Democracy Paradox

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Democracy Paradox is part of the Amazon Affiliates Program and earns commissions on items purchased from links to the Amazon website. All links are to recommended books discussed in the podcast or referenced in the blog.

Larry Diamond on Supporting Democracy in the World and at Home

Robert Kagan Looks to American History to Explain Foreign Policy Today Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

We think that because we’re children of the Enlightenment, the way the world is moving is gradually toward liberalism. I think the natural course of the world is away from liberalism and it has only been American power that has sustained this aberration in world history.

Robert Kagan
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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Robert Kagan is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, a columnist at The Washington Post, and among the most influential writers on foreign policy today. His latest book is Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:37
American and WWI - 2:37
Isolationism and Retrenchment - 16:40
Troops in the Rhineland - 31:36
Parallels to Today - 42:32

Key Links

The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941 by Robert Kagan

"A Free World, If You Can Keep It" by Robert Kagan in Foreign Affairs

"The Weight of Geopolitics" by Robert Kagan in the Journal of Democracy

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Charles Kupchan on America’s Tradition of Isolationism

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Learn more about Olivier Zunz

Olivier Zunz on Alexis de Tocqueville Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is only partly a book on America. It's also a book of comparative thinking and it's a book of theoretical invention. So, Democracy in America is a theory of democracy. Part of it is about America and part of it is Tocqueville’s theoretical genius pushing through.

Olivier Zunz
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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Olivier Zunz is the James Madison Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Virginia. He is among the foremost scholars of Alexis de Tocqueville and the author of The Man who Knew Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:44
Democracy in America - 2:21
Tocqueville as Political Theorist - 15:56
Tocqueville the Politician - 22:14
Tocqueville's Legacy - 27:17

Key Links

The Man who Knew Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville by Olivier Zunz

"Cancel Tocqueville?" by Tarek Masoud in the Journal of Democracy

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Michael Ignatieff Warns Against the Politics of Enemies

Larry Diamond on Supporting Democracy in the World and at Home

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Learn more about Lynette Ong

Lynette Ong Describes How China Outsources Repression Dec 27, 2022

Show notes

The state is able to take advantage of the social capital by deploying social actors and in exercising social capital, through the process of persuasion. They'll be putting on pressure on these families, but the pressures being put on them are social pressures. People would often cave into this social pressure. So, there is compliance, but it doesn't feel like state repression.

Lynette Ong
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Lynette Ong is a professor of political science at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She is the author of the recent book Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:48
Thugs for Hire - 2:47
Political, Economic, and Social Brokers - 12:52
Zero-Covid Protests - 20:34
Outsourcing Repression After the Protests - 32:17

Key Links

Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China by Lynette Ong

"China’s Massive Protests Are the End of a Once-Trusted Governance Model" by Lynette Ong in the Foreign Policy

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Jessica Pisano on How Zelenskyy Changed Ukraine

Lucan Way on Ukraine. Democracy in Hard Places.

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Olga Onuch and Henry Hale Describe the Zelensky Effect Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

I just want to say that I don't think Zelensky has changed Ukraine. He amplified it. He mirrored what was already there in his time as an actor and comedian. He tried to show the realities and positions of ordinary Ukrainians as they saw them themselves and he then amplifies that and emphasizes that as a Ukrainian.

Olga Onuch
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Olga Onuch is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester. Henry E. Hale is a Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. They are the authors of a new book called The Zelensky Effect.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:44
The Maidan and the Independence Generation - 2:59
Zelensky's Origins - 9:19
The Zelensky Effect - 23:05
The Future of Ukraine - 33:11

Key Links
The Zelensky Effect by Olga Onuch and Henry E. Hale
"Why Ukrainians Are Rallying Around Democracy" by Olga Onuch in the Journal of Democracy
Learn more about Olga Onuch

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Jessica Pisano on How Zelenskyy Changed Ukraine
Lucan Way on Ukraine. Democracy in Hard Places.
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Apes of the State created all Music
Email the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.com
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100 Books on Democracy
Democracy Paradox is part of the Amazon Affiliates Program and earns commissions on items purchased from links to the Amazon website. All links are to recommended books discussed in the podcast or referenced in the blog.

Elizabeth Economy in a Wide Ranging Conversation About China Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

But if you think that China can change and that Xi Jinping is not inevitable and Xi Jinping two and three and four and five are not inevitable, then I think that leads you to a slightly different set of policy recommendations. A set that's probably more open to discussion to ensuring that we continue to quote ‘Engage with China.’

Elizabeth C. Economy
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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Elizabeth C. Economy is serving as the Senior Advisor for China to the Secretary of Commerce. She is on leave from her role as a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Previously she served as the Asia Director at the Council for Foreign Relations. Her past books include The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State and more recently The World According to China. The views expressed in this podcast are her own and do not reflect the official position of the US Government or the Commerce Department.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:43
China's Foreign Policy Priorities - 2:57
BRI & Chinese Investments - 11:21
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework - 22:25
Future Issues and Concerns - 28:23

Key Links
The World According to China by Elizabeth C. Economy
"Dissent is Not Dead" by Elizabeth C. Economy in the Journal of Democracy
Learn more about Elizabeth C. Economy at the Hoover Institute

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Sarah Cook on China’s Expanding Global Media Influence
Aynne Kokas on the Intersection Between Surveillance Capitalism and Chinese Sharp Power (or How Much Does the CCP Already Know About You?)
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Learn more about Richard Wike at the Pew Research Center

Richard Wike Asked Citizens in 19 Countries Whether Social Media is Good for Democracy Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

When people think about social media, they think about the upsides of it. It speaks to what they want in democracy that they're not getting. They feel disconnected, voiceless, and not empowered. So, if there's ways that social media can play a role in empowering people and giving them a voice and holding accountable leaders that they don't think listen to them, those are upsides and that's some of the reasons why you get more positive evaluations of social media than we might think.

Richard Wike
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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Richard Wike is director of global attitudes research at Pew Research Center. He conducts research and writes about international public opinion on a variety of topics, such as America’s global image, the rise of China, democracy, and globalization. His latest report (coauthored with Laura Silver, Janell Fetterolf, Christine Huang, Sarah Austin, Laura Clancy and Sneha Gubbala) is "Social Media Seen as Mostly Good for Democracy Across Many Nations, But U.S. is a Major Outlier."
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:47
Role of Survey Research - 2:47
Views on Social Media and Democracy - 5:27
Differences by Age - 16:35
Social Media Engagement - 24:23

Key Links

"Social Media Seen as Mostly Good for Democracy Across Many Nations, But U.S. is a Major Outlier" by Richard Wike, Laura Silver, Janell Fetterolf, Christine Huang, Sarah Austin, Laura Clancy and Sneha Gubbala

"Liberal Democracy’s Crisis of Confidence" by Richard Wike and Janell Fetterolf in the Journal of Democracy

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Allie Funk of Freedom House Assesses Global Internet Freedom

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

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Learn more about Naunihal Singh

Naunihal Singh on the Myth of the Coup Contagion Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

Sometimes I found people who I was talking to and their coup happened after an elected leader became less democratic. They could very convincingly tell me that their coup was in response to those actions. Then I'd find out that they started plotting the coup years in advance or entertaining it when the situation was very different.

Naunihal Singh
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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Naunihal Singh is associate professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and the author of Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups (2014). He recently wrote the article "The Myth of the Coup Contagion" in the Journal of Democracy.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:43
Brief History of Coups - 3:11
Anti-Coup Norm - 10:33
Conditions for a Coup - 18:33
Reinforcing the Anti-Coup Norm - 35:53

The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.

Key Links

"The Myth of the Coup Contagion" by Naunihal Singh in the Journal of Democracy

Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups by Naunihal Singh

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

Michael Miller on the Unexpected Paths to Democratization

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Learn more about Mohammed Ali Kadivar

Mohammed Ali Kadivar on Paths to Durable Democracy and Thoughts on the Protests in Iran Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

It's been exciting and it's been overwhelming. It's exciting to see people are rising, to see the amount of bravery on the streets, how these young women and men will stand up against the armored police with bare hands. It's been inspiring.

Mohammad Ali Kadivar
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Mohammad Ali Kadivar is an assistant professor of sociology and international studies at Boston College. He is the author of the book Popular Politics and the Path to Durable Democracy.
Key Highlights

Introduction - 0:38
Democratization Examples: Egypt and South Africa - 3:20
Democratization and Durable Democracy - 11:12
Nonviolence and Democratization - 23:33
Part 2: The Iranian Protests - 38:49

Key Links

Popular Politics and the Path to Durable Democracy by Mohammed Ali Kadivar

"Sticks, Stones, and Molotov Cocktails: Unarmed Collective Violence and Democratization " by Mohammed Ali Kadivar and Neil Ketchley in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

Mark Beissinger on Urban Civic Revolutions

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Learn more about Michael Ignatieff

Michael Ignatieff Warns Against the Politics of Enemies Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Democracy is the stage in which we mount the battle for power and we fight out our competing visions of what would be good for a society. But at the same time, the most dangerous of all things we try to do in a democracy is argue about what is democratic and what is undemocratic.

Michael Ignatieff
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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Michael Ignatieff is a historian and former Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. He has served as rector and president of Central European University, and is the author, most recently, of On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times. He recently wrote, "The Politics of Enemies" in the Journal of Democracy.
Key Highlights

Introduction
What is democracy? 3:15
Role of Politicians - 18:05
January 6th - 21:06
The Politics of Enemies - 23:51
Consolation After Electoral Losses - 34:55

Key Links

"The Politics of Enemies" by Michael Ignatieff in the Journal of Democracy

On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times by Michael Ignatieff

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Jason Brownlee Believes We Underestimate Democratic Resilience

Jeremi Suri on America’s Unfinished Fight for Democracy

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