In this episode we talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the tensions between expertise and democratic decision-making during the pandemic and his advice for navigating apathy and misinformation during the next major public health crisis.

Germany has a history of being at the center of global debates about democracy. As Europe again finds itself dealing with democracy in crisis, this time with Russia's war against Ukraine, Minister Counselor Markus Teglas asks us to consider Europe again at a crossroads and what Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the rise of right wing populist movements across the continent means for global democracy.

It feels like free speech has become the number one issue confronting higher education today. Campuses are now hotbeds of discontent. Students are sitting in, protesting questionable speakers on campus. State elected officials are dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programming. So what is being done to address the campus free speech woes? Stephanie King, senior director of strategic initiatives for the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and Dannise Brown and Adonis Ortiz, members of the Madison Debate Society at James Madison University provide us with some answers to campus free speech issues.

March 6-10th is National Civics Education Week and on this episode of Democracy Matters, we're exploring youth civic education. We talk with Dr. Stacie Molnar-Main, research associate in civic education and deliberative pedagogy with the Kettering Foundation, and a school climate consultant for the Pennsylvania Department of Education about her research into elementary school's integrating deliberative democracy into the classrooms.

In this episode, Madison Center for Civic Engagement Democracy Fellow Leia Surovell interviews the new interim Executive Director, Dr. David Kirkpatrick and the new interim Associate Director Dr. Kara Dillard about their vision for the Madison Center and their views for what campus Centers for Civic Engagement should do for higher education.

In this episode of Democracy Matters, we speak with Dr. Laura Edwards, who is a legal historian and professor at Princeton University to discuss how she became involved in her research focused on the 19th century United States, her contributions to civic engagement, what a historian's role is in presenting issues, and her constitution lecture here on campus September 22.

What role can and should investors play in strengthening democracy? Ian Simmons, Co-Founder and Principal of Blue Haven Initiative, discusses impact investing, universal voting, foreign money in U.S. politics, the so-called wealth tax and more.

"Art can create the space, set the tone, to not even acknowledge power and to create a world for ourselves," says Aram Han Sifuentes, a fiber and social practice artist, writer, and educator who works to center immigrant and disenfranchised communities.

Daniel Beers, Colleen Moore, John Hulsey and Bernie Kaussler join us to provide historical and political context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian and geopolitical consequences.

Dr. Oren Baruch Stier, Director of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program and Professor of Religious Studies in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, joins us to discuss teaching and learning "difficult knowledge" and what the public history of the Holocaust and its memory can teach us about civic engagement and today's memorial landscape. "Public memory of the Holocaust and other difficult histories are a high-stakes competition over contested memories, says Dr. Stier, "Charlottesville reminds us that we can't disentangle 20th century racism."

As part of the 12th Annual African, African American and Diaspora Studies (AAAD) Interdisciplinary Conference in 2022, JMU Civic and Furious Flower hosted a discussion on what friends and advocates of Africa should understand about democratic trends on the continent and what they can do to support democracy.

"Afghanistan could have been a successful case of state building, but the failure of the U.S. and international community to implement accountability led to the downfall of the regime," says Dr. Samiullah Nuristani, former Head of Policy and Planning in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. "Most of the aid was lost to waste and fraud. There is a lack of political will to address corruption." Dr. Samiullah Nuristani (JMU Public Administration '09, JMU Master's of Public Administration, '11 and Strategic Leadership Studies, '20), who is a Research Associate in the JMU Mahatma Gandhi Center's Justice and Nonviolence Research Lab, shares his journey as a refugee, and his experiences and expertise on governance in Afghanistan. Dr. Nuristani also highlighted the importance of democratic legitimacy: "What gives legitimacy to any regime is the people's consent. We have to ensure that democracy is formed organically and not imposed externally or by domestic elites."

"If we start creating compassionate ways of understanding and connecting with one another, then we will have the permanent motivation to live up to our espoused and aspirational ideals as a democracy," says Dr. Gail Christopher, author of the new book RX Racial Healing. Dr. Christopher joins us to discuss how we can approach addressing the effects of racism and reimagine more just and equitable economies, societies and democracies.

"Social change cannot happen with a bulldozer. It takes moments of awareness building," says Christy Vines, President and CEO of Ideos institute. Vines joins us to discuss the importance of empathy and empathetic leadership ahead of the National Day of Dialogue on January 5, 2022.

As part of our 9/11 at 20 series, we talk with MAJ (R) Shawn Pardee, who deployed twice to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. On what we can do to strengthen our democracy, Shawn says, "I think it's by educating yourself and getting out there and voting and taking your stance because ultimately it's us who choose the people to represent us. It's up to us to pick the best person to do that."

"We don't have a choice," says David J. Toscano about the critical need to bring policymakers and people together to solve pressing public problems and especially on divisive issues - from criminal legal system reform and policing to immigration. In his new book, Fighting Political Gridlock: How States Shape Our Nation And Our Lives, Mr. Toscano argues that addressing the challenges to democracy must start at the state and local level.

More sub-Saharan Africans live under fully or partially authoritarian states today than at most points in the last two decades. In its 2021 report, Freedom House rated only eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa as free. Of these eight, half are small island states. The number of African countries that Freedom House rated "not free" grew from a low of 14 in 2006 and 2008 to 20 in 2021. Among sub-Saharan countries considered "partially free," increasingly populist governments are suppressing opposition groups, postponing elections, eliminating term limits, and abusing human rights to maintain power. In this episode, Tamara White, a research and project assistant in the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, joins us to discuss the state of democracy in Africa.

What has contributed to the rise of political engagement among young adults? Drs. Laurie Rice and Kenneth Moffett, Professors of Political Science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, join us to discuss their new book, The Political Voices of GenZ.

As the COP26 summit convenes in Glasgow to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, JMU scholars share solutions that will have the greatest impact.

In this episode, we talk with Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, JMU Health Sciences '05, about his experiences fighting for democracy on January 6, 2021. "These people were minutes, seconds, feet away from hanging the Vice President. Just sit with that," says Officer Dunn. He is speaking out for justice and accountability because, "People are trying to rewrite history right in front of us...Terrorism is what they did that day. In my mind, they're coming back. We have to hold them accountable."