Efficient Secrets

In this, the last episode of our first season, we’ll look at one final issue which bears on the question of backsliding – how democratic constitutions deal with the secret state. Even in democratic states some aspects of state activity are difficult or impossible to make fully transparent and accountable to the public. This is because some actions must necessarily be covert in order to be effective – from the operation of intelligence services to military operations and sensitive weapons systems . Governments may need to be able to protect certain information about this from public release, temporarily or - even more problematically - indefinitely. Can such restrictions ever be justified from the perspective of democratic states, and if so, where does necessary information security cross the line into secret states which exist beyond democracy?Guest: Prof. Harold Hongju Koh

An important aspect of backsliding is understanding how individuals with corrupt motives gain and then abuse their power to undermine democracy. So, in this special episode, recorded at a seminar earlier this year, I spoke to Brian Klaas – author of the new book Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us. Brian’s book draws on over 500 interviews with people from presidents and philanthropists to rebels, cultists, and dictators to answer the question of whether power corrupts, or are corrupt people simply drawn to power.Co-hosted with Dr Lauren Burgeno.

The United Kingdom is one of the worlds longest standing democracies, with an even longer tradition of constitutional government and the rule of law. However, in recent years increasing questions have been raised about whether British democracy is in decline.  In the second of two episodes on this topic, we explore decreasing public trust in politics, the weakening of the party system, and increasing threats to the territorial integrity of the state. To what extent is UK backsliding related to these trends? We discuss with experts in British and comparative politics.Guests: Jane Green, Ben Jackson, Ben Ansell

The United Kingdom is one of the worlds longest standing democracies, with an even longer tradition of constitutional government and the rule of law. However, in recent years increasing questions have been raised about whether British democracy is in decline. In the first of two episodes on this topic, we look at issues around the rule of law in the UK; from issues causes by the removal of the supranational framework of the EU, to attacks on Parliament and proposed reforms to judicial review and the Human Rights Act. Is the UK weaking its democracy?

One of the key roles of constitutional law is to provide a strong underpinning for human rights protections. But what role do human rights play in building robust democratic institutions? Are human rights an aspect of democratic politics, or a precursor? And what happens to human rights protections when democratic backsliding begins to occur? This episode looks at these questions with expert practitioners and theorists in constitutional and human rights law.With Kate O’Regan, Nick Barber and Richard Ekins.