Podcast tile for Modern Democracy with Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky on Here's Where It Gets Interesting

Interviews

Modern Democracy with Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky

Modern Democracy with Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky

American democracy is going through a rough patch, and the Constitution, for all its brilliance, has some flaws that limit the power of majorities. So why haven’t we made any real reforms in over 50 years? And what are other democracies doing to fight authoritarianism? Sharon sits down with Harvard government professors, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, to discuss their book, Tyranny of the Minority. They explore how past democracies have failed, and find the striking pattern that political minorities often wield power over political majorities.

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  • Host: Sharon McMahon
  • Supervising Producer: Melanie Buck Parks
  • Executive Producer: Sharon McMahon
  • Audio Producer: Craig Thompson

Guests

Guests

Steven Levitsky

Steven Levitsky is a Professor of Government at Harvard University. Levitsky’s research focuses on Latin America and the developing world. He is the author of Competitive Authoritarianism and is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. Levitsky has written for Vox and The New York Times, among other publications.

Daniel Ziblatt

Daniel Ziblatt is Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) at Harvard University. Ziblatt specializes in the study of European politics, democracy, state-building and historical political economy.

He is the author of four books, including How Democracies Die (Crown Publishing Group, 2018), co-authored with Steve Levitsky, a New York Times best-seller and described by The Economist magazine as "the most important book of the Trump era."

His most recent book, co-authored with Steve Levitsky, is entitled Tyranny of the Minority (Crown Publishing Group, 2023). It puts America's contemporary transition into a multiracial democracy in comparative and historical perspective, and shows the distinctive vulnerabilities of the U.S. constitutional order.