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

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What Stories Are Written in The Rock Beneath Us? With Dr Anjana Khatwa

What Stories Are Written in The Rock Beneath Us? With Dr Anjana Khatwa

How does the Earth remember its own history? In this episode, Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock speaks to award-winning Earth Scientist Dr Anjana Khatwa about the deep stories hidden within our landsc...

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Debate: Sanctions Don’t Work as a Tool of Foreign Policy

Debate: Sanctions Don’t Work as a Tool of Foreign Policy

In partnership with GlobalSanctions.com, the world’s leading online resource for up to the minute information on sanctions and export controls worldwide. Sanctions have become one of the most widely ...

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How does a nation’s language shape its identity? Hannah Kent on her year in Iceland

How does a nation’s language shape its identity? Hannah Kent on her year in Iceland

When Australian writer Hannah Kent first travelled to Iceland at the age of 17, she had never seen snow before, and didn’t speak a word of Icelandic. Living in a remote part of Iceland during the dark...

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How To Lose Your Country, with Ece Temelkuran (Part Two)

How To Lose Your Country, with Ece Temelkuran (Part Two)

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How To Lose Your Country, with Ece Temelkuran (Part One)

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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...

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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...

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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

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