The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies

The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies

This week on Democracy Dialogues, co-hosts Rachel Beatty Riedl and Esam Boraey speak with Susan C. Stokes, Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy. Drawing from her book The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies (Princeton University Press, 2022), Stokes examines why elected leaders sometimes choose to erode the democratic institutions that brought them to power. She explores the structural, economic, and political incentives that drive these choices—and how citizens, parties, and institutions can push back. The conversation ranges across global cases—from Latin America and Eastern Europe to the United States—revealing the common “playbook” used by backsliding leaders and the conditions that make resistance possible. The episode also considers the difficult choices facing pro-democracy actors: Should they always follow the highest democratic standards, or sometimes play hardball to defend democracy itself? This is a crucial conversation for understanding why backsliding happens, how it can be resisted, and what practical lessons democratic leaders and citizens can draw as new elections approach in the U.S. and around the world. Books, Links, & Articles Susan C. Stokes, The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies (Princeton University Press, 2022) Chicago Center on Democracy – here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

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Caste and Race: Ambedkar and King with the Ambedkar King Study Circle

Caste and Race: Ambedkar and King with the Ambedkar King Study Circle

This episode features S. Karthikeyan and S. Subbulakshmi, the Convenor and Secretary of the Ambedkar King Study Circle, an anti-caste organization based in Silicon Valley. Our conversation began with ...

27 Huhti 56min

Assessing Global Democratic Health Amidst a Growing Shadow of Autocracy

Assessing Global Democratic Health Amidst a Growing Shadow of Autocracy

This week on Democracy Dialogues, host Maya Tudor speaks with two democracy experts at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Freedom House to understand the headlines from Freedom House’s 202...

27 Huhti 43min

The British General Election of 2024: A Conversation with Robert Ford and Paula Surridge

The British General Election of 2024: A Conversation with Robert Ford and Paula Surridge

Why and how did Labour win the 2024 election? In The British General Election of 2024 Robert Ford, a Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester, Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mar...

27 Huhti 47min

Oil and Militancy in Nigeria: A Conversation with Noo Saro-Wiwa

Oil and Militancy in Nigeria: A Conversation with Noo Saro-Wiwa

Noo Saro-Wiwa is an author and journalist. Born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and raised in England, she attended King's College London and Columbia University in New York.​ Her first book, Looking for ...

26 Huhti 0s

Nikki Luke, "Electric Life: Utility Regulation and the Fight for Energy Democracy" (MIT Press, 2026)

Nikki Luke, "Electric Life: Utility Regulation and the Fight for Energy Democracy" (MIT Press, 2026)

Electric Life: Utility Regulation and the Fight for Energy Democracy (MIT Press, 2026) by Dr. Nikki Luke traces the intertwined history of Atlanta’s racialized uneven development and growing electrici...

24 Huhti 50min

How Bolsonaro was Convicted: The Role of the Judiciary During and After Autocratization

How Bolsonaro was Convicted: The Role of the Judiciary During and After Autocratization

Former Brazilian president Bolsonaro was found to have attempted a coup after losing the 2022 presidential elections, and he was convicted to 27 years in prison. Such a conviction is unusual both for ...

24 Huhti 36min

Shameem Black, "Flexible India: Yoga's Cultural and Political Tensions" (Columbia UP, 2023)

Shameem Black, "Flexible India: Yoga's Cultural and Political Tensions" (Columbia UP, 2023)

Yoga has offered the Indian state unprecedented opportunities for global, media-savvy political performance. Under Modi, it has promoted yoga tourism and staged mass yoga sessions, and Indian official...

23 Huhti 46min

The Crisis of American Political Economy: On the New Conservative Policy Agenda with Chris Griswold

The Crisis of American Political Economy: On the New Conservative Policy Agenda with Chris Griswold

In this sixth episode of Season 5, I interview Mr. Chris Griswold. An alum of Wheaton College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he was formerly a senior advisor to then Senator Marco Rubio, and is c...

22 Huhti 0s

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