With Kevin Elliott I discuss how democracy could be designed for busy people based on his new book Democracy for Busy People. The question being how we can simplify democracy and reduce its demands, while simultaneously enhancing its democratic nature.
With Yanina Welp I discuss different ways of how direct democratic institutions have been applied in Latin American countries – both in fundamentally democratizing processes but also power grabbing incidents. In particular, we talk about the cases of Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela, based on Yanina’s extensive research and deep knowledge.
With Rodan Bury and Charly Pache I discuss their initiative to inaugurate a Citizens’ Chamber in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The idea of the Citizens’ Chamber is to complement the existing unicameral parliament with topic-specific citizens’ assemblies, for which members are selected by sortition. The goal of the Citizens’ Chamber is to enable citizens to directly participate in legislative processes.
Listen to the podcast trailer:
Watch the trailer of the Youtube Channel:
With Luai Allarakia I discuss Kuwait’s political system and institutions. He lays out the most important developments since its constitution was written in 1962. So in this conversation we really take the time to go into some detail of Kuwait’s institutions and I think it’s really worth it to talk about the specificities that are partly similar and partly different from a well-established democracy.
With Réal Lavergne I discuss the efforts of Fair Vote Canada to push for electoral reform. He shares the frustrations and problems that come with the first-past-the-post electoral system and how Fair Vote Canada tries to bring change to the balance of power.
Listen and Subscribe: