Diverse Democracies with Yascha Mounk

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.

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Show Notes: Yascha Mounk  

Host Sanjay Ruparelia talks to writer and political scientist Yascha Mounk about why diverse democracies fail in this episode of On the Frontlines of Democracy. Yascha Mounk explains his approach to building sustainable democracies—one where both individual rights are protected and cultural patriotism is celebrated. Although diverse societies struggle with political polarization and group divide, with the right attitudes and policies in place, Mounk is hopeful. 

Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Guest: Yascha Mounk, associate professor of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and contributing writer at The Atlantic. 

Background Reading: 

Yascha Mounk’s The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart And How They Can Endure 

Yascha Mounk’s Persuasion

Yascha Mounk’s The Good Fight 

Jonathan Haidt’s The Groupish Gene

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson’s The Narrow Corridor