In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Sithembile Mbete and Professor Lawrence Hamilton to shine a light on South Africa’s political landscape following the 2024 elections. While the ANC achieved political freedom thirty years ago, it failed to secure economic justice for the majority. We discuss why many in the Born Free generation view Mandela’s compromises as a betrayal and explore a critical take on the 1996 constitution.

We also dive into the 2024 elections, the ANC’s declining popularity, and the rise of offshoot parties. How does political instability, alongside the challenges of inequality, corruption, and gender representation, shape South Africa’s future? Join us to find out more. 

Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Kaya Genç, a scholar, writer and journalist and the Istanbul correspondent for the Los Angeles Review of Books. His latest book, The Lion and the Nightingale: A Journey Through Modern Turkey, weaves a narrative of the current political climate in Turkey after the terror events and failed coup in 2016 through the personal stories of regular Turkish people. The “lion” represents Turkey’s past, its militant strength and power; while the “nightingale” conjures a song, representing Turkey’s rich cultural history of art, literature and romance. In this episode, Dr. Genç talks about populism and the rise of Erdogan, the similarities between militant secularism and Islamic extremism, and the resurgence of the once-dormant Turkish left.

Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Rob Goodman, an assistant professor of politics at the Toronto Metropolitan University. An award-winning author and former political speechwriter, his most recent book is Not Here: Why American Democracy is Eroding, and How Canada Can Protect Itself. In this episode, they discuss how founding myths between Canada and the United States have shaped the moral character of their respective governments and if Canada can avoid the rise of right-wing populism we've witnessed in the United States. 

Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Dan Slater, the James Orin Murfin professor of political science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he directs the Center for Emerging Democracies. Dan has written a series of essays and books on major issues in Southeast Asia, the latest of which is a book with Joseph Wong called From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia. On March 20, Prabowo Subianto was officially declared the next president of Indonesia. In today’s episode, Dan illuminates that election and Prabowo’s victory by discussing topics such as political power-sharing among elites, the enduring popularity of former president Jokowi, and what Indonesian politics can teach the world about non-Western democracies.

Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Maria Popova, an associate professor of political science at McGill University, where she holds the Jean Monnet Chair. Dr. Popova is a widely noted scholar of corruption, autocracy and populism in post-communist Europe, and recently released her book Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States which she co-authored with Oxana Shevel. As Ukraine enters its third year of the war with Russia, Maria joins us to discuss Russia and Ukraine's divergent paths after the fall of the Soviet Union, the two countries’ conflicting memories of the Holodomor, and Russia’s motivations in Ukraine that extend beyond NATO’s encroachment.

Host Sanjay Ruparelia interviews Olle Tornquist, professor emeritus of political science and development research at the University of Oslo. Professor Tornquist’s research focuses on the rise and decline of second and third-wave democracy in Scandinavia as well as the Global South. This episode explores the power of participatory socialism in democratization, the challenges of applying the Scandinavian model elsewhere in the world, and the limitations of NATO in thwarting far-right authoritarianism.

Host Sanjay Ruparelia talks with Marcela Ríos Tobar, a visiting scholar at the Latin American Center at the University of Oxford, and the former Minister of Justice and Human Rights in Chile. Their discussion coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Chilean coup, an event that continues to haunt the country’s democratic institutions. In this episode, Dr. Ríos Tobar discusses the external forces that made the establishment of socialism before 1973 so difficult, as well as the lingering effects of the Pinochet dictatorship on Chilean politics.

On The Frontlines of Democracy is back! Join us this season as we unravel the complexities, celebrate the achievements, and navigate the dangers faced by democracies across the globe. Make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss an episode!

Sanjay Ruparelia is joined by Kristen Hopewell, the Canada Research Chair in Global Policy at the University of British Columbia, to discuss the current conflicts in international trade. In this episode, Hopewell explains the stalemates in the World Trade Organization, particularly the escalating conflict between China and the U.S. in trade negotiations. Although China is still considered a developing country, its rising economic status has halted the U.S.’s uncontested dominance.

Sanjay Ruparelia is joined by Joseph Wong, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto and the Roz and Ralph Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs. Professor Wong discusses why it’s better for authoritarian regimes to transition to democracies when they’re strong, rather than when they are weak. Although it may seem counterintuitive, Wong argues that autocratic governments have an incentive to transition to democracies when they’re most powerful, rather than when they’re on the brink of collapse.

Pranab Bardhan, an Indian economist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, joins host Sanjay Ruparelia to talk about the global shift toward electing right-wing regimes. They also tackle themes pertaining to the growing social and political divide around the world. Pranab Bardhan argues that the driving force of polarization is cultural insecurity. With policy solutions like universal basic income and stronger labour unions, he believes the rise of right-wing extremism can be tamed.

Yascha Mounk, political scientist and associate professor of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, sits down with Sanjay Ruparelia to discuss the challenges facing diverse democracies. In this episode, Mounk explains why being overly optimistic about ethnically and religiously diverse democracies might explain our disappointment when challenges arise. Instead, Mounk acknowledges that building a diverse society is difficult, but with the right policies in place, it’s far from impossible.

Debra Thompson, a McGill professor and political scholar on the comparative politics of race, joins host Sanjay Ruparelia for a conversation on racism and democracy in Canada and the U.S. In this episode, Thompson discusses the way racist policies and systems of oppression operate differently in the two countries, resulting in a complicated relationship between Black citizens and their national identity.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early ‘90s, political scientist Francis Fukuyama argued that humankind had reached its ideological end as more countries embraced liberal democracy. Today, this theory has come under greater scrutiny, and people across the political spectrum are dissatisfied with this system. In this episode of On the Frontlines of Democracy, Francis Fukuyama and Sanjay Ruparelia discuss the pitfalls of liberalism, and whether or not its merits outweigh its shortcomings.

This is On The Frontlines of Democracy, a podcast about the challenges facing democracies around the world.