The third issue of Public Administration Review in 2024 includes work by senior scholars, Kutsal Yesilkagit (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Michael Bauer (European University Institute, Italy), Guy Peters (University of Pittsburgh, USA), and Jon Pierre (University of Gothenburg, Sweden). In this podcast, Peters, Pierre, and Yesilkagit discuss modern liberal democracy, its vulnerabilities, and the gradual erosion of democratic institutions. To protect liberal democracy, they propose a Guardian State that embraces liberal principles while defending against illiberal tendencies. They emphasize that structural measures at the individual and organizational levels are essential to fortify foundations of the State to protect liberal democracy against evolving threats. The scholars argue that bureaucracy plays a critical role in preserving the core principles of democracy.