The Democracy Group

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Introducing our Best of 2021! Nov 29, 2021

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Welcome to our Best of 2021 Episodes!

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Featuring: To Build A Bridge Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

This week we bring you an episode from the To Build a Bridge Podcast and our partners at the Bridge Alliance, an organization dedicated to providing resources to non profits involved in democracy reform.

Being Right-of-Center in the era of social justice has become unpopular and suppressive. All too often, the right wing is labeled as prejudiced, hateful and uneducated conductors of national misinformation. This unfortunately discourages many from openly sharing their outlook which is a direct contradiction to this country’s constitution. Bridge Alliance Deputy Chief of Staff, Shakira Mills is sitting down with Shoshana Weissmann of RStreet Institute, Stephanie Slade of Reason Magazine, Jeremy Garson and Michelle Dickson of Bridge Alliance to discuss the modern American polarized experience and what the right wing is really trying to accomplish.

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The Challenge to Define Accountability in the Criminal Justice System, Anti-racism in Media, and What’s Really Going On with Facebook | Our Body Politic Nov 22, 2021

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Host Farai Chideya talks with MacArthur Fellow, poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, about why we struggle to articulate exactly how we want to change the prison system in the U.S. OB-GYN Dr. Jamila Perritt explains why she dreams of exercising her medical practice without the interference of politics. Gwen Ifill Award winner Sisi Wei of OpenNews examines the transition from focusing on diversity in newsrooms, to doing impactful anti-racist work in the media industry. And on Sippin’ the Political Tea, Mutale Nkonde of AI for the People and Nicol Turner-Lee of the Brookings Institution help Farai examine the latest tech news..

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Contract for the Climate: Keya Chatterjee | Future Hindsight Nov 17, 2021

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Racial Injustice in the Climate Crisis

Economic and racial injustices are at the center of the climate crisis. White communities have largely avoided things like polluting power plants and detrimental pipelines in their neighborhoods. Instead, communities of color have faced that burden. The willingness to sacrifice communities of color has made it easier for governments to tolerate climate chaos.

Aiding Youth Activism

Successful social movements often start with activism by young people, and in fact cannot be successful without them. However, it’s up to the adults in our democracy to make sure their voices are heard since they are the ones who can vote and have the financial resources. It’s been proven that just 3.5% of a population can topple a dictatorship. What can it do for climate justice?

Disruptive Humanitarianism

Disruptive humanitarianism challenges the status quo and forces the system to change immediately for the better. It counters the idea that it’s everyone for themselves. It can be as simple as planting a garden where a pipeline is being placed. Taking action together in a democracy is imperative because it’s hard to create change as an individual.

FIND OUT MORE:

Keya Chatterjee is Executive Director of US Climate Action Network and author of The Zero Footprint Baby: How to Save the Planet While Raising a Healthy Baby. Her work focuses on building an inclusive movement in support of climate action. Prior to joining USCAN, Keya served as Senior Director for Renewable Energy and Footprint Outreach at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where she worked for eight years. Before that, she was a Climate Change Specialist at USAID.

Keya also worked at NASA headquarters for four years, communicating research results on climate change. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco from 1998 to 2000. She served on the board of the Washington Area Bicycling Association from 2013 to 2021. Keya received her Master's degree in Environmental Science, and her Bachelor's in Environmental Science and Spanish from the University of Virginia.

You can follow Keya on Twitter @keya_chatterjee.

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Climate: Changing the Conversation. Katharine Hayhoe | How Do We Fix It? Nov 15, 2021

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As world leaders discuss the planet's future at COP26 in Glasgow, climate change remains a massive challenge and a source of fierce debate. While two-thirds of Americans think that the government should be doing more, it's tempting to throw our hands up in despair and think: "There's nothing I can do."

Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe begs to differ. She says the most important thing is to talk about it—and she wants to teach us how. In this episode, we discuss her hopeful, passionate case for enacting positive change from the ground up, and the finding of her new book, "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World."

Katharine shares the science of climate change, how to talk about it across the political divide, and personal stories about engaging highly skeptical audiences, such as when she spoke to a crowd of conservative business leaders in West Texas at a meeting of Rotarians. The outcome was remarkable!

"If we want to change the system, the most important thing any of us can do is to use our voice to influence others to talk about why it matters, and what we can do together to fix it," Katharine tells us. "Wherever we are, we have a shadow not just a footprint, and our shadow can influence people to do things themselves too."

Katharine Hayhoe is the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and a professor of political science and public law at Texas Tech University. She is also a well-known science communicator, principal investigator for the Department of Interior’s South-Central Climate Adaptation Science Center and the National Science Foundation’s Global Infrastructure Climate Network. Her research currently focuses on establishing a scientific basis for assessing the regional to local-scale impacts of climate change on human systems and the natural environment.

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How Do We Fix It? Podcast

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Democracy's Struggle Against Itself featuring Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora | Democracy Matters Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

The challenges facing democracy around the world are daunting, especially as global conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the erosion of civil liberties, the postponement of elections and the spread of disinformation campaigns. Despite global democratic erosion, Dr. Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary General of International IDEA, says “the explosion of civic activism globally in traditionally inhospitable places” is good news.

Until recently, Dr. Casas-Zamora was a member of Costa Rica’s Presidential Commission for State Reform and managing director at Analitica Consulting (Analitica Consultores). Previously, he was Costa Rica’s Second Vice President and Minister of National Planning; Secretary for Political Affairs at the Organization of American States; Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and National Coordinator of the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report.

Links in this episode:

International IDEA is an intergovernmental organization based out of Stockholm that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world.
Voter Turnout Database
INTER PARES Parliamentary responses during the COVID-19 Pandemic – Data Tracker

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Can Democrats Design Social Programs that Survive? | Science of Politics Nov 08, 2021

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Democrats are deciding how to trim their reconciliation bill, considering expiring programs, means testing eligibility, and using tax credits rather than spending. To make these new social programs last after Democrats lose power, today’s program design decisions are critical. Eric Patashnik finds that sustainable programs require incentivizing actors to see reforms through and not letting policy opponents re-organize to win at later stages. Stuart Kasdin finds that using the tax code and entitlements can increase program survivability, but that health and social welfare programs have a harder time surviving. They both say the policy battle isn’t over after a policy passes and its design matters to what lasts.

Guests: Eric Patashnik, Brown University; Stuart Kasdin, Goleta

Studies: Reforms at Risk; Budgeting Rules and Program Outcomes

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Deepening Connection at the Thanksgiving Table | TDG Event Series Nov 05, 2021

Show notes

The family can often be a microcosm of America – divided and torn – wanting to heal and not knowing how. In honor of Thanksgiving, join The Democracy Group, Braver Angels, and Culture Shift Agency in this structured conversation exploring how to move from a divided table to one where everyone feels more nourished.
Each guest for this panel has unique experience that informs their understanding of the complex prism of democracy. We will have a discussion that connects that understanding to the everyday and perhaps walk away inspired to have a better Thanksgiving experience. After all, if we can't learn to work with the divide at our family table, what hope do we actually have to deal with the future of our democracy?

A recording and transcripts of this event are available at democracygroup.org.

Host

Martha Williams and John Scilipote are co-founders of Culture Shift Agency, Inc. and the creators of BreakBread World, a growing global community dedicated to reweaving our common humanity by sharing in the intimate act of breaking bread over active and inspired conversation. They are creators of Mindful Conversation, a practice that helps inspire better listening, increased capacity for curiosity, and deeper compassion and connection to self, others, and our communities. John and Martha bring a mixture of passion, curiosity and humor along with deeply diverse backgrounds as artists, thinkers, creators, and entrepreneurs.

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What issues should Democrats emphasize ahead of the 2022 midterm elections? | Politics in Question Nov 03, 2021

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss David Shor’s recent controversy-provoking advice for Democrats. What does Shor advise Democrats to do ahead of next year’s midterm elections? Why is his advice controversial? And what does the race-versus-economics debate that Shor’s advice sparked reveal about American politics more broadly and why our political institutions are dysfunctional? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Fighting for democracy in the GOP | Democracy Works Nov 01, 2021

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As another election cycle approaches, moderates in the Republican Party have some choices to make. Will they continue to fight Trumpism from within? Or break out to form a new political party, perhaps in coalition with moderate Democrats who feel alienated by the party's leftward turn? Miles Taylor and Charlie Dent are two Republicans at the forefront of addressing that question through the Renew America, a movement to deepen America’s pro-democracy bench.

By working together across party lines, the group hopes to shift the balance of power in Washington, DC away from those who want to dismantle democracy’s guardrails and back to real leaders who will put country over party.

Taylor is the co-founder of Renew America, former chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security and author of the New York Times bestseller A Warning. Dent is the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s fall 2021 visiting fellow. He served seven terms in Congress representing and is now executive director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program and CNN political analyst.