Democracy, Declining Exceptionalism, and What We Can Learn from the Global South

About this episode

The episode discusses the decline of American exceptionalism and democracy with insights from Dr. Bernd Reiter.

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, a new AP-NORC poll reveals a nation wrestling with its identity, its democratic institutions, and its place in the world. Only about 25% of Americans now believe the United States stands above all other countries, while nearly 30% say there are better countries elsewhere—a significant increase from 19% in 2016. Meanwhile, confidence in democracy as a defining feature of American identity has declined, with only about two-thirds of Americans viewing a democratically elected government as highly important to the nation's identity, down from 80% in 2021. Younger Americans are especially skeptical, with 44% of adults under 30 believing other countries are better than the United States. (AP News) In this episode of Let's Have This Conversation, we welcome Dr. Bernd Reiter, Professor of Comparative Politics and Latin American Studies at Texas Tech University and an internationally recognized expert on democracy, race, decolonization, and social change. With a career that began in activism across Germany, Colombia, and Brazil, Bernd brings a truly global perspective to some of the most pressing challenges facing…

People in this episode

Host: Kevin McShan

Guest: Dr. Bernd Reiter

Topics covered

• democracy
• American identity
• global perspective
• declining exceptionalism
• social change
• political skepticism

Keywords

• democracy
• American exceptionalism
• global South
• political identity
• social change
• youth skepticism
• AP-NORC poll

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Texas Tech University, AP-NORC, AP News

Books & works: Status: Honor and White Privilege in Brazil and Beyond, The African Origins of Democracy

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