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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V Spehar of TikTok's Under the Desk News joins us to discuss how social media can strengthen democracy by creating space for community and encouraging offline civic engagement. -
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, one of America's leading experts on the far right, joins us this week to discuss what draws people to political extremism online and offline — and what we can do to combat it. -
Tammy Patrick from the National Association of Election Officials joins us for our first full episode of 2024 to unpack the challenges facing the thousands of election officials across the U.S. in 2024 and beyond. -
For the final episode of 2023, the Democracy Works team revisits some of its episodes from throughout the year and reflect on what's in store for democracy in 2024. -
Two Penn State researchers join us this week to discuss their recent findings on the connection between state-mandated civics tests and voter turnout. -
Democracy is sometimes described as "a system where political parties lose elections." That's true but doesn't capture the deeper feelings of grief and grievance associated with political loss. This episode dives into those emotions with Juliet Hooker of Brown University. -
Cas Mudde, one of the world's leading experts in the study of populism and far-right politics, joins us this week to discuss the tensions between populism and democracy, and why populism has increased around world in recent years. -
This week, we explore the shift of working class union voters from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. -
Penn State professors John Iceland and Eric Silver join us this week to discuss how the discrepancy between social order and social justice impedes political compromise and progress. -
We talk with technology expert Jennifer Pahlka about why government systems seem so bad — and how everyone can contribute to making them better.
