How to Dismantle a Democracy

Analysis

BBC

Government, Politics, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Democracies do not die in military coups. They are dismantled slowly, by libel laws, through tax audits, and procedure. Democracies are dismantled by bureaucrats and judges, not by soldiers and heavy-handed policing. It has always been thus, from ancient Rome to present-day Tunisia. The program outlines the tricks of the trade that imperceptibly kill democracies – and how examples in Mexico, Turkey, India and Poland illustrate that the autocratic playbook is nearly always the same. With Anne Applebaum, historian and staff writer at The Atlantic, Amy Slipowitz, research manager at Freedom House, Greta Rios, co-executive director, People Power, David Runciman, professor of politics at the University of Cambridge, Professor Larry Diamond, Stanford University, Jennifer Gandhi, professor of political science and global affairs, Yale University, Renata Uitz, professor of law and government at Royal Holloway, The University of London.

Presenter: Matt Qvortrup Producer: Bob Howard Editor: Clare Fordham

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.6	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.4	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable
0:14.3	experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC
0:20.4	makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	BBC Sounds.
0:38.0	BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.
0:41.0	Thank you for downloading this podcast for the BBC.
0:44.0	I'm Professor Matt Kortrup, and in this edition of analysis we look at the new
0:48.9	playbook for gradually undermining democracies. 2024 should be a landmark year for democracy.
0:58.0	Around 4 billion people are due to vote in elections in 64 countries from the UK to India, from the US to
1:06.2	Mexico. That's more than half the population of the planet. Never before in human history have so many people voted. But how many of these
1:15.9	elections are really free and fair? People will vote and the votes may be counted
1:21.8	but it's not democracy.
1:24.0	Ann Applebaum is an historian and a staff writer at the Atlantic.
1:28.0	I think you need to start by asking what do we mean by democracy.
1:32.0	It depends how those elections are run.
1:34.0	It depends what the context of the elections is.
1:38.0	Democracy isn't just about elections.
1:40.0	It's about a whole system of rules, even a system of habits and norms, how the judicial system works.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -360 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.