Democracy Paradox

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Erica Chenoweth on Civil Resistance

Mark Beissinger on Contemporary Urban Civic Revolutions Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

I think the revolutionary process has become somewhat less consequential in some ways. The ability to bring about substantive change in the wake of revolution has deteriorated for one thing. We've gained certain things as well. I mean, revolutions are no longer as violent as they once were. They're more frequent than they once were, almost more normal in terms of being part of the political landscape in a way that they were not in the past.

Mark Beissinger
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Mark Beissinger is a professor of politics at Princeton University and the author of the new book The Revolutionary City: Urbanization and the Global Transformation of Rebellion.
Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
Key Highlights

An Account of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine
Description of Urban Civic Revolutions
Why are Revolutions more Successful than in the Past?
Why are Revolutions Less Violent?
How do Revolutions Continue to Change?

Key Links

The Revolutionary City: Urbanization and the Global Transformation of Rebellion by Mark Beissinger

Learn more about Mark Beissinger at Princeton University

Learn more about Mark Beissinger at Wikipedia

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George Lawson on Revolution

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Afghanistan Papers Document Database at The Washington Post

Craig Whitlock on the Lessons Learned in Afghanistan Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

It's still shocking to me to read a lot of these documents and interviews in, The Afghanistan Papers, things that most people would think are obvious. What's the plan to end the war? What benchmarks do we have to achieve so that we know we can leave? You know, none of those things were thought out or articulated.

Craig Whitlock
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Craig Whitlock is an investigative reporter at The Washington Post and the author of The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War.
Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
Key Highlights

When did the War in Afghanistan Go Wrong
The Lies and Deception in Communications on the War
Differences in the Approach to the War Between Bush and Obama
Failures to Provide a Long-Term Political Solution
Lessons for Involvement in Ukraine and Beyond

Key Links

The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock

"At War With Truth" by Craig Whitlock

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

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

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Learn about Miles Rapoport at Harvard University

Miles Rapoport on How We Can Achieve Universal Voting Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

I have worked on voting issues for 35 years, for same-day registration and for opening up the process to younger people and preregistration, and, you know, nevertheless 35 years later we're still at 60 and 65%. 2020 was the highest turnout election ever and it was at 66%. So, I started to think what is it that could really, really move the needle and change the game.

Miles Rapoport
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting here.
Miles Rapoport is also the Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. He formerly served as secretary of the state of Connecticut. He is the coauthor of the book 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting with E.J. Dionne.
Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
Key Highlights

What is Civic Duty Voting?
Why Should We Require Citizens to Vote?
Is Voting a Right or a Duty?
Australia's System of Civic Duty Voting
How Would it Change How Citizens Think About Themselves?

Key Links

100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting by Miles Rapoport and E.J. Dionne

Lift Every Voice: The Urgency of Universal Civic Duty Voting

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Shari Davis Elevates Participatory Budgeting

Lee Drutman Makes the Case for Multiparty Democracy in America

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Learn more about Anja Mihr

Between Russia and China: Anja Mihr on Central Asia Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Russia... will lose ground here in the region over the next decade and China will fill it, because the Europeans are not doing it. The United States is not doing it. Iran is not doing it and Turkey cannot do it either.

Anja Mihr
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West Studies on Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region here.
Anja Mihr is an associate professor of Political Science at the OSCE Academy at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and the founder and program director of the Center on Governance through Human Rights at the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform (gGmbH) in Berlin. Recently, she edited the volume Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West Studies on Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region.
Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
Key Highlights

How do Central Asian countries feel about Russia's invasion of Ukraine?
Differences and similarities between Central Asian nations
Why has China become so influential in the region?
Sadyr Japarov and his rise to power
What is Glocalism?

Key Links

Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West: Studies on Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region edited by Anja Mihr

Follow Anja Mihr on Twitter @AnjaMihr

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

Timothy Frye Says Putin is a Weak Strongman

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Learn more about Moisés Naím

Moisés Naím on the New Dynamics of Political Power Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

But what we have now is something that has not been sufficiently discussed, sufficiently understood, which is a criminalized state of which Russia is an example, in the Balkans we have some examples, in Latin America Venezuela stands out as an example. And that is essentially that the state becomes an organized criminal organization. An organization that essentially uses the structure, strategies, tactics, modalities of organized crime.

Moisés Naím
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century here.
Moisés Naím is a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an internationally syndicated columnist. He served as editor in chief of Foreign Policy, as Venezuela's trade minister, and as executive director of the World Bank. He is the author of The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn't What It Used to Be and most recently, The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century.
Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
Key Highlights

How 3P Autocrats Use Polarization, Populism, and Post-Truth to Consolidate Power
Why Do People Elect Autocrats
Naím's Personal Evolution in his Ideas on Power
The Rise of the Criminal State
Naím discusses Putin, Russia, and the War in Ukraine

Key Links

The Revenge of Power: How Autocrats Are Reinventing Politics for the 21st Century by Moisés Naím

Follow Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili on Twitter @MoisesNaim

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

Caitlin Andrews-Lee on Charismatic Movements and Personalistic Leaders

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David Stasavage on Early Democracy and its Decline

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili on Afghanistan, Local Institutions, and Self-Governance Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

It wasn't because Afghan social norms don’t support democracy. They do. And Afghans understood darn well what they were supposed to have. But they never even got the minimum of what they were promised in the constitution.

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Land, the State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan here.
Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili are associate professors at the University of Pittsburgh and the authors of the recent book Land, the State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan. Jen is also the founding director and Ilia is an associate director of the Center for Governance and Markets.
Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
Key Highlights

Description of the role of shuras, maliks, and mullahs in local governance
How property rights help explain local governance
Why has the state always been ineffective in Afghanistan
A little history on Afghanistan
Are local, self-governing institutions in Afghanistan democratic?

Key Links

Land, the State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan by Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili

Learn more about the Center for Governance and Markets

Follow Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili on Twitter @jmurtazashvili

Follow Ilia Murtazashvili on Twitter @IMurtazashvili

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Donald F. Kettl on Federalism

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Sarah Repucci from Freedom House with an Update on Freedom in the World Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

You can't protect basic human rights if you don't have democracy. If you're going to protect basic human rights, you need to have things like credible institutions that hold abusers to account. You need to have opportunities for the least advantaged in a society. The people whose rights are most at risk to be able to choose their leaders and choose leaders who will represent them and serve their interests. You need leaders that serve for the common good, not for their own personal gain.

Sarah Repucci
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule here.
Sarah Repucci is the Vice President of Research and Analysis at Freedom House. She coauthored (along with Amy Slipowitz) Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule.
Key Highlights

Global freedom has declined for 16 consecutive years
How Russia's invasion of Ukraine is part of a broader expansion of authoritarianism
Myanmar and other countries with major declines in freedom
Bright spots like Ecuador and Peru
How we can support democracy in the world

Freedom in the World 2022: The Global Expansion of Authoritarian Rule by Sarah Repucci and Amy Slipowitz

Learn more about Freedom House

Follow Freedom House on Twitter @freedomhouse

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Freedom House: Sarah Repucci Assesses Freedom in the World

Stephan Haggard and Robert Kaufman on Democratic Backsliding

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Support Democracy Paradox on Patreon for bonus episodes and exclusive updates and information.
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Elisabeth Ivarsflaten and Paul Sniderman on the Inclusion and Respect of Muslim Minorities Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

If you're actually a real person and you're living your life and you're going into stores and you're riding on a bus or your kids are going to school, what matters is that you be treated with respect. That you have a dignity. And that, I think, at every point that matters most to us is what the book has wound up being about. It’s an essay on respect as a condition of a liberal democracy.

Paul Sniderman
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of The Struggle for Inclusion: Muslim Minorities and the Democratic Ethos here.
Elisabeth Ivarsflaten is a professor of political science and scientific director of the Digital Social Science Core Facility at the University of Bergen, Norway. Paul Sniderman is the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr., Professor of Public Policy at Stanford University. They are the authors of The Struggle for Inclusion: Muslim Minorities and the Democratic Ethos.
Key Highlights

Western societies show greater openness towards Muslim immigrants than previously recognized
Where are there opportunities for real inclusion for Muslim immigrants
How innovative research designs led to unexpected results
The difference between recognition respect and appraisal respect
The limits to inclusion for liberal societies that remain today

The Struggle for Inclusion: Muslim Minorities and the Democratic Ethosby Elisabeth Ivarsflaten and Paul Sniderman

Learn more about the Digital Social Science Core Facility including The Norwegian Citizen Panel

Learn more about Paul Sniderman

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Sara Wallace Goodman on Citizen Responses to Democratic Threats

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

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