How to Fix Democracy

Religion and American Conservatism

The American far-right has, in many ways, become inseparable from religious conservatism and fervor. Religious movements and organizations provide the foundation, funding, and voting base of the extreme right in American politics, explains our latest guest. Katherine Stewart, the author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, has spent her career reporting on the dwindling separation between church and state in the United States. In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, she joins host Andrew Keen to discuss how religious nationalism has been cultivated by leaders on the far-right for political gain.

The Health of American Democracy

The erosion of democratic values in the United States has led many to refer to American democracy as "sick" and in need of healing. Extremism, disinformation, and civic illiteracy have fueled radical beliefs and led to grave polarization within American society. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, director of the Polarization and Extremism Research Innovation Lab (PERIL), and author of Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right, has focused her research on these issues and how our society can overcome them. In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, Dr. Miller-Idriss joins host Andrew Keen to discuss the state of American democracy today, the rise of extremism and radicalization, and strategies for curing what is seemingly irreversible polarization.

Racial Injustice & Voting Rights in the United States

Andrea Young, the executive director of the ACLU in Georgia, is a lifelong advocate of voting and civil rights in the United States. Having participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches with her parents at nine years old, she has dedicated her life to ensuring the protection of civil liberties for marginalized groups in the United States. Georgia was of great importance in the 2020 Presidential Election, where President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by only 12,000 votes. In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, Andrea Young discusses the history of structural racial injustice in the United States, the need for a multicultural democracy, and the role that Georgia is playing in paving the way to a stronger democratic system in which everyone's voice can be heard and affirmed.

Bridging the Partisan Divide

What does it mean to engage with someone on the other side of the political aisle? Mónica Guzmán has made it her mission to answer this question and facilitate thoughtful, constructive dialogue between the political left and right in the United States. In her latest book, I Never Thought of It That Way, she explores the ways in which American citizens can move beyond political barriers and work together to create a less divided political system. In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, she joins host Andrew Keen to discuss the dire state of the political landscape in the United States today, as well as steps that we can take to fix it. She explores the ways in which she is able to engage with people who believe differently than her, and the events in her life which have led her to this place.

The Crisis of the American Right

Authors Peter Wehner and Jon Rauch recently published a New York Times Opinion piece entitled "What's Happening on the Left is No Excuse for What's Happening on the Right." As conservative researchers, they have a unique position to observe and analyze the recent shifts in the American political right. In the latest episode of How to Fix Democracy, Peter Wehner and Jon Rauch join host Andrew Keen to discuss the history and implications of the stark transformation undergone by the Republican Party during and after Donald Trump's presidency. What does this change mean for the future of the party, and for political stability in the United States? Why have some conservatives chosen to leave the party, while some have chosen to stay? Find out here!

Tocqueville's Take on Democracy

Harvard University professors Cheryl Welch and Arthur Goldhammer are world-renowned experts and translators of the work of Alexis de Tocqueville. They kick off Season 4 of How To Fix Democracy by joining host Andrew Keen for a discussion of Tocqueville's famous observational text, "Democracy in America." Our fourth season of the podcast will focus on just that: democracy in the United States. How do Tocqueville's observations apply to the 21st century? What did he get wrong, and what did he get right? Our guests explore all of these questions and more–take a listen!

The Roles of Citizens

Jon Alexander is the founder of The New Citizenship Project and speaks in this interview with host Andrew Keen about the conflict between our roles as citizens and consumers. From the psychology of marketing and the formation of the modern citizen to what a crowdfunded brewery can teach us about restructuring decision-making and profit-driven thinking, this interview helps illustrate the influence of democracy and capitalism on human behavior and what we can do to guide better citizen engagement in the future.

Democracy in Pain

Patrick Radden Keefe is a writer and investigative journalist whose recent book, Empire of Pain, delves into the opioid crisis in the United States. In this interview, co-hosted by Andrew Keen and the John Adams Institute director Tracy Metz, Patrick explains some of the lessons from this story for repairing democracy in America. In many ways, the saga of the opioid crisis reflects a topic covered often in this series: the troubled relationship between corporate power and democracy in America. This is the first interview of a series in cooperation with The John Adams Institute.

Examining Elections

David van Reybrouck is a Belgian author, historian, archaeologist, and the National Endowment for the Humanities / Hannah Arendt Center Fellow at Bard College in New York. He and Andrew Keen take a multifaceted approach to deliberative democracy and the structural challenges of democratic practices today. Are elections as we know them today indispensable to democracy? Are there other kinds of decision-making processes that can empower citizens instead of elevating elites? Keen and van Reybrouck reflect on the philosophical underpinnings of representative democracy, discuss the latest developments in deliberative democracy and citizens' assemblies, and consider the state of political communication and citizenship today.

Innovating Democracy

Claudia Chwalisz is the Innovative Citizen Participation Lead at the OECD Directorate for Public Governance. In this interview, she talks with host Andrew Keen about the importance of innovation in democratic governance to shift away from structures that encourage short-term thinking. Deliberative democracy, Chwalisz argues, can help engage citizens in the decision making process without presenting them with oversimplified or false choices, as can be the danger with referenda. From populism to citizens' assemblies, this conversation covers some of the most compelling topics in democracy today.