What's Wrong with Democracy?

For the final episode of the series, Ben goes back to basics and asks: how can democracies hold free and fair elections? It’s not as simple as setting up polling stations and handing out ballot boxes, so what does it take to create a truly even electoral playing field?

Guests: 

• Robin Forestier-Walker, Freelance journalist, based in Georgia
• Tanja Hollstein, Head of Practice (Elections) at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy
• Pippa Norris, McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’re looking at another big potential challenge facing democracy: AI, or artificial intelligence. Ben wants to know how worried we should be when it comes to the rise of these new technologies. Might they spell the death knell for trust in our institutions? Or can technology play a helpful role in boosting modern democracies?

Guests: 

• Sarah Kreps, Professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University
• Alex Krasodomski, Programme Director of the Digital Society Initiative at Chatham House
• Kerry McInerney, Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the biggest challenges of our time is climate change. This week, Ben wants to know how effective democracies are when it comes to fighting the climate crisis. How can we settle on solutions when there’s so many different interests at play?

Guests: 

• Keith Smith, Senior Researcher in the International Political Economy/International Environmental Politics group at the Center for Comparative and International Studies
• Louis Wilson, Head of Fossil Fuel Investigations at Global Witness
• Rafaela Santos Martins Da Rosa, Coordinator of the Sustainability Commission of the Federal Court of Rio Grande do Sul

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democracy can often be knocked off course by political violence, but in some places it’s become an ingrained part of how politics is done. This week Ben wants to find out why violence and democracy can be so hard to separate, and how to stop violence taking hold of our politics in the first place. 

Guests: 

• Arunima Kar, Freelance journalist based in Kolkata
• Amalendu Misra, Professor of International Politics at Lancaster University, and author of ‘Towards a Philosophy of Narco Violence in Mexico’
• Hannah Philips, policy researcher at the University of Oxford and Civility Commission Manager at the Jo Cox Foundation

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where does the boundary lie between bad behaviour and outright corruption?  This week Ben wants to understand how corruption and the fight against it are destructive forces in a democracy. 

Guests: 

• Simon Kuper, journalist and author of ‘Good Chaps’ and ‘Chums’
• Ezequiel González Ocantos, Professor of Comparative & Judicial Politics at Nuffield College, University of Oxford

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It often feels like America is stuck in a perpetual election campaign cycle. How much do campaigns matter? Ben speaks to three guests who have followed several US presidential campaigns from the outside, and the inside. How different does this year’s look? 

What’s Wrong with Democracy? US election miniseries - part three of three.

Guests: 

• John Sides, Professor at the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee
• Lauren Gambiano, political correspondent for Guardian US 
• Jim Messina, former campaign manager and former White House deputy chief of staff for operations under President Barack Obama

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American voters have chosen the two candidates who will vie to become the next US president. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump couldn’t be more different. This week, Ben wants to know what kind of leaders American voters are drawn to. What makes a good president? And is the US primary system of choosing candidates a good way of selecting a leader? 

What’s Wrong with Democracy? US election miniseries - part two of three.

Guests: 

• Lee Drutman, senior fellow in the Political Reform program at the think tank New America
• Darrell West, professor of Political Science and Director of the John Hazen White, Sr., Public Opinion Laboratory at Brown University
• Lindiwe Mazubuko, CEO of Futurelect and former Leader of the Official Opposition, Parliament of South Africa 

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Jasper Corbett

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Polling organisations often define Americans by their ethnic and racial identity. Ben wants to know if these voter “blocks” remain intact at the ballot box. Is it possible to predict how people will vote based on their identity? Or is demographic polling pointless? 

What’s Wrong with Democracy? US election miniseries - part one of three.

Guests: 

• Christopher Towler,  Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at California State University, Sacramento
• Kira Sanbonmatsu, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics
• Mark Hugo-Lopez,  Director of Race and Ethnicity Research at the Pew Research Center

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Lewis Vickers

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democratic societies are a melting pot of people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, but when political alliances are formed around a particular identity it can lead to division and sometimes violence. In this episode Ben explores one of the most extreme examples of ethnic conflict - the Rwandan genocide - and asks whether it’s possible to have a peaceful democracy after so much bloodshed.

Guests: 

• Sharun Mukand,  Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick
• James Chin, Professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania 

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Lewis Vickers

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The history of protest and democracy is long and complex, but taking to the streets has resulted in major democratic changes in the past. This week, Ben wants to know if protest still has a role to play in today’s politics. What are the barriers to protesting effectively? Is the time for peaceful protest over? And with autocracies on the rise, do citizens need a new tool to express their discontent?

Guests: 

• Ilya Marritz, journalist at the Boston Globe and co-host of ‘Will Be Wild’
• Dawn Brancati, senior lecturer in international and public affairs at Brown University
• Madzoo, Senegalese graffiti artist and activist

What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations. 

To find out more about Tortoise:

Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists.

Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content.

Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more.

If you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected]

Host: Professor Ben Ansell

Producers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs

Editor: Lewis Vickers

Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.