1. The Future of Democracy

The Reith Lectures

BBC

Society & Culture, Science, Government, Technology

4.2 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2023

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This year's BBC Reith Lecturer is Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford University. He will deliver four lectures called “Our Democratic Future,” asking how we can build a politics that works for all of us with systems which are robust to the challenges of the twenty first century, from climate change to artificial intelligence.

In this first lecture, recorded at New Broadcasting House in London in front of an audience, Professor Ansell asks whether we are in a 'democratic recession', where longstanding democracies are at risk of breakdown and authoritarianism is resurgent. And he examines how resilient democracies are to the challenges of artificial intelligence, social media and if they can effectively address core challenges from climate change to inequality.

The Reith Lectures are presented by Anita Anand and produced by Jim Frank. The Editor is China Collins. Reith Co-ordinator is Brenda Brown. The series is mixed by Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Nicola Cocklin.
0:02.8	Young people have been making history for years, but we don't often hear about them.
0:06.6	My brand new series on BBC Sounds sets out to put this right.
0:10.6	In history's youngest heroes, I'll be revealing the fascinating stories of 12 young people
0:16.0	who've played a major role in history and who've helped shape our world.
0:19.8	Like Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela,
0:22.5	Louis Braille and Lady Jane Grey, history's youngest heroes with me, Nicola Cochlin. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:31.4	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Hi, I'm Ben Ansel and thank you for listening to my BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures on our
0:39.9	democratic future.
0:41.2	In this first lecture on the future of democracy, I'll be talking about how well our system
0:45.9	functions, what the threats to it are and what we can do to protect the liberal democracies
0:50.3	that we live in.
0:52.0	Welcome to the 2023 BBC Reith Lectures from Broadcasting House in London.
0:59.0	Financial improprieties, parties during lockdown, assaults, affairs, cash for influence, cash for honours,
1:06.2	cash for questions. Look at the opinion polls over the last 30 years and they say pretty much the same thing.
1:12.5	Something has been ripping in our relationship with our political class. And what about us?
1:19.0	Well, we seem more divided than ever, unable to come together following Brexit, events overseas,
1:26.1	driving wedges between us, polarisation and a culture war
1:29.6	that makes public debate a battle of who can shout the loudest. And add to that a feeling of them
1:36.3	and us, depending on where you live and how much you earn. And it's not just happening here.
1:42.9	In America, millions still believe their election was stolen.
1:46.9	Elsewhere, journalists find their organisations shut down, their colleagues thrown out or thrown in
	...

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