Democracy Paradox

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

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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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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

Learn more about Richard Wike at the Pew Research Center

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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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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

Learn more about Naunihal Singh

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

Michael Miller on the Unexpected Paths to Democratization

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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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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

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

Learn more about Mohammed Ali Kadivar

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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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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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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

Learn more about Michael Ignatieff

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Jason Brownlee Believes We Underestimate Democratic Resilience

Jeremi Suri on America’s Unfinished Fight for Democracy

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There is this idea on the one hand of this mass collective participation, but on the other hand that there's a lot of attention being given to the sort of dignity of each individual contribution. So, I think the experience of voting that is most valuable is when you have these two experiences juxtapose with each other

Emilee Booth Chapman

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Emilee Booth Chapman is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Her most recent book is Election Day: How We Vote and What It Means for Democracy.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:40
• Common Perceptions of Elections - 3:17
• Creative Work of Politics - 15:15
• Thoughts on Voting Reforms - 29:49
• A Model of Good Voting - 39:21

Key Links

Election Day: How We Vote and What It Means for Democracy by Emilee Booth Chapman

Learn more about Emilee Booth Chapman

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Jason Brownlee Believes We Underestimate Democratic Resilience

Miles Rapoport on How We Can Achieve Universal Voting

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71% of Americans are concerned about democracy. And apparently that number, roughly 71%, holds for both parties. So, if listeners are concerned about democracy, they can expect that there's someone from the other party who's also concerned about democracy from a different perspective.

Jason Brownlee

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Check out the podcast Entitled 

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Jason Brownlee is a professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Along with Kenny Miao, he is the author of "Why Democracies Survive" and "A Quiet Consensus" in the Journal of Democracy.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:41
• Democratic Decline and Resiliency - 3:40
• National Income or Wealth and Democracy - 13:49
• Democratic Backsliding - 21:53
• More than Minimal Democracy - 32:02

Key Links

"Why Democracies Survive" by Jason Brownlee and Kenny Miao in the recent Journal of Democracy

"A Quiet Consensus" by Jason Brownlee and Kenny Miao in the recent Journal of Democracy

Learn more about Jason Brownlee

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

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

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The Internet's a battle space. I think this year unfortunately we've seen that more than ever with Russia's brazen invasion of Ukraine about how the internet and digital platforms are used to pursue authoritarian ends or to promote democracy and freedom and help people stay safe during armed conflict.

Allie Funk

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Allie Funk is the Research Director for Technology and Democracy at Freedom House. She was deeply involved in this year's Freedom on the Net report and coauthored the executive summary "Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet" along with Adrian Shahbaz and Kian Vesteinsson.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:42
• The Importance of Internet Freedom - 2:42
• Where Internet Freedom Improved - 6:34
• Internet Freedom in the China - 18:25
• Internet Freedom as Transnational - 25:11

Key Links

Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet by Adrian Shahbaz, Allie Funk, and Kian Vesteinsson

Learn more about Allie Funk

Follow Allie Funk on Twitter @alfunk

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Sarah Cook on China’s Expanding Global Media Influence

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

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Our democracy is an evolving machine. The machine was built by a small group of people who were all men and looked the same. Over time the strength of American society is that it has grown and become more diverse and become very different. Our democracy has in an inefficient, episodic way been able to adjust and been able to at least account for some of that. But it hasn't done that in about a generation, and it's long time we do that.

Jeremi Suri

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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Jeremi Suri is the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He cohosts the podcast This is Democracy with his son Zachary. His latest book is Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:50
• Reconstruction and American Democracy - 3:21
• Contradictions in American Reconstruction - 15:25
• How Reconstruction Era Issues Shape Democracy Today - 23:25
• Democracy and Political Reform - 32:18

Key Links

This is Democracy a podcast from Jeremi and Zachary Suri

Follow Jeremi Suri on Twitter @JeremiSuri

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

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

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This is a party absolutely determined to maintain a monopoly of power and absolutely determined to crush any attempt by any group to suggest that there ought to be anything like separation of powers. No labor unions. No civil society. No freedom of press. No judicial independence. The mere suggestion of it seems to be so offensive that people end up in jail and that’s a constant theme that runs throughout this entire period.

Frank Dikötter

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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Frank Dikötter is the author of three books about China under Mao called the People’s Trilogy. He is currently the Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong. His latest book is China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:52
• Life in China After Mao - 3:06
• How much did China Reform After Mao - 13:20
• What do the Chinese People Want from Reform - 25:38
• Is Political Reform Necessary for Deeper Economic Reforms - 29:33
• Why is China's Reform Overstated - 36:18

Key Links

Learn more about Frank Dikötter at Wikipedia

The People's Trilogy by Frank Dikötter

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Sarah Cook on China’s Expanding Global Media Influence

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

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Democracy Group

Apes of the State created all Music

Email the show at [email protected]

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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.

Support the show