One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Democracy is Not Always the Best Form of Government

One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Democracy is Not Always the Best Form of Government

Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. So said Winston Churchill and who would disagree? One man, one vote, the rule of law, equality and a free press. These are the principles which tens of thousands have been imprisoned or lost their lives for in despotic regimes from South America to Burma. In recent months a violent struggle for democratic rights has been taking place on the EU’s doorstep in Ukraine. Scores of people have been killed in demonstrations against Viktor Yanukovych, now ousted as President. Elections are set for May but tensions are mounting between western governments and President Putin over the Crimea and the eastern parts of the country. But is the assumption that democracy always leads to a freer and more tolerant society correct? Many would argue that it can lead to quite illiberal outcomes especially where there is profound ethnic division. What if democracy were installed in Syria? It’s not hard to imagine what would happen to the... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(1506)

Why Are We So Addicted to Everything? With Nicklas Brendborg

Why Are We So Addicted to Everything? With Nicklas Brendborg

Are we living in a world designed to hijack our brains? In this episode, Dr Emma Yhnell speaks to international best-selling author Nicklas Brendborg about how supernormal stimuli have become the nor...

12 Nov 202547min

Sotheby’s Talks | The Leonard A. Lauder Collection: Klimt and the Art of Connoisseurship

Sotheby’s Talks | The Leonard A. Lauder Collection: Klimt and the Art of Connoisseurship

On today’s episode, an episode from our friends at Sotheby's exploring the remarkable collection of Leonard A. Lauder, one of the greatest collectors and benefactors of the arts in America. At its cen...

10 Nov 202544min

Is This the Twilight of American Supremacy? Simon Jenkins on Why the World Needs the USA

Is This the Twilight of American Supremacy? Simon Jenkins on Why the World Needs the USA

The United States of America is younger than the British Museum and Guinness - in 2026 it celebrates its 250th birthday. How did this vast melting pot of people and ideas come to dominate global polit...

9 Nov 202534min

Olivia Laing on Passion and Heartbreak in the Golden Age of New Italian Cinema

Olivia Laing on Passion and Heartbreak in the Golden Age of New Italian Cinema

Olivia Laing is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They are the author of eight books, including The Lonely City, Everybody and the Sunday Times bestseller The Garden Against Time. Laing’...

7 Nov 202529min

Salman Rushdie on Mortality, Memory and The Eleventh Hour

Salman Rushdie on Mortality, Memory and The Eleventh Hour

Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s most acclaimed, award-winning contemporary authors.  Translated into over forty languages, his sixteen works of fiction include Midnight’s Children – for which he...

5 Nov 202542min

What was the Iranian Revolution really about? With Scott Anderson

What was the Iranian Revolution really about? With Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson is a veteran foreign reporter and war correspondent, and a contributing writer for The New York Times. Over his career he has reported from Bosnia, Libya, Palestine and across the Middl...

3 Nov 202533min

The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Jeremy Hunt (Part Two)

The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Jeremy Hunt (Part Two)

We’ve heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards g...

2 Nov 202536min

The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Jeremy Hunt (Part One)

The Intelligence Squared Economic Outlook with Jeremy Hunt (Part One)

We’ve heard enough from the pessimists. Yes, these are hard times, but what investors, business owners and all of us need right now is not more despair about the economy, but a clear roadmap towards g...

31 Okt 202536min

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