

Democracy Paradox
Justin Kempf
Is it possible for a democracy to govern undemocratically? Can the people elect an undemocratic leader? Is it possible for democracy to bring about authoritarianism? And if so, what does this say about democracy? My name is Justin Kempf. Every week I talk to the brightest minds on subjects like international relations, political theory, and history to explore democracy from every conceivable angle. Topics like civil resistance, authoritarian successor parties, and the autocratic middle class challenge our ideas about democracy. Join me as we unravel new topics every week.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 11, 2023 • 54min
Hal Brands Thinks China is a Declining Power... Here's Why that's a Problem
The most dangerous states in the international system aren't necessarily revisionist powers that think that their trajectory points continually upward. It's those countries that have been growing, rising for a long time, and then fear that they are peaking and are about to decline. Those are the countries that are inclined to take the biggest risks to try to improve their position in the the here and now before things get worse for them in the future.Hal BrandsAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is the coauthor (with Michael Beckley) of Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China and the author of The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:43Peaking Power Theory - 3:12The Original Cold War - 22:28China as a Peaking Power - 31:14American Policy Toward China - 41:56Key LinksDanger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China by Hal Brands and Michael BeckleyThe Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today by Hal Brands"China’s Threat to Global Democracy" in Journal of Democracy by Hal Brands and Michael BeckleyDemocracy Paradox PodcastJosh Chin on China’s Surveillance StateElizabeth Economy in a Wide Ranging Conversation About ChinaMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on Democracy Support the show

Jul 4, 2023 • 51min
Natasha Wheatley Raises Some Really Difficult Questions About Sovereignty
My book is in some ways trying to help us see not only the kind of deep intermingling of pre-modern and modern ideas of sovereignty, but how we repeat some of those more fantastical attributes of sovereignty that we might otherwise presume to be long gone remnants of a more superstitious or religious age.Natasha WheatleyAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Natasha Wheatley is an assistant professor of history at Princeton University. She is the author of The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:40The State as Modern and Pre-Modern - 2:52The Habsbug Empire - 9:21Collapse of an Empire - 24:09The State and International Law - 40:55Key LinksThe Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty by Natasha WheatleyLearn More About Natasha WheatleyFollow Natasha Wheatley on Twitter @natasha_wheatlDemocracy Paradox PodcastAnna Grzymala-Busse on the Sacred Foundations of Modern PoliticsTom Ginsburg Shares his Thoughts on Democracy and International LawMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

Jun 27, 2023 • 48min
Sebastian Edwards on the History of Neoliberalism in Chile
I think that the most important reform is openness. Once the country is open, really open to the rest of the world, the rest follows.Sebastian EdwardsAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Sebastian Edwards is the Henry Ford II Professor of International Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was the former Chief Economist for Latin America at the World Bank where from 1993 until 1996. His most recent book is The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:46Pinochet and the Origin of the Chicago Boys - 3:17Neoliberalism Under Democracy - 22:35Personal Background of Sebastian Edwards - 30:18Future of Chile - 38:35Key LinksThe Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism by Sebastian EdwardsLearn More About Sebastian EdwardsWatch the film Chicago Boys by Carola Fuentes and Rafael ValdeavellanoDemocracy Paradox PodcastJennifer Piscopo on the Constitutional Chaos in ChileAldo Madariaga on Neoliberalism, Democratic Deficits, and ChileMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

Jun 20, 2023 • 51min
Dan Slater on Thailand's Revolutionary Election
Democracy is Eastern as well as Western.Dan SlaterAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Dan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science, the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Professor of Emerging Democracies, and director of the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan. His most recent book (coauthored with Joseph Wong) is From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia. More recently he wrote the article "Thailand's Revolutionary Election" at the Journal of Democracy.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:41An Inspiring Election - 2:38Parties and Politics - 5:09Forming a Government - 21:09Risks and Hope - 35:53Key Links"Thailand's Revolutionary Election" by Dan Slater at Journal of DemocracyFrom Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia by Dan Slater and Joseph Wong"What Indonesian Democracy Can Teach the World" by Dan Slater in the Journal of DemocracyDemocracy Paradox PodcastDan Slater on IndonesiaRoger Lee Huang on MyanmarMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

Jun 13, 2023 • 48min
Peter Turchin Wants to Avoid Political Disintegration
If you have grown up in a household which had decent quality of life and now you are struggling, you cannot even match the degree of wellbeing that your parents achieved, this is very obvious and makes people feel completely dissatisfied with the system that we have now.Peter TurchinAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Peter is a complexity scientist who has established a new field of social science research called cliodynamics. He is the author of the book End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration,Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:45The Crisis - 3:05Elites - 11:54Popular Immiseration - 30:59Cliodynamics - 43:40Key LinksEnd Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration by Peter TurchinCliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural EvolutionLearn more about Peter TurchinDemocracy Paradox PodcastMartin Wolf on the Crisis of Democratic CapitalismFrancis Fukuyama Responds to Liberalism’s DiscontentsMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

Jun 6, 2023 • 51min
Isabel Kershner on Israel and its Divisions
It's very hard to understand what's happening today without looking at the roots of all these divisions and at the interests of the different communities and their long-held resentments against the establishment of the country.Isabel KershnerAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Isabel Kershner is a reporter at The New York Times and the author of a new book called The Land of Hope and Fear: Israel's Battle for Its Inner Soul.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:37Mizrahi and Askenazi - 5:31Immigration - 18:08Ultra-Orthodox - 28:12Netanyahu's Judiciary Proposal - 39:27Key LinksThe Land of Hope and Fear: Israel's Battle for Its Inner Soul by Isabel KershnerRead more from Isabel Kershner at The New York TimesFollow Isabel Kershner on Twitter @IKershnerDemocracy Paradox PodcastSteven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in IraqYascha Mounk on the Great Experiment of Diverse DemocraciesMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

May 30, 2023 • 47min
Cole Bunzel on Wahhābism
The Jihadis today root themselves theologically and ideologically in a particular movement that is exclusivist, that is militant, that is activist, and that is the movement known as Wahhābism.Cole BunzelAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Cole Bunzel is a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the editor of the blog Jihadica. He is the author of the book Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:33Relevance and Overview - 2:43Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab - 14:15Appeal to Adherents - 26:14Legacy - 36:16Key LinksWahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement by Cole BunzelRead the Jihadica BlogLearn more about Cole BunzelDemocracy Paradox PodcastMarsin Alshamary on Iraq’s Struggle for DemocracySteven Simon on American Foreign Policy in the Middle East including Iran and the Wars in IraqMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

May 23, 2023 • 49min
Daron Acemoglu on Technology and the Struggle for Shared Prosperity
If you have this model of AI, which is geniuses design machines and those machines or algorithms are going to scoop up all the data and they're going to make better decisions for you. That's fundamentally anti-democratic.Daron AcemogluAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Daron Acemoglu is the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. He is coauthor (with James A. Robinson) of The Narrow Corridor, Why Nations Fail, and The Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. His latest book (with Simon Johnson) is Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:33Technology and Progress - 2:06Productivity - 14:01Artificial Intelligence - 24:42Shared Prosperity - 34:31Key LinksPower and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon JohnsonWhy Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A. RobinsonLearn more about Daron AcemogluDemocracy Paradox PodcastJamie Susskind Explains How to Use Republican Ideals to Govern TechnologySamuel Woolley on Bots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital PropagandaMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

May 16, 2023 • 43min
Serhii Plokhy on the Russo-Ukrainian War
The fact that Ukraine can be a democracy.... presents a threat to the authoritarian regimes in Moscow and Minsk of the sort that NATO would never actually present.Serhii PlokhyAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Serhii Plokhy is a Professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and the Director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He’s written many books including The Gates of Europe, Nuclear Folly, and Atoms to Ashes. His most recent book is The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:37Ukrainian Political Identity - 2:39Background on the War - 18:31Causes of the War - 26:22Nuclear Power in a War - 36:06Key LinksThe Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History by Serhii PlokhyAtoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters by Serhii PlokhyLearn more about the Harvard Ukrainian Research InstituteDemocracy Paradox PodcastOlga Onuch and Henry Hale Describe the Zelensky EffectMichael McFaul and Robert Person on Putin, Russia, and the War in UkraineMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show

May 9, 2023 • 39min
Anne Applebaum on Autocracy, Inc
We are at a moment of very, very high risk and I'm not sure that people really know that or understand it, or if they do, if they care.Anne ApplebaumAccess Bonus Episodes on PatreonMake a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. Some of her books include Gulag: A History, Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine, and most recently Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. She recently gave the Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture titled "Autocracy, Inc."Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:42What is Autocracy, Inc - 3:47Democratic Response - 13:40Appeal of Authoritarianism - 26:51Thoughts on Poland - 32:26Key LinksWatch Anne Applebaum's Lecture "Autocracy, Inc""The Autocrats are Winning" in The Atlantic by Anne ApplebaumTwilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne ApplebaumDemocracy Paradox PodcastFrancis Fukuyama Responds to Liberalism’s DiscontentsLarry Diamond on Supporting Democracy in the World and at HomeMore Episodes from the PodcastMore InformationDemocracy GroupApes of the State created all MusicEmail the show at jkempf@democracyparadox.comFollow on Twitter @DemParadox, Facebook, Instagram @democracyparadoxpodcast100 Books on DemocracySupport the show