This week on Eastern Standard: Episode 30 of our series, “Democracy Optimist,” hosted by University of Kentucky election law and voting rights research professor Joshua Douglas.
Part I
Our democratic institutions face intense strain. Structural features of the Constitution—such as the Electoral College, the Senate’s equal representation of the states, and the powers of the Supreme Court—have produced a system that can feel distant from majority rule. At the same time, the country confronts extreme political polarization, persistent racial inequality, and declining civic engagement. Free speech, both on campus and in public discourse, is also under pressure, shaping the debates we have about politics and society. All of this raises a fundamental question: Is the Constitution equipped to sustain American democracy in the twenty-first century? Our guest has thought deeply about these questions. Erwin Chemerinsky, cited by National Jurist magazine Dean Chemerinsky as the most influential person in legal education in the United States, is the Dean of Berkeley Law School in California. He’s also the author of No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States and Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times.
Part II
No wonder we have such a hard time talking about the biggest issues of the day without it devolving into partisan bickering. Many Americans feel more isolated in their political views than ever before. We assume the worst about “the other side.” We unfriend people we disagree with. We curate our media diets. And too often, when political conversations do happen, they quickly devolve into defensiveness, caricature, and partisan bickering. But democracy depends on citizens talking to one another—listening, questioning, and ultimately persuading. Democracy requires productive political conversations.
Here to teach us how to have better conversations across the political divide is Monica Guzman. She’s a self-described bridge builder, a journalist, and the author of the best-selling book, “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.”
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