Democracy Paradox

What we are doing in this volume is blurring the boundaries between this older conception of top-down mobilized movements and this newer conception of bottom-up organic, spontaneous civil society propelled movements and discovering that there's an awful lot in the middle there.

Elizabeth Perry

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Ruling by Other Means: State-Mobilized Movements here.

Elizabeth Perry and Grzegorz Ekiert join the podcast to discuss their new book Ruling by Other Means: State-Mobilized Movements (coedited with Xiaojun Yan). Elizabeth is the Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. Grzegorz is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Government at Harvard University and Director of Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies.

Key Highlights

• What are state-mobilized movements?
• Why do authoritarian regimes mobilize supporters?
• The role of violence in state-mobilized movements
• Why do people mobilize to support dictators?
• What does it teach us about civil society?

 
Key Links

Ruling by Other Means: State-Mobilized Movements edited by Grzegorz Ekiert, Elizabeth J. Perry, and Yan Xiaojun

Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies 

Harvard-Yenching Institute 

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Erica Chenoweth on Civil Resistance

Jonathan Pinckney on Civil Resistance Transitions

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Many of these things that you and I are talking about are simply initiatives put forward by the chief executive or maybe by a cabinet minister. Something they want to do and rather than something that they're required to do. And it seems to me that that's a rather fragile base on which to build a more effective participatory process, which doesn't give up on the role of technocracy and expertise.

Susan Rose-Ackerman

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Democracy and Executive Power: Policymaking Accountability in the US, the UK, Germany, and France here.

Susan Rose-Ackerman joins the podcast to discuss her new book Democracy and Executive Power: Policymaking Accountability in the US, the UK, Germany, and France. Susan is the Henry R. Luce Professor Emeritus of Law and Political Science at Yale University.

Key Highlights Include

• How have executives handled the pandemic
• Differences between the executives of Germany, France, UK and US
• How different executives make rules to implement public statutes
• Description of deliberative democracy used in France to create environmental policies
• Is the administrative state democratic

 Key Links

Democracy and Executive Power: Policymaking Accountability in the US, the UK, Germany, and France by Susan Rose-Ackerman

Susan Rose-Ackerman on Wikipedia

EPuM Interview with Susan Rose-Ackerman on YouTube

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Lee Drutman Makes the Case for Multiparty Democracy in America

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

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At the end of the day, I am optimistic despite all the evidence. First of all, I think there are a lot of resources that democracies can use. A lot of areas of law, where as long as we recognize what it is we're fighting for, democracy is worth fighting for and have a common view as to what that means that we can advance it in many places, not just here but abroad. And this might sound a little hokey, but there really is a genuine human demand for freedom and that's not going away.

Tom Ginsburg

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Democracies and International Law here.

Tom Ginsburg is a professor of international law and political science at the University of Chicago. He is the coauthor of How to Save a Constitutional Democracy with Aziz Huq and the author of Democracies and International Law.

Key Highlights Include

• How is international law made and enforced?
• How do democracies approach international law differently than authoritarian regimes?
• Is there a right to democracy?
• Differences and similarities between the approach of China and the United States towards international law.
• How do regional organizations support democratic norms?

Key Links

Democracies and International Law by Tom Ginsburg

Follow Tom Ginsburg on Twitter @tomginsburg

How to Save a Constitutional Democracy by Tom Ginsburg and Aziz Huq

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Charles Kupchan on America's Tradition of Isolationism

John Ikenberry on Liberal Internationalism

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So, now I've developed a way of talking about revolution as an option that can't be exercised, but that still has present value and I've set up a mechanism for saying what that present value is. Namely the value of the liquidity premium that a democracy that consents to maintaining accumulated wealth can extract for guaranteeing that the wealth continues to accumulate.

Robert Meister

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Justice is an Option: A Democratic Theory of Finance for the Twenty-First Century  here.

Robert Meister is the author of the new book Justice is an Option: A Democratic Theory of Finance for the Twenty-First Century and a Professor of Social and Political Thought in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Key Highlights Include

• What is historical justice?
• An overview of financial terms
• How is justice an option?
• Is capitalism compatible with justice?
• Will historical justice happen or is it just an option?

Key Links

Justice Is an Option: A Democratic Theory of Finance for the Twenty-First Century by Robert Meister

A Theory of Justice by John Rawls

Spheres of Justice by Michael Walzer

Democracy Paradox Podcast

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

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

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Where you and I and, I think, many others start from an assumption that somehow there is a thing called democracy and we sort of know what it is. But the diversity within democracy is far larger than that. You know, there's clear big institutional temperamental differences between visions of representatives ruling, people ruling, and so on. All these sorts of things are different models of democracy and therefore the word democracy in some respects becomes rather meaningless.

Martin Conway

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945—1968  here.

Martin Conway is the author of the new book Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945—1968 and a Professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Oxford.

Key Highlights Include

• Why Democracy Became Part of Western Europe's Identity
• How Democracy was a Process of Continual Negotiation
• The Distinct Characteristics of Democracy in Western Europe
• An Account of the Transition from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic in France
• Lessons for Democracy Today from Western Europe's Past

Key Links

Western Europe's Democratic Age: 1945-1968  by Martin Conway

Learn more about Martin Conway at Balliol College at the University of Oxford

Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe  by Sheri Berman

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Kurt Weyland Distinguishes Between Fascism and Authoritarianism

Michael Hughes on the History of Democracy in Germany

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The most beautiful thing that happened in Indonesia, by the way, which was a polarized society along religious lines more than anything else, was that by the end of the proceedings, everybody knew what everybody else's problems were, what everyone else's constituencies wanted. They knew if X noticed that Y was making a demand, before long X figured out what was behind the demand and why Y had to make it and whether it was a real demand or whether it was made just for the sake of being on record.

Donald Horowitz

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Constitutional Processes and Democratic Commitment here.

Donald Horowitz is the James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science Emeritus at Duke University.

Key Highlights Include

• Accounts of constitutional formation in Tunisia, Indonesia, and Malaysia
• The role of consensus
• The challenges of negotiated constitutions
• The need for an inclusive process
• Why citizen participation is not always beneficial

Key Links

Constitutional Processes and Democratic Commitment  by Donald Horowitz

"Ethnic Power Sharing: Three Big Problems"  by Donald Horowitz in the Journal of Democracy

Reconsidering Democratic Transitions Francis Fukuyama, Donald Horowitz, Larry Diamond on YouTube

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Aldo Madariaga on Neoliberalism, Democratic Deficits, and Chile

Hélène Landemore on Democracy without Elections

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Up to today, since the Mexican government deployed the military in 2006 up to the present, Mexico has experienced close to 200,000 battle deaths. That's roughly the number of battle deaths that took place in the civil war in Guatemala. So, the 36 year old civil war in Guatemala that produced approximately 200,000 battle deaths. That's where Mexico is right now.

Guillermo Trejo

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a brief primer on Mexican politics here.

Guillermo Trejo is an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame. Sandra Ley is an Assistant Professor at CIDE’s Political Studies Division in Mexico City. They are the authors of Votes, Drugs, and Violence: The Political Logic of Criminal Wars in Mexico. 

Key Highlights Include

• A vivid description of the effects of the criminal wars in Mexico
• How autocracy allows for the proliferation of organized crime
• Why Mexico remains an 'illiberal democracy'
• How polarization exacerbated criminal violence in Mexico
• The importance of deeper degrees of democratization

Key Links

Votes, Drugs, and Violence: The Political Logic of Criminal Wars in Mexico by Guillermo Trejo and Sandra Ley

Follow Guillermo Trejo on Twitter @Gtrejo29

Follow Sandra Ley on Twitter @sjleyg

Democracy Paradox Podcast

Michael Miller on the Unexpected Paths to Democratization

James Loxton Explains Why Authoritarian Successor Parties Succeed in Democracies

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Chinese participation in the human rights regime probably was never really intended to alter human rights so much in China that it would jeopardize the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power. I think China, even if it may have been open to some areas of human rights, I think that we have to keep in mind that the full implementation of human rights including all of the elements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would mean that political competition is allowed. And that's just not something I see the current Chinese regime allowing.

Rana Siu Inboden

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a brief primer on the human rights regime here.

Rana Siu Inboden  is a senior fellow with the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas–Austin. Her new book is China and the International Human Rights Regime: 1982-2017.

Key Highlights Include

• What is the Human Rights Regime
• China's Participation in the Human Rights Regime
• How Tiananmen Changed China's View on Human Rights
• What is the Like Minded Group
• How China Views Human Rights

Key Links

China and the International Human Rights Regime: 1982-2017 by Rana Siu Inboden

China at the UN: Choking Civil Society by Rana Siu Inboden in Journal of Democracy

United Nations Human Rights Council

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Putin in the past could claim to have won at least an honest plurality, if not an honest majority of votes given his approval. However, in the upcoming election this fall, in September, it looks like the Kremlin has so restricted political competition that it's going to be a difficult sell to the Russian public to show that these elections are even as legitimate as the elections held in 2016 or in 2011.

Timothy Frye

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a brief primer on personalism here.

Timothy Frye is a Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia University and a research director at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.

Key Highlights Include

• Is Putin's popularity real?
• Why Russia holds elections at all
• Description of Russia as a personalist autocracy
• How autocracy shapes Russia's foreign policy
• What are the prospects for democratization in Russia

Key Links

Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia by Timothy Frye

Russia's Weak Strongman: The Perilous Bargains That Keep Putin in Power by Timothy Frye in Foreign Affairs

Follow Timothy Frye on Twitter @timothymfrye

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

Freedom House: Sarah Repucci Assesses Freedom in the World

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Biden's current policy is, you know, we want Putin to calm down, be stable for awhile and turn our focus to restraining China. I don't think that's going to happen. That's not in his interest to do that. So, I think taking our eye off Russia, underestimating it, is the biggest concern for the U.S. currently.

Kathryn Stoner

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a brief primer on Russia here.

Kathryn Stoner is a professor of political science at Stanford University. Her new book is Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order.

Key Highlights Include

• A description of Russia's economy
• An account of Russia's military reforms
• Why Russia is in the Middle East
• Explanation of Russia's foreign policy
• Is a resurrected Russia a danger to the West?

Key Links

Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order by Kathryn Stoner

The Freeman Spogli Institute For International Studies

Follow Kathryn Stoner on Twitter @kath_stoner

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Timothy Frye Says Putin is a Weak Strongman

Bryn Rosenfeld on Middle Class Support for Dictators in Autocratic Regimes

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