Democracy Paradox

Robert Lieberman, Kenneth Roberts, and David Bateman on Democratic Resilience and Political Polarization in the United States

Jan 4, 2022

58:19

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Is American Politics Polarized?

02:08

Are We Going to Turn Away From Polarization?

02:12

Congress Is at Its Best When It Does Nothing

02:48

Introduction

4min

Did the Polarization of American Politics Begin With the People?

2min

What Is the Difference Between Healthy and Pernicious Polarization?

3min

Did Polarization of American Politics Begin the People or Their Leaders?

3min

Are the Differences Really Disappearing?

2min

Political Polarization in the United States

2min

The Politics of Polarization

2min

How Congress Hasn't Always Been the Place That Holds Down Democracy

2min

The Role of Congress in Democratization

2min

10.

Congress Is at Its Best When It Does Nothing

3min

11.

Does the President Have the Capacity to Reduce Polarization?

3min

12.

Reforming the Judiciary in the United States

2min

13.

Do You Think the Democrats Risk the Possibility of Overcorrecting for Their Fear of Republicans?

3min

14.

Is American Politics Polarized?

2min

15.

Is There Blame on Both Sides?

2min

16.

The Institutions That Should Be a Bulwark Against the Pernicious Logic of Polarization

4min

17.

We Expect More From Our Institutions

2min

18.

Are We Going to Turn Away From Polarization?

2min

19.

The Four Threats - Democratic Resilience

3min

20.

Can American Democracy Overcome Polarization?

4min

21.

The Anti-Democracy Threats Need to Be Defeated or Attenuated

2min

22.

Can the United States Survive Rising Polarization?

3min

So, the question is how do you respond to that? If you are the party that sees itself as being on the side of democracy and on the side of maintaining democratic norms and procedures and maintaining this kind of democratic accountability, how do you respond? Do you respond in kind? Do you respond with hardball tactics of your own?

Robert Lieberman

A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com or a short review of Democratic Resilience: Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization? here.

Robert C. Lieberman is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. Kenneth M. Roberts is the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government and Binenkorb Director of Latin American Studies at Cornell University. David A. Bateman is an associate professor in the Government Department at Cornell University. Robert and Kenneth (along with Suzanne Mettler) coedited the book Democratic Resilience: Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization? David is a contributor to the volume. His chapter is "Elections, Polarization, and Democratic Resilience."

Key Highlights