Is COVID-19 Hurting Global Democracy?

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2020

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Responses to the coronavirus pandemic may be posing a danger to democracies around the world—as fault lines in constitutional systems are exposed and some authoritarian leaders attempt to grab broad powers. Two experts on constitutional and international law — Professor Kim Lane Scheppele of Princeton University and Professor Deborah Pearlstein of Cardozo Law School — join host Jeffrey Rosen to explore the governmental challenges raised by COVID-19 in the United States and around the world. Scheppele – one of the foremost experts on Hungary – sheds light on the country’s dangerous recent slide into authoritarianism, made worse by a “draconian” emergency law passed under the guise of combatting coronavirus. And Pearlstein shares insights from her recent work on how the outbreak can impede elections and how Congress should begin preparing for election 2020. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome
0:07.5	to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.3	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress
0:16.2	to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:22.0	Over the past few weeks on We The People, we've explored how the coronavirus is affecting
0:27.5	the function of government, the exercise of constitutional rights, and more.
0:32.7	We've been focusing on the US, but today will broaden the discussion to discuss how the pandemic
0:37.4	is impacting the health of democracy around the world.
0:41.9	Have responses to the virus led to government overreach?
0:45.0	If so, what constitutional checks exist, if any?
0:49.2	We'll dive into these questions with two of America's leading experts in international and comparative
0:54.0	constitutional law. It's such an honor to have them back on We The People.
0:59.0	Kim Shepley is the Lawrence S Rockefeller Professor of Sociology
1:02.7	and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School
1:05.6	and University Center for Human Values at Princeton.
1:09.7	Since 2010, she's been documenting
1:11.7	the rise of autocratic legalism, first in Hungary and then in Poland,
1:16.0	and it's spread around the world.
1:18.1	Kim, it is wonderful to have you back on the show.
1:22.0	Lovely to be here, thanks.
1:23.8	And Deborah Perlstein is professor of constitutional and international law at Cardozo law and the
1:28.5	co-director of the Florsheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy. Her work on National Security and the separation of powers
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Constitution Center, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Constitution Center and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.