On the Frontlines of Democracy Sanjay Ruparelia

Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Dan Slater, the James Orin Murfin professor of political science at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he directs the Center for Emerging Democracies. Dan has written a series of essays and books on major issues in Southeast Asia, the latest of which is a book with Joseph Wong called From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia. On March 20, Prabowo Subianto was officially declared the next president of Indonesia. In today’s episode, Dan illuminates that election and Prabowo’s victory by discussing topics such as political power-sharing among elites, the enduring popularity of former president Jokowi, and what Indonesian politics can teach the world about non-Western democracies.
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Show Notes: 
Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University
 Guest: Dan Slater, James Orin Murfin, Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 
Further Reading:
 From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia by Dan Slater and Joseph Wong
 Indonesia’s High-Stakes Handover by Dan Slater, Journal of Democracy 
 What Indonesian Democracy Can Teach the World by Dan Slater, Journal of Democracy

Who Are the Elites that Control Indonesian Politics? By Robertus Robet
 
Episode transcript is available here. 

Host Sanjay Ruparelia sat down with Maria Popova, an associate professor of political science at McGill University, where she holds the Jean Monnet Chair. Dr. Popova is a widely noted scholar of corruption, autocracy and populism in post-communist Europe, and recently released her book Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States which she co-authored with Oxana Shevel. As Ukraine enters its third year of the war with Russia, Maria joins us to discuss Russia and Ukraine's divergent paths after the fall of the Soviet Union, the two countries’ conflicting memories of the Holodomor, and Russia’s motivations in Ukraine that extend beyond NATO’s encroachment. 

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Show Notes:
 Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University
Guest: Maria Popova, Jean Monnet Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University
Further Reading:
Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States by Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel
Ukraine in Histories and Stories: Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals by Volodomyr Yermolenko (editor)
Red Famine by Anne Applebaum
Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 by Stephen Kotkin

Host Sanjay Ruparelia interviews Olle Tornquist, professor emeritus of political science and development research at the University of Oslo. Professor Tornquist’s research focuses on the rise and decline of second and third-wave democracy in Scandinavia as well as the Global South. This episode explores the power of participatory socialism in democratization, the challenges of applying the Scandinavian model elsewhere in the world, and the limitations of NATO in thwarting far-right authoritarianism.
 
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Show Notes:
Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.
 
Guest: Olle Tornquist is a professor emeritus of Political Science and Development Research at the University of Oslo. Professor Tornquist’s latest book is called In Search of New Social Democracy: Insights from the South, Implications for the North.



Further Reading:
 
Comparative Notes on Indian Experiences of Social Democracy: Kerala and West Bengal by John Harriss and Olle Tornquist
 
Deepening Democracy: Institutional Innovations in Empowered Participatory Governments by Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wright

Capital and Ideology by Thomas Picketty
 
 

Host Sanjay Ruparelia talks with Marcela Ríos Tobar, a visiting scholar at the Latin American Center at the University of Oxford, and the former Minister of Justice and Human Rights in Chile. Their discussion coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Chilean coup, an event that continues to haunt the country’s democratic institutions. In this episode, Dr. Ríos Tobar discusses the external forces that made the establishment of socialism before 1973 so difficult, as well as the lingering effects of the Pinochet dictatorship on Chilean politics. Fifty years later, despite its violent means, memory of the military coup remains polarized. While democratic gains have been made, a persistent, energized far right means there are two visions of Chile’s past– and its future.
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Show Notes: 
Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Guest: Marcela Ríos Tobar, visiting scholar at the Latin American Center at the University of Oxford, former Minister of Justice and Human Rights in Chile.
 
Further Reading:
Feminist Agendas and Democracy in Latin America by Jane S. Jaquette (editor), Marcela Ríos Tobar (contributor)
 
Transcript: 
On The Frontlines of Democracy - Season 2 - Ep1 - Marcela Rios Tobar

On The Frontlines of Democracy is back! Join us this season as we unravel the complexities, celebrate the achievements, and navigate the dangers faced by democracies across the globe. Make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss an episode! 

Sanjay Ruparelia is joined by Kristen Hopewell, the Canada Research Chair in Global Policy at the University of British Columbia, to discuss the current conflicts in international trade. In this episode, Hopewell explains the stalemates in the World Trade Organization, particularly the escalating conflict between China and the U.S. in trade negotiations. Although China is still considered a developing country, its rising economic status has halted the U.S.’s uncontested dominance. 
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Show Notes:  
Host Sanjay Ruparelia sits down with Kristen Hopewell, the Canada Research Chair in Global Policy at the University of British Columbia. In this episode, Kristen Hopewell discusses the conflicts happening inside the World Trade Organization. As emerging economies, such as China and India, have more bargaining power in trade negotiations, industrialized nations like the U.S. and Canada are seeing their international influence dwindle. 
Host: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair and Associate Professor of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Guest: Kristen Hopewell, Canada Research Chair in Global Policy in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues, and Co-Director of the Centre for Chinese Research.
Background Reading: 
Kristen Hopewell’s Clash of Powers: US-China Rivalry in Global Trade Governance
Kristen Hopewell’s Breaking the WTO: How Emerging Powers Disrupted the Neoliberal Project
Kristen Hopewell’s Emerging Powers, Leadership, and South–South Solidarity: The Battle Over Special and Differential Treatment at the WTO