2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes.  David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why do some countries bother holding elections if the outcomes are pre-determined and they also ask why the public bother voting in them? Guests: Naomi Hossain, Professor of Development Studies at SOAS
Katerina Tertychnaya, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford
Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford
Erica Frantz, Associate Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University Production team: Ellie House, Ajai Singh and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: James Beard

Election special 2. Elections without democracy

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

News

Democrats and Republicans have promised to solve the border crisis in recent times but they've failed and it remains a huge election issue. How does the problem get resolved? David Aaronovitch talks to: Gustavo Solis, investigative border reporter at KPBS television station in San Diego
Doris Meissner is Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program 
Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Fore­­­ign Relations and author of When the World Closed Its Doors: The Covid-19 Tragedy and the Future of Borders  Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Neil Churchill

How does America fix its border crisis?

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the reasons why millions of people in the UK aged between 16 and 64 are neither working nor looking for work and what we can do about it.  Tony Wilson, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies
Sam Avanzo Windett, Deputy Director at the Learning and Work Institute
Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: James Beard

Are Britain's missing workers really a problem?

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. In terms of population size there are none bigger than the six week exercise that got underway last Friday. The world’s biggest democracy - India - has gone to the polls and prime minister Narendra Modi is hoping – perhaps expecting – to win a third term. He first came to power in 2014 and since then fears about “democratic backsliding” have been growing. So how concerned about that should we be? 
 
Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.  Guests: Yogita Limaye, BBC's South Asia Correspondent
Rohan Venkat, editor of “India Inside Out” newsletter
Louise Tillin, Professor of Politics in the India Institute at King’s College London 
Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House.  Production team: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Hal Haines and Sarah Hockley

India: Is democracy under threat?

David Aaronovitch and guests explore the thinking behind Iran's decision to attack Israel and ask what the short and long term aims of the Iranian regime are.   Guests:  Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist
Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group
Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian, lecturer specialising in the politics of Iran and the Middle East at Cambridge University Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill

What does Iran want?

Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to “eliminate” Hamas but after six months of death and destruction in Gaza what do we know about their status? David Aaronovitch talks to:  Jennifer Jefferis, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University's Security Studies program and author of Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and its Future in Middle East Politics. Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research Gershon Baskin, Middle East Director, International Communities Organization and a former Israeli negotiator with Hamas Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Ibtisam Zein
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar

Election special 2. Elections without democracy

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