Making Sense with Sam Harris
#384 — Stress Testing Our Democracy
Sep 23, 2024
Barton Gellman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and senior advisor at the Brennan Center for Justice, discusses election integrity and the safeguarding of democracy. He shares insights from war games designed to test responses to authoritarianism. Topics include the balance between state and federal powers, the potential for civil unrest after elections, and the legal battles surrounding voter ID laws. Gellman also examines how political motives could undermine election results and the implications of upcoming elections, including the challenges of public trust.
40:38
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Quick takeaways
- The podcast underscores the critical role of state officials in resisting federal overreach and maintaining democratic integrity against potential authoritarianism.
- It highlights the troubling intersection of legal norms and election integrity, emphasizing the risks of voter suppression disguised as fraud prevention measures.
Deep dives
The Threat of Authoritarianism
The discussion emphasizes the significant risks posed by the potential election of an authoritarian president and how vital it is to safeguard democracy. The host and guest highlight a series of tabletop exercises curated to simulate the responses to such a scenario, involving numerous experts from various sectors of society. These exercises revealed how a president's aggressive actions could overwhelm pro-democracy advocates, drawing on real-world examples and agendas reminiscent of prior Trump policies. The importance of understanding the dynamics between state and federal powers becomes evident, as the participants explored strategies to resist authoritarian overreach.
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