RevDem Podcast

Oliver Garner interviews Renáta Uitz, Co-Director of the CEU Democracy Institute and Co-Editor-in-Chief of RevDem, on the distinct but interconnected roles of the European Parliament and the Court of Justice in combatting the Rule of Law crisis.

In conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Simon Kuper – author of the new book Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK – discusses why Oxford University was so crucial to the formation of the current Tory elite; how this highly influential generational cohort of Tories may be placed into the long continuum of British history and what might make it rather distinct; and whic...

In conversation with RevDem editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Stefan Auer discusses his new book European Disunion. Democracy, Sovereignty, and the Politics of Emergency (Hurst&Company 2022). In a conversation, he points out to the EU hubris, discusses crises that hit the EU recently, puts into a broader context Russian invasion of Ukraine, and shares his scepticism on the future of Europe.

In a conversation with our editor Kasia Krzyżanowska, Kacper Pobłocki discusses his recent book Chamstwo and reflects on how Polish society was historically based on violence; elaborates on the historical sources of the name “Cham”; compares Polish predicament with other European states and discusses current state of the academia.

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Boyd van Dijk – author of the new monograph Preparing for War: The Making of the Geneva Conventions – discusses what makes the Geneva Conventions such defining documents when it comes to formulating rules for armed conflict; how he has managed to trace the making of these documents and come to challenge their previous interpretations; how key p...

In this discussion with Laetitia Strauch-Bonart, hosted by RevDem Editor Michał Matlak, they discuss Emmanuel Macron’s ideology, the differences between conservatives and populists, her thoughts on Brexit and Frexit, and more.

In conversation with Vera Šćepanović, Helen Thompson explains how concentrating on energy can reshape our understanding of contemporary history, political economy, and transnational finance; discusses how international relations are simultaneously shaped by zero-sum attitudes and tacit cooperation; asks what it means when representative democracies no longer rely on ‘citizen-creditors’; and reflec...

With the EU moving forward with the new Digital Services Act, in today’s episode of the RevDem Rule of Law podcast, our assistant editor Alexander Lazović sits down with Moritz Schramm to talk about the connections between digital constitutionalism, the Rule of Law, the role of court-like settlement bodies, and democratic participation in the digital sphere. Moritz is PhD researcher at the DFG Gra...

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Matthew Specter discusses key concepts and tropes in the language of realism; the comparisons across the Atlantic that have defined the realist tradition over the generations; the broad appeal of this manner of thinking despite its notable intellectual weaknesses; and the more normative elements of his critique.

In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Vilius Kubekas, Sarah Shortall discusses the history of the nouvelle théologie movement in France and brings into focus the political dimension of theology. The thinkers associated with this movement were theological innovators and developed a certain form of counter-politics that challenged both secular and neo-scholastic understandings of the rel...

In this extended conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó published in two parts, Gary Gerstle discusses key questions tackled in his new The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era . In Part II, Gerstle discusses opposed moral perspectives and their compatibility with the neoliberal political order; why the neoliberal order used the coercive power o...

In the newest episode of the RevDem Rule of Law podcast, assistant editor Gaurav Mukherjee talks to Nick Barber to discuss democratic backsliding in the UK, the role of courts in protecting democratic procedures, and the state of Parliamentary Sovereignty in the face of Brexit and COVID-19. Nick Barber is Professor of Constitutional Law and Theory at the University of Oxford, and a non-practicing...

In this conversation with RevDem guest contributor Máté Rigó, Iván Szelényi discusses his career as a sociologist in Hungary, Australia, and the United States through the theme of social inequality. The conversation addresses his works on leisure time and gender, urban housing under socialism as well as on the wealth of postsocialist oligarchs. Szelényi discusses the role of 1945 and 1989 on socia...

On 28 February, in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky officially applied for membership of the EU . On 18 April, it was confirmed that Ukraine had completed the membership questionnaire, with President Zelensky expressing his hopes that Ukraine could become a full candidate state ‘in weeks’.  This interview, conducted by Rule of Law section editor Oli...

In this extended conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó published in two parts, Gary Gerstle discusses key questions tackled in his new The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era . Part I covers Gerstle’s interpretation of the longue durée history of liberalism; his encompassing approach to the study of political orders; how the neoliberal order b...

Our editor Robert Nemeth talks to Marius Dragomir and Astrid Söderström, authors of a recent study on the state of state media globally, which covers 546 state media outlets in 151 countries in the world, and it found that government control has reached extremely high levels: nearly 80% of these state-administered media companies lack editorial independence.

In this conversation concerning the recently released volume “Crisis and Renewal in the History of European Political Thought,” co-editors Cesare Cuttica, László Kontler, and Clara Maier discuss how the history of political thought can help us reflect on crisis; how the key concept of crisis has triggered new ways of thinking about politics and new modes of conducting politics; how it is a deeply...

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Mark R. Beissinger introduces his unique global dataset and probabilistic structural approach to revolution; analyzes the prevalent form of revolution in our age he calls “urban civic”; dissects how the consequences of revolution have shifted over time; and reflects on how revolution may be changing again today. Mark R. Beissinger is Henry W. P...

“Reverting from illiberal regimes back to a state of the Rule of Law will be a long and difficult process. Probably the more instruments there are the better in order to advance along that path.” In March 2022, before the Hungarian elections, our editor Oliver Garner sat down with Professor Armin von Bogdandy, director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law in Heidelberg , Germany,...

In light of the recent solidifying of what could be named as ‘populist international’, we are opening a conversation on one of the first areas and people that were targeted: history and historians. Populist regimes and their supporters feed themselves on historical myths, distortions and subversion of the public debate on historical themes. The responsibility is both on those who participate in th...

In this conversation with RevDem editor Ferenc Laczó, Peter Osnos discusses his new edited volume George Soros: A Life in Full . Osnos introduces the concept of the volume, reflects on Soros’ remarkably complex character, addresses his path-breaking philanthropy and special commitment to education, and dissects his profound and fraught connection to Hungary and the post-Soviet world. Peter Osnos h...

Britain is probably the last country that comes to mind when one thinks of alliances of parties. But, in fact, there have been many examples of co-operation among parties both in the governmental, parliamentary and extra-parliamentary arenas. No academic work has analysed yet these various examples of cooperation in a comprehensive fashion. The first one will be Alan Wager’s book to be published b...

India, like many countries, faces democratic backsliding. In the newest episode of the RevDem Rule of Law podcast, assistant editor  Gaurav Mukherjee  talks to  Tarunabh Khaitan  (Head of Research at the  Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford , Professor of Public Law and Legal Theory at the Faculty of Law,  Fellow at Mansfield College , and&n...

Thanks to the Latin American experience political science realized the significance of the institutionalization of political parties and party systems. The actual forms and logic of cooperation among parties has received so far less attention, even though party alliances play a crucial role in a number of countries of the region. In this episode, Zsolt Enyedi and Jennifer McCoy examine party coope...

Simone Weil’s figure poses a challenge to each reader of hers. In this conversation, our editor Kasia Krzyżanowska speaks to prof. Robert Zarestky (professor at the University of Houston), about the heroine of his recently published biography: Simone Weil.