Ep. 25: The Banality of CIA-Curated Definitions of ‘Democracy’
Added 2018-01-31 17:34:21 +0000 UTCFew words elicit such warm feelings as the term "Democracy." Wars are supposedly fought for it, foreign policies are built around it, protecting and advancing it is considered the United States' highest moral order.
Democracy's alleged opposite - broadly called "authoritarianism," "autocracy" or "tyranny” - is cast as the ultimate evil. The stifling, oppressive boot of the state that curtails liberties and must be fought at all costs. This is the world in which we operate and the one where the United States and its satellite media and NGO allies fight to preserve and defend democracy.
So how is "democracy" defined and how are those definitions used to justify American exceptionalism? Where do positive and negative rights come into play, and how do societal choices like illiteracy, poverty, and hunger factor into our notions of freedom?
On today's episode, we discuss the limits of democracy rankings, the oft-cited "Polity IV" metric devised by the CIA-funded Center for Systemic Peace, and more with guest George Ciccariello-Maher.
The Guest
George Ciccariello-Maher is a political theorist, professor and author of the books We Created Chávez, Building the Commune, and most recently, Decolonizing Dialectics. Follow him @ciccmaher.
Show Notes
Vox’s CIA-Backed ‘Democracy’ Standard Is OK With Slavery and Women Not Voting
Adam Johnson | May 16, 2016 | FAIR
Is There Something Wrong with Democracy?
Max Fisher and Amanda Taub | January 23, 2018 | The New York Times
Some Pundits Think the Solution to Right-Wing Populism Is Less Democracy
Adam Johnson | July 8, 2016 | FAIR
Which Way Out of the Venezuelan Crisis?
George Ciccariello-Maher | July 29, 2017 | Jacobin
WaPo’s One-Sided Cheerleading for Coup and Intervention in Venezuela
Adam Johnson | December 4, 2017 | FAIR
The US is Not a Democracy and Never Was
E. Douglas Kihn | November 23, 2013 | Truthout
Venezuela's Apocalypse: The Media at War
Belen Fernandez | June 1, 2016 | Al Jazeera
Various Democracy Indices:
Vox's Polity IV Obsession:
- The Animated Map That Explains the World (4/22/14)
- How the Fall of the Berlin Wall Changed the World, in One Chart (11/10/14)
- 26 Charts and Maps That Show the World Is Getting Much, Much Better (11/24/14)
- The World Is Getting Better All the Time, in 11 Maps and Charts (7/13/15)
- World Hunger Is at Its Lowest Point in at Least 25 Years. Thank Democracy (5/9/16)
- Proof that life is getting better for humanity, in 5 charts (12/23/16)
- 9 ways the world got a lot better in 2017 (1/7/18)
***
Episode transcript available here.
Comments
Gapminder uses Polity IV data too; (search democracy in <a href="https://www.gapminder.org/data/)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.gapminder.org/data/)</a> Looking at what their web thingy shows, i think it just plainly uses that data.
Jasper
2018-03-27 10:31:14 +0000 UTCTbh the Douglas Kihn truth-out article, i am not sure how much of a "just-so" story it is.. And this <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/16764-human-evolution-is-right-on-schedule" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/16764-human-evolution-is-right-on-schedule</a> for instance, seems rather simplistic. It seems more like narrative than a laying out of the facts, perhaps that has value in itself.
Jasper
2018-02-03 12:06:06 +0000 UTCI can't thank you enough for keeping up the good work.
Corey
2018-02-02 21:10:59 +0000 UTCHey guys, love the show. Could you perhaps in the future do a general overview of the history of PR and propaganda? That would be fascinating. I know that is broad, but Mark Ames over at Radio War Nerd did this great general episode about "disinformation" during the cold war. I'm thinking of something similiar, but covering how the public relations industry and the press have evolved together.
Hampus Bystrom
2018-02-02 20:51:09 +0000 UTC
