger Lee Huang on Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Tatmadaw

Mallory SoRelle on the Politics of Consumer Credit

David Stasavage on Early Democracy and its Decline

Christophe Jaffrelot on Narendra Modi and Hindu Nationalism

Jan-Werner Müller on Democracy Rules

Dorothy Sue Cobble on the Full Rights Feminists

Freedom House: Sarah Repucci Assesses Freedom in the World

Michael Miller on the Unexpected Paths to Democratization

Daniel Carpenter Revisits the Petition in 19th Century America

Sebastian Strangio Explains the Relationship Between China and Southeast Asia

Can America Preserve Democracy without Retreating from it? Robert C. Lieberman on the Four Threats

Kurt Weyland Distinguishes Between Fascism and Authoritarianism

James Loxton Explains Why Authoritarian Successor Parties Succeed in Democracies

Derek W. Black Says Public Education Represents the Idea of America... Not its Reality

Sheryl WuDunn Paints a Picture of Poverty in America and Offers Hope for Solutions

Mike Hoffman on How Religious Identities Influence Support for or Opposition to Democracy

Shari Davis Elevates Participatory Budgeting

Chris Bickerton Defines Technopopulism

Ross Benes on Nebraska and Rural Conservatism

Chad Alan Goldberg on the Wisconsin Idea and the Role of the Public University in a Democracy

Elizabeth Nugent on Polarization, Democratization and the Arab Spring

Ryan Salzman is an Evangelist for Placemaking

Kajri Jain Believes Democracy Unfolds through the Aesthetic

Nic Cheeseman and Gabrielle Lynch on the Moral Economy of Elections in Africa

Thomas Carothers and Andrew O'Donohue are Worried About Severe Polarization

Can Democracy Survive the Internet? Nate Persily and Josh Tucker on Social Media and Democracy

Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson on the Plutocratic Populism of the Republican Party

Bryn Rosenfeld on Middle Class Support for Dictators in Autocratic Regimes

Zizi Papacharissi Dreams of What Comes After Democracy

Winston Mano on Social Media and Politics in Africa... And what America can Learn from Africa about Democracy

Michael Hughes on the History of Democracy in Germany

Lee Drutman Makes the Case for Multiparty Democracy in America

Hélène Landemore on Democracy without Elections

Glenn Tiffert on the Manipulation of Academia by Foreign Governments

Carolyn Hendriks, Selen Ercan and John Boswell on Mending Democracy

Mareike Ohlberg on the Global Influence of the Chinese Communist Party

Xiaoyu Pu on China's Global Identities

G. John Ikenberry on Liberal Internationalism

Amy Erica Smith on Politics and Religion in Brazil

William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe on the Presidency

Barbara Freese on Corporate Denial

Paul Robinson on Russian Conservatism

John Matsusaka on National Referendums

Donald F. Kettl on Federalism

Recap of Resistance, Revolution, Democracy

Jonathan Pinckney on Civil Resistance Transitions

George Lawson on Revolution

Erica Chenoweth on Civil Resistance

Resistance, Revolution, Democracy

Jill Long Thompson on Character in a Democracy

Juliet B. Schor on the Sharing Economy

Agnes Cornell and Svend-Erik Skaaning on the Interwar Period

John Gastil and Katherine Knobloch on Citizen Initiative Review

Yael Tamir on Nationalism

Joshua J. Dyck and Edward L. Lascher, Jr. on Initiative Referendums

William S. Smith on Irving Babbitt

Takis Pappas on Populism and Liberal Democracy

Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon on the End of American Hegemony

Luis Cabrera on International Human Rights

Marlene Mauk on Citizen Support for Democracies... and Autocracies

Monologue on Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism