Sep 16, 2026 · 45 min · 9 segments
The irony of democratic backsliding is a lot of these things are pitched to people and understood by people as actually pro-democratic. Noam Lupu Support for democracy is rising across the Americas…
Noam LupuGuestJustin KempfHostWelcome to the Democracy Paradox podcast.
This is my daddy.
He is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Center for Global Democracy.
Recently, the Center for Global Democracy released new data from the America's Barometer.
Along with the findings, they published a report called Pulse of Democracy, produced in partnership with the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame.
It's conducted surveys since 2004 across 35 countries, so it's a rich source of information on how people feel, not just today, but also how opinions have changed over time.
What I like most about these surveys is it gives us a reality check about how people feel when they hear concepts like democracy and representation.
One of my concerns, though, about democracy and democracy scholarship in particular, is we've lost touch with ordinary citizens.
I worry that when we talk about democracy, it's really about what people who listen to this podcast want from democracy.
And so one of the concepts that's explored in this survey was developed by Abby Cordova.
But it makes me realize how much of the support for democracy is for something illiberal rather than liberal.
Now, my question for you while you listen to this episode is, what do you get wrong about public support? What is your blind spot about democracy? If you listen to Spotify, you can leave your thoughts as a comment on the episode.
You can also send me your ideas to jkemph at democracyparadox.com. There's a link to the complete transcript in the show notes.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
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Welcome to the Democracy Paradox podcast.
This is my daddy.
He is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Center for Global Democracy.
Recently, the Center for Global Democracy released new data from the America's Barometer.
Along with the findings, they published a report called Pulse of Democracy, produced in partnership with the Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame.
It's conducted surveys since 2004 across 35 countries, so it's a rich source of information on how people feel, not just today, but also how opinions have changed over time.
What I like most about these surveys is it gives us a reality check about how people feel when they hear concepts like democracy and representation.
One of my concerns, though, about democracy and democracy scholarship in particular, is we've lost touch with ordinary citizens.
I worry that when we talk about democracy, it's really about what people who listen to this podcast want from democracy.
And so one of the concepts that's explored in this survey was developed by Abby Cordova.
But it makes me realize how much of the support for democracy is for something illiberal rather than liberal.
Now, my question for you while you listen to this episode is, what do you get wrong about public support? What is your blind spot about democracy? If you listen to Spotify, you can leave your thoughts as a comment on the episode.
You can also send me your ideas to jkemph at democracyparadox.com. There's a link to the complete transcript in the show notes.
The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership with the Kellogg Institute of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
