Democracy! The Podcast is Back for Season 2

<p class="ql-align-justify">Welcome back to <em>Democracy! The Podcas</em>t, brought to you by the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, direct from Washington, D.C., with funding and support from the United States Agency for International Development.</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Very soon, season two of <em>Democracy! The Podcast </em>will launch. It’s been almost a whole year since the end of season one, and in that time, democracy has taken a tumultuous turn in many nations.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">While we learned in season one that democracy is always a work in progress, some, like President Biden, warn that the threat to democracy has never before been so grave.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">“Over the last 30 years, the forces of autocracy have revived all across the globe.&nbsp; Its hallmarks are familiar ones: contempt for the rule of law, contempt for democratic freedom, contempt for the truth itself.”&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">In our time, we’ve witnessed rising autocracies and repressive governments cracking down in new, sophisticated, and, frankly, dangerous ways. They’ve been busy muzzling journalists, blasting disinformation, and of course, the world witnessed, in real-time, as war was waged on a sovereign nation in eastern Europe.</p><p class="ql-align-justify">“Today, Russia has strangled democracy; has sought to do so elsewhere, not only in its homeland.”</p><p class="ql-align-justify">But despite all of this, at the United States Agency for International Development, Administrator Samantha Power says there are places where democracy is gaining a fragile foothold:</p><p class="ql-align-justify">“We must cement progress in democratic bright spots that are out there right now, right now.”</p><p class="ql-align-justify">So, where are these so-called bright spots, and what can we learn from their triumphs over tyranny?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-justify">Join me, Adrienne Ross, for <em>Democracy! The Podcast,</em