Democracy Paradox
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.
Laura Gamboa Explains How to Break an Autocrat’s Coalition
People don't get points for fighting for their country. The reward you get is your country.
Laura Gamboa
Laura Gamboa is an Associate Professor of Democracy and Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame and a faculty fellow at the Kellogg Institute. She is the author of Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies Against the Erosion of Democracy and most recently, “How to Break an Autocrat’s Coalition” in the Journal of Democracy.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notr...
Francis Fukuyama Reflects on the End of History and His Legacy
I'm not sure that that understanding of American exceptionalism is that powerful and that the United States may be a much more ordinary kind of democracy than I used to think.
Francis Fukuyama
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), a faculty member of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. He's the author of a dozen books including The End of History and the Last Man, The Origins of...
Michael McFaul Says Powerful Autocracies as a Lasting Threat
We don’t need to export ideas about freedom and democracy because those ideas are already really popular around the world.
Michael McFaul
Why do some powerful countries become adversaries while others remain enduring allies? Michael McFaul joins Justin Kempf on Democracy Paradox to discuss his book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. Drawing on his experience as a democracy scholar and former US ambassador to Russia, McFaul explores how political systems and individual leaders shape the exercise of power. Their conversation examines China’s and Russia’s differ...
Ian Shapiro Says the Left's "Preemptive Capitulation" to Neoliberalism Paved the Way for Populism
If we want people to support democratic capitalism, it has to be a kind of democratic capitalism that delivers for most people, and we haven't had that.
Ian Shapiro
What went wrong after the Cold War – and what can democracies learn from the opportunities they missed? Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University and author of After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke Our World, joins Democracy Paradox to examine how political choices helped shape today’s populist back...
Noam Lupu Says Support for Democracy Is Growing in the Americas, But Not Necessarily Liberal Democracy
The irony of democratic backsliding is a lot of these things are pitched to people and understood by people as actually pro-democratic.
Noam Lupu
Support for democracy is rising across the Americas after more than a decade of decline, but what kind of democracy do citizens actually want? Noam Lupu, director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy and LAPOP Lab, joins Justin Kempf to discuss findings from the latest AmericasBarometer and Pulse of Democracy. They explore why better economic and security conditions may be strengthening democratic support, even as distrust of po...
Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis Fear Autocracies Are Hijacking the International Order
There was an assumption that influence could only run one direction... but influence could run the other direction as well.
Alexander Cooley
Authoritarian governments are exercising growing influence not only within their own borders but across the institutions, markets, and organizations that shape global life. Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis, authors of Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics, join Justin Kempf to examine how authoritarian states have learned to reshape the liberal international order for illiberal ends. They discuss cooperation among autocracies, the growing economic power behind authoritarian influence, pressure on corporations...
Suzanne Mettler Says the Rural-Urban Divide Threatens American Democracy
We barely disagree with each other, but we can't stand one another's party.
Suzanne Mettler
Suzanne Mettler is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University. She is the coauthor of Four Threats with Robert Lieberman and Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide that Threatens Democracy coauthored with Trevor Brown.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
Read the full transcript here.
Key Highlights
Introduction - 0:20From...Rachel Beatty Riedl Says Economic Inequality Is Fueling Democratic Backsliding
I'm by nature optimistic, but am extremely worried because of the structural moment we live in.
Rachel Beatty Riedl
Political scientist Rachel Beatty Riedl joins host Justin Kempf to examine how extreme economic inequality and the growing power of transnational elites have contributed to democratic backsliding. Drawing on experiences from Africa and other third-wave democracies, Riedl explains how concentrated wealth can weaken states, distort political competition, and prevent citizens’ preferences from being represented equally in government.
Rachel Beatty Riedl is a Professor in the Brooks School of Public Policy and in th...
Kim Lane Scheppele on Hungary's Narrow Path Back to Democracy
You can only get to the point of restoring democratic institutions if you win the last election with such a huge majority that you really have the public with you as you make radical change.
Kim Lane Scheppele
Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Some of her articles include “Autocratic Legalism”, “The Rule of Law and the Frankenstate: Why Government Checklists Do Not Work”, “How Viktor Orbán Wins," and m...
Jeffrey Kopstein Explains Why Polarization Turns Violent
The question is not whether polarization is dangerous, but the conditions under which it becomes violent.
Jeffrey Kopstein
Jeffrey Kopstein joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss when polarization turns violent. Drawing on his Journal of Democracy essay “When Polarization Turns Violent” and his book with Stephen Hanson, The Assault on the State, Kopstein explains why affective polarization, struggles over belonging, and the weakening or politicization of state authority can create the conditions for organized political violence. The conversation ranges from Charlottesville to lynching in the American South, pogroms in Eastern Europe, communal violence in India, and...
Pepper Culpepper Says Good Populism Can Save Democracy
We think the next ten years are going to be anti-billionaire.
Pepper Culpepper
Pepper Culpepper joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss when populism can strengthen democracy. Drawing on his Journal of Democracy article “When Populism Can Be Good” and his book with Taeku Lee, Billionaire Backlash, Culpepper argues that corporate scandals can channel public anger toward billionaires and large corporations in ways that reinforce democratic accountability. The conversation explores good and bad populism, economic unfairness, AI, regulation, and whether democratic governments can still stand up to concentrated corporate power.
The Democracy Paradox is made...
Dan Slater Says Authoritarian Ideologies Still Matter
We think of World War II as this global democratizing event, but what it really did was strengthen left-wing authoritarianism.
Dan Slater
Dan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center of Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan. He is the coauthor (with Joseph Wong) of the book From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia. More recently, he authored the article "The Authoritarian Origins of the Third Wave" in the Journal of Democracy.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the K...
Guillermo Trejo on Accountability, Impunity, and the Fate of New Democracies
What happens when the violent state forged under autocracy survives into democracy?
Guillermo Trejo
In this episode of The Democracy Paradox, Kellogg faculty fellow Guillermo Trejo discusses his new book, Accountability Shock, coauthored with Lucía Tiscornia and Juan Albarracín. Trejo explains how authoritarian security forces can survive democratic transitions and fuel organized crime, and why truth commissions, prosecutions, and institutional reforms are essential tools for preventing violence and building more durable democracies.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Af...
Kenneth Roberts Says the Left Pays a Steep Price for Breaking with Democracy
The left pays a very steep price when they break with democratic norms and procedures.
Kenneth Roberts
Kenneth Roberts is the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell University. He is the coauthor (with Santiago Anria) of Polarization and Democracy in Latin America: Legacies of the Left Turn.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
Read the full transcript here.
Key Highlights
Introduction - 0:20The Origins of the L...Sheri Berman Says the Democratic Recession Was Not a Surprise
If democracy wants to regain the upper hand, it has to not only do a better job than the other guys, but in fact, a good job.
Sheri Berman
This episode features a conversation with political scientist Sheri Berman on why today’s global "democratic recession" was actually predictable. Drawing from her deep historical research, Berman argues that every democratic wave eventually faces an "undertow," especially when the social and economic foundations of stability begin to fail. From the cautionary lessons of Weimar Germany to the modern rise of partisan "bubbles," this episode explores what we...
Christopher Walker Revisits Sharp Power
Sharp power seeks to exploit the openness of free societies because their institutions are open.
Christopher Walker
Christopher Walker, a leading expert on authoritarian influence, returns to the origins of the concept of "sharp power," a term he helped develop to distinguish coercive and manipulative forms of influence from Joseph Nye’s idea of soft power. While soft power relies on attraction and persuasion, Walker explains that sharp power instead works by penetrating democratic institutions, restricting debate, and shaping narratives in ways that undermine openness. The conversation situates this concept within a broader shift in gl...
Hugo Drochon Says Elites Are Inevitable
I don't think populism is necessarily a challenge to democracy. I think it's part and parcel of it.
Hugo Drochon
Hugo Drochon joins The Democracy Paradox to explore why elites are an unavoidable part of democracy – and why that may not be a bad thing. Drawing on classical elite theory, he explains how democratic systems depend on the constant circulation of competing elites and why outsider movements, including populism, can play a vital role in keeping democracy responsive. The conversation challenges conventional views by reframing democracy as an ongoing, dynamic struggle rather than a fixed se...
Milan Svolik Asks: Do Voters Really Support Democracy?
We are badly mismeasuring whether and how much people care about democracy.
Milan Svolik
In this episode of the Democracy Paradox, host Justin Kempf speaks with political scientist Milan Svolik, the Elizabeth S. & A. Varick Stout Professor of Political Science at Yale University and author of The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Their conversation explores one of the central puzzles in contemporary democracy: why citizens who say they strongly support democracy sometimes vote for politicians who undermine it. Drawing on Svolik’s experimental research, the discussion examines how traditional survey questions often overestimate democratic co...
Minxin Pei Warns China Has Descended into Totalitarianism
The paradox of dictatorship is that dictatorships do well when they do not have a genuine dictator.
Minxin Pei
In this episode of Democracy Paradox, Justin Kempf speaks with China scholar Minxin Pei about his book The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism and his argument that China under Xi Jinping has shifted from authoritarianism back toward totalitarianism. They explore the missed opportunities for political reform in the 1980s, the party’s post-Tiananmen survival strategy, and how Xi consolidated power through purges, ideological revival, and expanded social control. The conversation also reflects on...
Erica Frantz says Personalist Parties are Democracy's Latest Threat
Traditional programmatic parties serve as a critical guardrail for democracy.
Erica Frantz
In this episode, Justin Kempf speaks with Erica Frantz about her book The Origins of Elected Strongmen and the rise of personalist leaders in democracies. Frantz explains how leader-dominated political parties – more than populist rhetoric alone – can erode democratic institutions from within, drawing on cases from El Salvador to France. The conversation explores why voters support such leaders and what this trend means for the future of democracy worldwide.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Instit...
Javier Pérez Sandoval Reveals Democracy’s Hidden Vulnerability: The Hollowing of the State
By dismantling certain capacities today, you're making the democratic choices of tomorrow harder.
Javier Pérez Sandoval
In this episode, Javier Pérez Sandoval discusses his Journal of Democracy essay, coauthored with Andrés Mejía Acosta, on why populist leaders often “hollow out” the state. Moving beyond familiar debates about executive aggrandizement and democratic backsliding, Pérez Sandoval argues that democracy depends on the state’s capacity to deliver essential public goods – from health and education to security, justice, and credible elections. Drawing on examples from Mexico and Argentina, he explains how both left- an...
Kate Baldwin Explains Why Christianity Fights for Democracy in Africa
The group of people who have an interest in defending liberal democracy might be broader than many academics, and maybe even liberals, would have shown.
Kate Baldwin
This episode features Yale political scientist Kate Baldwin in a conversation about her book Faith in Democracy, which challenges the assumption that religion is inherently hostile to democratic governance. Drawing on research from sub-Saharan Africa, Baldwin explains how Christian churches have often emerged as defenders of liberal democracy – not because of ideological commitments, but because democratic institutions protect church autonomy and social service work from state overreach. The co...
Natalie Wenzell Letsa Describes the Autocratic Voter
You can take a cognitive bias so far down the road that you can live in an objectively very clear dictatorship and sit there and say, 'I live in a democracy.'
Natalie Wenzell Letsa
In this episode of The Democracy Paradox, host Justin Kempf speaks with political scientist Natalie Wenzell Letsa about why some voters genuinely support ruling parties in electoral autocracies. Drawing on her book The Autocratic Voter and fieldwork in Cameroon, Letsa explains how partisan identities form under dictatorship and what these dynamics reveal about democracy, polarization, and political behavior more broadly.<...
Russell Muirhead Warns Ungoverning Threatens Democracy
The heart of ungoverning is going after expertise - eradicating expertise - and replacing it with the power of the great ruler.
Russ Muirhead
Russell Muirhead is the Robert Clements Professor of Democracy and Politics and the co-director of the Political Economy Project at Dartmouth University. He's also the co-author, with Nancy Rosenblum, of Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos.
Patrick McQuestion joins to help introduce the episode. Patrick is a PhD student in his fourth year at the University of Notre Dame studying political science and pe...
Luis Schiumerini on Incumbency Bias
Decreasing incumbent capacity and affective polarization are making incumbency salient, but also more of a curse than a blessing.
Luis Schiumerini
In this episode of The Democracy Paradox, host Justin Kempf speaks with Notre Dame political scientist Luis Schiumerini about his new book Incumbency Bias: Why Political Office is a Blessing and a Curse in Latin America. Schiumerini challenges common assumptions about incumbents, demonstrating that holding office can create systematic advantages – or disadvantages – depending on the institutional context. Before the conversation begins, Kellogg Doctoral Student Affiliate Tomás Gianibelli joins Kempf to sh...
Adam Przeworski Asks Who Decides What is Democratic
The biggest disappointment is that democracies do not reduce social and economic inequality.
Adam Przeworski
In this episode, host Justin Kempf talks with political scientist Adam Przeworski about what truly defines democracy today. Przeworski explains why he sees no global democratic crisis, defends a minimalist view centered on free and fair elections, and reflects on why democracies struggle to reduce inequality. He also discusses why citizens sometimes tolerate democratic erosion and how modern autocracies maintain support, offering a clear and concise perspective on democracy’s strengths and limits. Alejandro González Ruiz, cohost of...
Killian Clarke Warns Counterrevolution is a Threat to Nascent Democracies
For democratic revolutions to survive counterrevolution, they have to make certain choices that can undermine the quality of their democracy.
Killian Clarke
Political scientist Killian Clarke joins The Democracy Paradox to discuss his new book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed. He explains why democratic revolutions are especially vulnerable to reversal, how elites and citizens can align in counterrevolutionary movements, and what these dynamics reveal about democracy’s fragility and endurance today. Amanda Waterhouse, a postdoctoral democracy researcher at the Kellogg Institute also joins to help introduce the episode.
...Amel Ahmed Says the Regime Question Has Returned
The regime question at its core is about how we should govern ourselves... This is an enduring question that is essential to democratic politics.
Amel Ahmed
This episode begins with host Justin Kempf and Javier Pérez Sandoval setting the stage for a deep dive into the “regime question,” highlighting its significance in democratic theory and contemporary politics. Their introductory discussion explores foundational divides in political systems and frames the questions that will be pursued, particularly the tensions between institutional arrangements and party cleavages. The heart of the episode follows as Kempf...
Tom Carothers Says We Misunderstand Democratic Backsliding
After an introductory conversation with Kellogg Faculty Fellow Marc Jacob, Democracy Paradox host Justin Kempf explores the dynamics of global democracy with renowned expert Thomas Carothers. Carothers, the director of the Carnegie Endowment's Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, shares his deep knowledge and firsthand experiences in democracy promotion, focusing on the importance of coalition-building, inclusive leadership, and long-term commitment in sustaining democratic movements. Drawing from case studies in Latin America, particularly Chile and Brazil, he provides thoughtful reflections on the challenges and successes of political activism. This conversation offers insights for scholars, policymakers...
Javier Corrales on Intentional Polarization
Javier Corrales, professor of political science at Amherst College, discusses his recent research on democratic backsliding and intentional polarization. The discussion explores how leaders employ extremist policies and ideological rhetoric to consolidate executive power, drawing comparisons between Venezuela, the United States, and other global contexts. An introductory conversation with Kellogg Visiting Fellow Henry Moncrieff offers a nuanced look at opposition strategies and the complex factors shaping democratic resilience and decline.
Read the transcript here.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global A...
Susan Stokes on Democratic Backsliders
In this episode, Justin interviews Susan Stokes, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy. They discuss her new book The Backsliders, which explains how economic inequality and political polarization create conditions that allow leaders to undermine democratic institutions. She explores the roles of populism, voter behavior, and institutional erosion in democratic backsliding worldwide.
Read the transcript here.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute at the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of...
The Last Episode. Elizabeth Saunders on How Democracies Wage War and Make Peace
We've often compared democratic national security and autocratic security making in terms of autocratic elites and democratic voters. My argument is not that all democracies are the same, but I do think we ought to be thinking about autocratic elites and democratic elites and voters.
Elizabeth Saunders
Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Proudly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Learn more at https://carnegieendowment.org
A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.
Elizabeth Saunders...
When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad
I think we've seen democracies can be unstable. Autocracies are even more unstable.
David Moss
Made in partnership with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
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Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Proudly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Learn more at https://carnegieendowment.org
A...
When Democracy Breaks: Scott Mainwaring on Argentina
March 24th, 1976 is the coup and it unleashes wild celebrations in establishment Argentina and almost no opposition.... Of course, this unleashed the most ruthless dictatorship in Argentina's history and in recent South American history as well.
Scott Mainwaring
Made in partnership with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
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When Democracy Breaks: 1930s Japan with Louise Young
There's a fog of democratic breakdown where really you cannot see the actual impact of your choices or your actions until after the fact.
Louise Young
Made in partnership with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
Get your copy of When Democracy Breaks or read it open access.
Access Episodes Ad-Free on Patreon
Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.
Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Proudly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for...
When Democracy Breaks: Ancient Athens with Josiah Ober and Federica Carugati
What strikes me about that period is that democracy was not inevitable.
Federica Carugati
Made in partnership with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
Get your copy of When Democracy Breaks or read it open access.
Access Episodes Ad-Free on Patreon
Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.
Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Proudly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Learn more at https://carnegieendowment.org
A full...
Alexander Keyssar on Why We Still Have the Electoral College
I think that if you got rid of the Electoral College, in the short run, there would be losers. But it hasn't always been the same group and it hasn't always been the same party.
Alexander Keyssar
Made in partnership with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
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Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Proudly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Learn more at https://carnegieendowment.org
...
Robert Kagan on the Threat of Antiliberalism
You actually have to fight in every generation, if you want to preserve liberalism. It's not just going to preserve itself. It's not just the end of history. It isn't just the final resting place of humanity - not by any stretch of the imagination. It's a continual struggle.
Robert Kagan
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Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
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Rep Mikie Sherrill on Whether the Bipartisan Consensus on Foreign Policy Will Hold and on Threats to American Democracy
People in Congress are leaders in their communities and people in some parts of this country are, in my opinion, being led astray.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill
This episode was made in partnership with the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy
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Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Proudly sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Learn more at https://carnegieendowment.org
...
Saskia Brechenmacher on Promoting Gender Equality Through Democracy Assistance Aid
What does it mean to empower women politically in a context in which the dominant party is engaged in democratic backsliding or other forms of illiberal and exclusionary politics? Would you still want more women to be part of that party?
Saskia Brechenmacher
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Make a one-time Donation to Democracy Paradox.
Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu
Made in partnership with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Learn more at https://carnegieendowment.org
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