Building and sustaining a democracy is hard work. It’s not glamorous and often goes unnoticed in the daily news cycle. On the Democracy Works podcast, we talk to people who are out there making it happen and discuss why that work is so important. We aim to rise above partisan bickering and hot takes on the news to have informed, intelligent, and thought-provoking discussions about issues related to democracy.
The show features interviews with leading experts by Jenna Spinelle and commentary and opinion from hosts Michael Berkman and Christopher Beem from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State and Candis Watts Smith of Duke University. It's a collaborative project between The McCourtney Institute and WPSU.
Democracy Works won the Circle of Excellence Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in 2020 and the People's Choice Podcast Award in the Government and Organizations category in 2018.
For more information and additional episodes, visit democracyworkspodcast.com or subscribe to Democracy Works wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Balazs Trencsenyi, co-director of Invisible University for Ukraine, joins us to discuss the university's work to uphold education and democracy in Ukraine amid the country's ongoing war with Russia. -
Colleen Shogan, archivist of the United States, joins us for a conversation about democratizing access to national records and running a non-partisan organization in an increasingly polarized country -
Democracy Works host Michael Berkman talks with Christopher Claassen, a political scientist at the University of Glasgow, about how to measure support for democracy across countries and across generations. -
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate's senior legal correspondent, joins us to discuss how the Supreme Court has shaped — and could continue to shape the 2024 presidential election. -
Author and scholar Eddie Glaude Jr. joins us to discuss what happens when we let the heavy democratic lifting fall to just a few elected officials. -
Anthropologist Jason De León joins us to discuss his book "Soldiers and Kings," which tells the stories of smugglers who help migrants make the journey from central America to Mexico and the United States. -
Democracy Works is back from summer break with a deep dive on the National Popular Vote campaign, an effort to render the Electoral College obsolete when states pledge their electors to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. -
Michael Berkman, Chris Beem, and Candis Watts Smith reflect on recent events in democracy and what's to come this summer. -
Democracy Works host Michael Berkman, director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and professor of political science, talks with fellow Penn State political scientist Joe Wright about his new book, "The Origins of Elected Strongmen: How Personalist Parties Destroy Democracy from Within." -
At the end of April, South Africa marked the 30th anniversary of its first post-Apartheid election — the first in the country where everyone could vote. South African writer and scholar Antjie Krog join us for a look at the state of South African democracy today and how South Africa has served as a model for other countries in democratic transition.
