Experts discuss the extraordinary tool of accountability voting can be. But for a long time in America, that right was only available to a select group of people—and this was by design. The ability to vote was and is one…
President George Washington famously warned against forming political parties, cautioning the nation in his farewell speech as he left office. He predicted that they would sew divisions within America that foreign enemies could manipulate or take advantage of. Today, experts…
On the two year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, Yale historian Joanne Freeman reflects on the enduring legacy left behind by the attack on the Capitol, and what it means for our democracy now: "What the lying did, what…
Why do some Americans feel the U.S. political system isn't working for them? Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Dr. Archon Fung joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss how to restore faith in our electoral system, what questions the media should ask…
India, Brazil, Poland, Hungary, Hong Kong, and other states throughout the world have in recent years seen an erosion of democracy as populist leaders take control of countries, both through elections or sometimes through violent coups. “You've seen countries that…
Experts discuss how the American Revolution united the states against the common enemy of the British monarchy, versus how Abraham Lincoln’s election and the Civil War brought our democracy and the nation to its brink. “They [the South] didn't claim…
The U.S. wasn’t the first democracy, nor is it the first nation to have issues with it. Struggles are inherent to the democratic process, experts explain, and America is at a critical turning point. “Very few countries have had stable…
Experts discuss one of American democracy’s biggest vulnerabilities: race relations. This isn’t solely a contemporary tension within our democracy; it’s been present since the founding of the country, then a young nation deeply invested in the slave trade. Racial divisions…
Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) Discusses January 6, 2021 with Margaret Hoover, host of PBS' "Firing Line with Margaret Hoover." He explains that in the days before the deadly riot at the United States Capitol, he was getting death threats and…
The January 6 Capitol Riots revealed that democracy is more fragile than many realized. Historian Joanne Freeman and journalist Jelani Cobb discuss the ongoing conflicts American democracy faces in the aftermath of those riots.