Peaceful Political Revolution in America

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America PodcastThe Anthropocene will be a doozy from what I'm hearing. Even if new technologies and new systems replace the ones currently falling apart, it will be a bumpy ride. It looks as if severe climate-related events will be occurring much more frequently. Monthly events could turn into weekly events, until eventually, those might even become daily events somewhere in the world.Megatrends appear to be rather obvious at first glance. Autocracies are on the rise. Democracies are being tested. There is a genuine contest of political systems being played out on the global stage, Freedom is being contested. Is it even necessary? So how much better than being at the mercy of a tyrant or a mere autocrat? Maybe not, at least that's how it all appears to be going.Russia remains a shining example of what can go wrong in a constitutional democracy. After all, reforms were once a thing in Russia, political lines were actually shifting for a brief moment in time. But then Putin rose to power, with imperialist ambitions, and a desire for supreme power and wealth. Corruption is not foreign to the former USSR. It runs rampant, and the concentration of wealth in Russia today is as bad if not worse as in the US.Inequality remains a serious problem in the world, regardless of the political system. For the vast majority of human beings, daily life is a struggle, while a small if not tiny fraction of society remains engorged on the fat of excess of wealth and power, mobility, and security.Alexander joined the Department of International Relations at Central European University in 2022. He previously taught at the European University Institute at Florence (2013-2022), the University of Cambridge (2004-2013), and the European University at St Petersburg (1999-2004). His current interests are the political aspects of the Anthropocene, global decarbonization, and security in Eastern Europe. A Fellow of King's College Cambridge, Etkind was the Leader of Memory at War: Cultural Dynamics in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine, a European research project (2010-13). He is the author of Eros of the Impossible. The History of Psychoanalysis in Russia (Westview Press 1996); Internal Colonization: Russia's Imperial Experience (Polity Press 2011); Warped Mourning: Stories of the Undead in the Land of the Unburied (Stanford University Press 2013); Roads not Taken. An Intellectual Biography of William C. Bullitt. (Pittsburgh University Press 2017); and Nature's Evil: A Cultural History of Natural Resources (Polity Press 2021). Alexander coedited Remembering Katyn (Polity 2012), Memory and Theory in Eastern Europe (Palgrave 2013), and Cultural Forms of Protest in Russia (Routledge 2017). His new book, Russia Against Modernity, was released by Polity in April 2023.

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast.In America, "We The People" are the constituent power, "the actor which always remains outside the government" as Seyes defined it. Or, as James Wilson put it, the people are simply "above" their Constitutions of government. The framers were well aware the people were watching. They were very clear the legitimacy of the government came from the consent of the governed. That is what made our framers revolutionaries, and why our Constitution is so remarkable. But, how do the people, if ever necessary,  improve or replace their constitutions of government? It is true the peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of any democracy, however, even more significant is the peacefultransition from one political system to another. All the framers understood this would be necessary, sooner or later. After all, this was the revolutionary example they were leaving to posterity. It is a lesson we should not take for granted. As Americans, we should all take great pride in and be humbled by this achievement. Without the peaceful exercise of the right to establish, abolish, or simply improve our form of government, there is little left of our democracy.As Sergio Verdugo points out however, many kinds of political actors may have a motivation for co-opting this power and for using it to their own advantage. Nevertheless, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and according to Christian Fritz, the author of American Sovereigns, most Americans in the 18th century believed this power was the people's power, theirs alone to invoke. So, how and why could it be taken from them, even used against them?This question remains one of the most critical questions of our time, as more and more scholars and "political actors" begin to assert that our Constitution is broken, and should be changed if not entirely replaced. How that is done matters. People like Mark Levin and Donald Trump think we should be afraid of our government. “Stand back and stand by,” for now, but what happens tomorrow? They believe the deep state is the enemy, not the Constitution. They project a dystopian vision of our society, as do many liberals on the other fringe, and the control for power is far from over. If Americans think their political system has run amock, why are they not calling for a peaceful transition to a new and improved democracy? After all, this is what the framers did,  and it is how our democracy was intended to work.The question of legitimacy is the first and last question we must answer. Who has the power to alter and replace our basic law, and how does that power organize to express itself so that Americans might agree to establish a new constitution and replace our broken political system with one that works?In his recent op-ed in the NYTimes, Samuel Moyn and Ryan  Doerfler argue that our Constitution should not be reclaimed and that we should also reclaim America from what is referred to as constitutionalism. These ideas and these terms are not all that familiar to most Americans, yet they are the sort of ideas and words that may empower America to become a full and effective democracy.Samuel Moyn is Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University. He received a doctorate in modern European history from the University of California-Berkeley in 2000, and a law degree from Harvard University in 2001. He came to Yale from Harvard University, where he was Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law and Professor of History. Before this, he spent thirteen years in the Columbia University history department, where he was most recently James Bryce Professor of European Legal History.

In season one, I spoke with Arend Lijphart about democratic political systems. He had a number of recommendations on how Americans could improve our democracy if they really wanted to do. The question as always remains, how would Americans do that? I also spoke with George Van Cleve on his book, Making a New American Constitution. He had a pretty simple idea. Americans would form a national convention coordinating committee, for the purpose of raising funds for the endeavor, establishing the rules for the election of delegates, and perhaps setting guidelines for the convention itself. Ultimately, it would set a date for seating a convention to deliberate over a new constitution for the United States.As Madison so aptly put it back in 1787, "AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency* of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America.“ Those were weighty words then, but there was a palpable need to reform the political system. So, I thought we should talk a little bit more about Constituent Powers.Sergio Verdugo is an Assistant Professor of Law at the IE Law School, where he teaches Constitutional Law and Human Rights Law. He is also an editor of the International Journal of Constitutional Law and the Secretary General of the International Society of Public Law. Dr. Verdugo holds a doctorate in Law from the New York University School of Law and a Master's Degree in Law from the University of California, Berkeley. He also holds a Master in Public Law from P. Universidad Católica de Chile, and I am very happy to have him here to talk about his recent papers on Constituent Powers and the uncertain future of Constitutional Democracy.*The original might have been" inefficacy" tho I might be mistaken. 

In the last episode, I talked with Juliano Benvindo about the similarities between the January 6th Capitol Insurrection and the more recent attack on all three branches of government in Brasilia. It turns out that Brazil has the greatest level of inequality in Latin America. Inequality in North America has also reached historic highs. It was bad enough that America had imported over 300,000 slaves from Africa. Brazil imported over 5 million. Inequality remains a serious problem for the 2 most populis Democracies in the Western Hemisphere, and that should alarm us all, especially when America is thought to be the leader of the free world. We might not think inequality is such a dangerous threat to our democracy when it is normalized by public policies, and an economic system based on profit, which is then reinforced by corporate donors and advertisers promoting a pretty lavish and carefree lifestyle. But, is it leading to the collapse of democracies around the world? Do Americans believe in equality anymore? I wanted to talk to someone who might give us a little insight into the history of inequality.  Frances Chiu completed her doctorate in English Literature at Oxford University and currently teaches literature and history at The New School in New York City. She is the author of The Routledge Guidebook to Paine's Rights of Man (2020) and has written extensively for Occupy.com. She taught the first class in America devoted to Thomas Paine and his contemporaries, and she is currently completing her book on The History of English Inequality.I am happy to say that she is also the first woman to be on the podcast, and I am fully aware that's long overdue!

Events in America like the 2021 United States Capitol Insurrection are not unique to America. Brazil also suffered from a similar crisis on Jan 8, 2023. The attack there, on all three branches of government in Brasilia, was largely the result of the former president's insistence the election had been rigged. His supporters believed him, and although he lost by almost 2 million votes, the crowds turned out to overturn the election, in much the same way Trump supporters did on Jan 6, 2021.I thought we should have a look at what's going on in Brazil and take a deeper dive into Brazil's constitution for a sense of what is driving the rise of populism in Brazil. The United States and Brazil enjoy broad political and economic relations. Brazil is the second most populus democracy in the Western Hemisphere, and the world's twelfth-largest economy. The United States is Brazil's second-largest trading partner, second only to China.It may surprise some of you to find out both the United States and Brazil are considered “flawed democracies," but there are differences. Whereas the promise of democracy in America is considered to be our birthright, Brazil has had to overcome a monarchy, as well as a dictatorship established by a military coup, which was supported by the United States and then president John F. Kennedy. That dictatorship lasted 21 years, until Feb 1, 1987 when a popular constituent assembly composed of elected representatives of the several political parties in Brazil, drafted a new democratic constitution, which was then formally ratified in 1988.  Juliano Zaiden Benvindo is Professor of Constitutional Law and Head of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Brasília. He is also a fellow at the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Capes-Humboldt Senior Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. His books include: On the Limits of Constitutional Adjudication; The Rule of Law in Brazil, The Legal Construction of Inequality; and, Constitutional Change and Transformation in Latin America, co-authored by Richard Albertand Carlos Bernal.

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in American Podcast.In Season 1 Episode 2  last year, I spoke with Professor Emeritus of Democracy & Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Harvey J. Kaye. He is an award-winning author and editor of 18 books on history and politics -including Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again and FDR on Democracy.  In S1 E2, we talked about his book Thomas Paine and the Promise of America. He's a really gifted speaker and a real pleasure to talk to.  At that time, Harvey suggested he come back for another conversation, this time about FDR's Economic Bill of Rights.  I'm really happy to say that that conversation has finally arrived. In addition, we will be joined by his friend, activist, and Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America, Alan Minsky. Alan is a lifelong activist, who has worked as a progressive journalist for the past two decades. He was the Program Director at KPFK in Los Angeles from 2009-2018. He also has coordinated Pacifica Radio's national coverage of elections. Before that, Alan was one of the founders of LA Indymedia. He is the creator and producer of the political podcasts for The Nation and Jacobin Magazine, as well as a contributor to Commondreams and Truthdig.Alan's activism began in college with union solidarity work and opposition to US involvement in Central America. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Alan was active in the counter-globalization and media democracy movements. In 2011, he began organizing for Occupy Wall Street in the months leading up to the occupation of Zuccotti Park. Alan began working with PDA in 2014.This country has seen its share of opulence and struggle. But what about its share of democracy? We live in an era, not unlike the Gilded Age, which flourished from 1877 to 1900. The Gilded Age was marked by extreme concentrations of wealth and the rise of powerful industrial titans known as the Robber Barons; men like Jay Gould, JP Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie. Corruption, unprecedented immigration, and the concentration of wealth by the 1% were just a few of the things that characterized that period of American history. This explosion of economic prosperity for a few arose only 12 years after the Civil War, which raged between 1861 and 1865, and only a few months after Reconstruction which lasted until 1877. The Age of the Robber Barons or the "Gilded Age" was followed by a very different set of challenges, including events like WWI, which began in 1914 and ended in 1918. Along come the roaring twenties, then there was the Great Crash of 1929, and the Great Depression which lasted until 1939. In addition to all these hardships, Americans had to confront the Great Dust Bowl, from 1930 until 1936, caused by shortsighted federal land policies, changes in regional weather, and new mechanized farming techniques which led to the erosion of vital topsoil.FDR won the election to the New York State Senate in 1910 as a democrat and quickly became associated with the progressives of the party.  He was elected governor of New York in 1928 and again in 1930. He was first elected President in 1932. He was re-elected President in 1936, 1940, and once again in 1944. He died in office during his historic 4th term in office and is largely credited with bringing the United States out of the worst economic disaster America had ever faced, as well as a devastating World War.Harvey, Alan, it's an honor to be able to share your insights into FDR and as importantly, your proposal for a new Economic Bill of Rights. There's a lot to get into, but first, how are you doing?

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast. I couldn't go any further without a discussion about Thomas Paine's Rights of Man. Not because it was historically significant, although it certainly was. But, because it lays the foundation for our nation and our identity as Americans, it is perhaps more relevant today than it was in 1792.I began this season with a discussion about American Sovereigns for a purpose. We need to begin to think of ourselves as the rightful and legal owners of our government. Fritz was pretty clear, this is our uniquely American heritage, a power that deserves all of our respect and comprehension. I followed this with a conversation about the elites, the ones who according to Robert Ovetz and a few others, created a political system to serve the oligarchy. The sovereigns and the elites have been here right from the beginning. We need to distinguish between those two groups in America and we need to understand the very different roles they play and how they are enabled.Today, we the sovereigns play a minor role in decision-making for our nation compared to most modern democracies. We have limited ways of getting our message out. We have limited choices. On the other hand, the elites have all kinds of ways to express their concerns and to advocate for their interests. They write the historical narrative. They create and sell the consensus reality you and I live in. If they wanted to normalize climate-related disasters or mass shootings, they could. They are making plans for our future as well, and none of them have been elected to do so. We see this play out in numerous ways every day. We the Sovereigns, on the other hand, remain divided. We live in a manufactured reality because human beings are creative and industrious, it seems we the sovereigns have no other choice. But whose reality is it? Do we have the political and economic systems we need to create the reality we want?  Thomas Paine's message may be more relevant today than it ever was and to explain why, I've asked Gary Berton, president of the TPNHA to come back for a closer look, this time, at Thomas Paine and his seminal book, Rights of Man.OUTRO So, are human beings fundamentally rational enough to know how to govern ourselves? The elites were capable of creating a government that would serve them, but what about the rest of us? Are we rational enough, informed enough, and committed enough, to create a political system that protects our mutual interests?At its core, the political question of the day isn't who will be running for president, it's who will be calling the shots? Will it be the tiny minority of global elites or will it be the vast majority of human beings on the planet? As Gary says, that will require a movement of movements. Where ever constitutions of government fail to protect and promote the interests of the majority of citizens, more work will always be necessary. America is no exception to this fundamentally Painsian maxim. We're all going to have to be much more aware of the deficiencies within our political systems if we are ever going to rid ourselves of them.Beam in next time for a look at how we might improve our political systems of government and the kind of rights Paine had in mind for all Americans when I talk again with Harvey J. Kaye on his book, FDR on Democracy, the Four Freedoms and FDR's Economic Bill of Rights.Until then, stay safe out there.

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast.Bernie loves to point his finger at the elites, but who are they and where do they come from? It seems as if Bernie believes they possess a lot more influence than the rest of us.  But, what does our preamble mean if not that we the ordinary people in America are the ultimate source of power and law in America? So then, who were the elites? How did they differ from the mass of Americans in 1776 and later in 1787, even today? What about revolutionaries like Thomas Paine? Was he not an elite also? What role did he play in creating our government and just who were the founders anyway?Most Americans were revolutionaries in 1776. They were the self-proclaimed sovereigns over their new and independent nation, and it was only they who could grant the consent of the governed, or when necessary, exercise their power and duty to establish a constitution of government that would serve their needs and protect their interests.The concept of popular sovereignty is something of a dinosaur for most Americans today. America is the world's superpower, so how could everyday average Americans actually control their government, or if necessary, create a new government that would faithfully express the will of most Americans? I know I am still trying to figure out what it really means to be an American. Why it is that we think of ourselves as so exceptional? Is it our constitution? If it is, what is it about our constitution that we so revere and how does that make us so special?Robert Ovetz is a lecturer in Political Science and Public Administration and he writes about the politics of the labor movement and the crisis of capitalism at the turn of the 20th century. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas-Austin.Among other publications and advocacy work, Robert is the author of When Workers Shot Back (2019), Workers' Inquiry and Global Class Struggle (2021), and most recently, We the Elites: Why the US Constitution Serves the Few.Robert, welcome to the peaceful political revolution in America podcast.

Welcome back to the second season of the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast, a series of conversations with America's top scholars, writers, journalists, and activists, on the topic of our Constitution. Thank you for tuning in to this podcast, and for your time, support, and continued interest in a subject that I personally find to be the most crucial topic of our time. Season one was an amazing journey for me, and I would sum it up like this: Americans, for the first time in human history, established the inalienable right of the people to not only create their forms of government but to change and to alter them, whenever they deemed necessary. By now, that mantra may sound familiar to everyone, even in today's muddied political climate. But just how is this fundamental, unshakeable right exercised? What precedents from our founding period define our role as sovereign citizens? And what lessons can we take away from those revolutionary Americans who set the United States on its unique and presumably, enlightened and democratic path? Christian Fritz joined the UNM law faculty in 1987 to introduce legal history to first-year students, a new concept to legal education. Even today, few law schools offer such a course. Fritz had just become the first person to complete a program at the University of California in which he earned a Ph.D. in history at Berkeley along with a law degree from Hastings College of Law. At the UNM law school, he teaches a variety of legal history courses along with Property. He has a deep knowledge of legal and constitutional history and an exhaustive research style. In addition to numerous articles, book chapters, and reviews, Fritz has written books on legal history, including Federal Justice in California: The Court of Ogden Hoffman, 1851-1891. In October 2007, Cambridge University Press published his long-term study: American Sovereigns: The People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War.This seminal work challenges traditional American constitutional history, theory, and jurisprudence that sees today's constitutionalism as linked by an unbroken chain to the 1787 Federal constitutional convention. It examines the idea that after the American Revolution, a collectivity – the people – would rule as the sovereign. Heated political controversies within the states and at the national level over what it meant for the people to be the sovereign, and how that collective sovereign could express its will were not resolved prior to the Civil War. The idea of the people as the sovereign both unified and divided Americans in thinking about government and the basis of the Union. Today's constitutionalism is not a natural inheritance, but the product of choices Americans made between shifting understandings about themselves as a collective sovereign. Its the perfect topic to begin this season with because until we have a deeper understanding of our relationship to our constitution, it will be difficult for Americans to be engaged in any process of remaking it. So, let's dig in!Chris, welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast!

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in American Podcast.So, how do Americans "shore up" their institutions of government? How do we strengthen our democracy and protect it from the anti-democratic forces that are currently on the rise? The recent book by George Van Cleve, "Making a New American Constitution" argues that today the 1787 Constitution is protecting America's increasingly wealthy oligarchy. The eighteenth-century government structure it created no longer serves most non-elite citizens. Instead, it now seriously obstructs political, economic, and social reforms that are badly needed to combat massive American economic and political inequality, the growing impacts of modernization, and to create a just and united society.As we said in the last episode, we can't even manage to discuss climate change let alone deal with it.  The Constitution must be fundamentally reformed if we are to address the very real threats we face as a nation. My guest today has a very rational and well-thought-out proposal for doing just that,  and he contends that such constitutional reforms can only be achieved by holding a new constitutional convention. He also explains why common fears about holding a new convention are greatly exaggerated. This book explores in detail the impediments that will need to be overcome by ordinary Americans who want to ordain and establish a third and more democratic Constitution for the United States.George William Van Cleve is Dean's Visiting Scholar, Georgetown University Law Center. He was formerly Research Professor in Law and History, Seattle University School of Law. He is the author of numerous law and history journal articles and three books on American law, politics, and history. His most recent book, "Making a New American Constitution", offers an unassailable critique of the current political system in America as well as a comprehensive and practical guide towards replacing it with one designed by living Americans for their society and future. George Van Cleve received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He is here today to share with us his very pragmatic yet powerful proposal for a new national constitution.Professor Van Cleve, welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast. It's a great honor to have you on this program.

William Howell is the Sydney Stein Professor in American Politics at the University of Chicago, where he holds appointments in the Harris School, Department of Political Science, and College. Currently, he is the chair of the Department of Political Science, director of the Center for Effective Government, and co-host of Not Another Politics Podcast.  William has written widely on separation-of-powers issues and American political institutions, especially the presidency. He currently is working on research projects on separation of powers issues, the origins of political authority, and the normative foundations of executive power.William's most recent book (with Terry Moe) is Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy. He also is the author or co-author of numerous other books, including: Relic: How the Constitution Undermines Effective Government–And Why We Need a More Powerful Presidency (Basic Books, 2016); The Wartime President: Executive Influence and the Nationalizing Politics of Threat (University of Chicago Press, 2013); Thinking about the Presidency: The Primacy of Power (Princeton University Press, 2013); While Dangers Gather: Congressional Checks on Presidential War Powers (Princeton University Press, 2007); Power without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action (Princeton University Press, 2003); The Education Gap: Vouchers and Urban Schools (Brookings Institution Press, 2002); and textbooks on the American presidency and American Politics. His research also has appeared in numerous professional journals and edited volumes.William is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He is the recipient, among other academic awards, of the Legacy Award for enduring research on executive politics, the William Riker award for the best book in political economy, the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress, the Richard Neustadt award for the best book on the American presidency, and the E.E. Schattschneider Award for the best dissertation in American Politics. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Democracy Fund, and the Bradley Foundation. He also has written for a wide variety of media outlets.Before coming to the University of Chicago, William taught in the government department at Harvard University and the political science department at the University of Wisconsin. In 2000, he received a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University.William,  welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast, it's great to have you on the podcast, how are you doing?What do you make of the hearing today?

Any serious discussion about a peaceful political revolution in America would be incomplete if it did not include a conversation with today's guest. Sandford Levinson holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law.  Previously a member of the Department of Politics at Princeton University, he is currently Professor of Government at the University of Texas in Austin. Levinson is the author of over 400 articles and book reviews as well as six books, including, Our Undemocratic Constitution; Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance; and co-author of the graphic novel along with Cynthia Levinson of, Fault Lines in the Constitution. He has edited or co-edited several leading constitutional law casebooks, including; Processes of Constitutional Decision making; Responding to Imperfection; Constitutional Stupidities, Constitutional Tragedies; Legal Canons; and The Oxford Handbook on the United States Constitution. Levinson has taught law at Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, New York University, Boston University, as well as the Central European University in Budapest, Panthéon-Assas University, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, London, Auckland, and Melbourne. In 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.He has argued that the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution limits the government's authority to regulate private gun ownership. Levinson has called for term limits for Supreme Court justices along with a growing list of scholars across the ideological spectrum. He is also a vocal critic of the unitary executive and excessive presidential power. In the magazine Dissent, he argued that "constitutional dictators have become the American norm." He wrote an essay titled "The Decider Can Become a Dictator" in which he criticized a system which allows presidents to make dictatorial decisions of great consequence without providing ways to discipline those who display bad judgment. Levinson has criticized the Constitution for what he considers to be its numerous failings, including an inability to remove the President despite a lack of confidence by lawmakers and the public, the President's veto power as being "extraordinarily undemocratic", the difficulty of enacting Constitutional amendments through Article 5, and a lack of more representation in the Senate for highly populated states such as California. He has often called for a Second Constitutional Convention and the "wholesale revision of our nation's founding document."Levinson participates in a blog called Balkinization which focuses on constitutional, First Amendment, and other civil liberties issues, as well as a blog, called Our Undemocratic Constitution. With Jeffrey K. Tulis, he is co-editor of the Johns Hopkins Series in Constitutional Thought and also of a new series, Constitutional Thinking at the University Press of Kansas.  He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Political Science Association in 2010. I began my quest for a genuine solution to the political dysfunction in the United States over ten years ago when I first opened the cover of his book, Framed. It has proven itself to be not only relevant today but required reading for anyone interested in addressing the failures and shortcomings of our uniquely undemocratic American Political system.

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast.When you look around the world at different constitutions, and how political systems are formed, you quickly realize that they are all quite different, even amongst the democratic nations. Every democratic country does democracy a little differently, and the results vary just as much. The conditions which lead to a new constitution can be as unpredictable as the events that follow. Constitution building is risky and complicated, which is why it is so hard to do and so rarely achieved. When conditions are right, however, citizens can make significant and meaningful improvements to their form of government. That constitutional moment came to Iceland in 2008, and it has yet to be resolved. The Icelandic people will have to figure it out, in part because, in Iceland, it is the constituted powers that make that decision, not the constituent powers. In Iceland, it remains the responsibility of the government to adopt any new constitution, not the people. This is not the case in America. In America, that power, called sovereignty, rests with the people. With you and I. That is the truly radical and democratic principle upon which our nation was formed and it is what makes America a truly exceptional nation. It is the source if you will, of all our freedoms.For most countries, a constitutional crisis is not just an opportunity to replace an unjust or corrupt political order, it is also an opportunity to reevaluate national and social objectives, to set the country on a new and better path. Hopefully, it is an opportunity to adopt a better and more effective form of representation. In 1787, it was the realization that the political order was no longer adequate which gave birth to our new and present political system. As Madison put it in Federalist One, "AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America." Constitutional moments do not come along every decade, or even every century, yet it is common sense that as societies evolve so must their political systems. Like everything else in life, political and economic systems must continually adapt to new technologies and new challenges. If they do not, they may become vulnerable to corruption and gradually become ineffective and irrelevant.It is beneficial for a nation to refresh its understanding of itself from time to time. The citizens must find agreement in their principles, and their objectives as a nation or divisions become rather permanent. They must consider the issues confronting them as a nation and when necessary, devise better ways of addressing the threats they face. It is a momentous occasion for any country to take a serious and long hard look at itself. To conceptualize a better process through which the vast majority of the citizens might be governed in a more just and equitable way is our most sacred duty as citizens. When we fail to do this, we fail to live up to the expectations of the very people who gave us this nation. Constitutions can be complex documents, but happily, there has been a lot of research and development in the field of democracy since our second constitution was created 230+ years ago. Today we can all look around the globe and see multiple examples of democracies, and that was not the case in 1787.The United States was the first nation to place sovereignty in the hands of the people, and although you may believe, as I do, that the framers did a relatively bad job of getting a true democracy up and running, the responsibility to improve our constitution was never taken away from we the people. Our most

(See transcript for the entire introduction)Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in American Podcast.Iceland has a really interesting history. You may know a bit about its scenic wonders if you ever watched Game of Thrones, but its political history is no less amazing. Iceland used to be part of Denmark, but in 1849, things began to change.In the 19th century, the Icelandic independence movement from Denmark was gaining momentum, while nationalism and demands for increased civil rights intensified in mainland Europe. In June 1849, the king of Denmark was forced to meet the demands of the liberals and the nationalists, and agreed to a constitution for Denmark and thus also with Iceland. This constitution ended the absolute monarchy and created a constitutional monarchy in which power over the most important issues was handed over to a parliament elected by the people. That was step one on the pathway to democracy and independence for Iceland.However, this change was not well-received by Icelanders, as it in reality translated to reduced autonomy for Iceland. Before 1849, Icelanders had officially ruled themselves as they happened to see fit in domestic matters. But now those matters were falling under the control of parliaments over which Icelanders had no influence. The Danes were reluctant to meet the demands of the Icelanders for self-government as set forth during the National Assembly of 1851, in the belief that it would weaken Denmark's control in government. But when the said region was annexed by Prussia in 1867, new conditions were created, and "the laws of standing" were passed in 1871, which determined the standing of Iceland in relation to the Danish state. In 1874, on the millennial anniversary of the settlement in Iceland, Christian IX became king of Denmark and attended the festivities of the watershed occasion. This opportunity was used to give Iceland its own separate constitution, and this constitution is the basis of Iceland's current constitution.With the relationship law of 1918, Iceland became a sovereign state and in 1920 the country received a new constitution to reflect this large change.  An election was run in May of the same year and had a turnout of 98%.  97% voted to break off the current relationship law with Denmark and 95% approved a constitutional republic. On June 17, 1944, the Althing met at Þingvellir, where the constitution was ratified and the republic established.It has been amended seven times since then, mostly due to changes in the structure of the constituencies of Iceland and the conditions of voting eligibility. In 1991 the organization of Althing changed from a bicameral legislature to a unicameral legislature. Extensive modifications were made in 1995 when the human rights section of the constitution was reviewed.Fast forward to the global financial crisis of 2008.continued...

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast.Democracy is under attack. The rise of Trumpism has created a lot of anxiety amongst those who believe in democracy, and for good reason. We have all witnessed the recent attack on our capital, on our electoral system, on our right to vote, on vaccine mandates, and on immigration.  There has been a sharp rise in white nationalist sentiment in America, and it's not only in the South. It has been fueled in part by the exponential increase of disinformation and increasingly difficult economic realities in our communities. The country is increasingly ravished by homelessness and hunger. One in three Americans have been affected by Climate Change and over 400 counties in America are reporting an increase of more than 1.5 degrees in average mean temperatures.  More and more people are getting desperate.  Is the rise of autocracy inevitable, or could there be a peaceful and more democratic alternative awaiting our future? As noted in the previous episode with Richard Wolff,  Chile and Portugal have both recently created new and more effective Democracies. They have it appears, successfully dealt with the disintegration of democratic principles and the very real impacts of autocratic leaders like Agusto Pinochet and the Estado Novo. Putting the current crisis of democracy into historical perspective, Death by a Thousand Cuts chronicles how would-be despots, dictators, and outright tyrants have finessed the techniques of killing democracies. Matt Qvortrup is Professor of Political Science at Coventry University. He is Joint Editor of the top-academic journal European Political Science Review. His acclaimed biography, Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader, has been translated into 5 languages and he has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and more than a dozen books on comparative politics and constitutional law.  He has served as a consultant to several governments around the globe and is described by the BBC as 'the world's leading expert on referendums', and he is here today to talk about how democracies die, and what happens next.

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast.Democracy is under attack. The rise of Trumpism has created a lot of anxiety amongst those who believe in democracy, and for good reason. We have all witnessed the recent attack on our capitol, on our electoral system, on our right to vote, on vaccine mandates, and on immigration.  There has been a sharp rise in white nationalist sentiment in America, and it's not only in the South. It has been fueled in part by the exponential increase of disinformation and increasingly difficult economic realities in our communities. The country is increasingly ravished by homelessness and hunger. One in three Americans have been affected by Climate Change and over 400 counties in America are reporting an increase of more than 1.5 degrees in average mean temperatures.  More and more people are getting desperate and wondering if the rise of autocracy is inevitable.  Or could there be a peaceful and more democratic alternative awaiting our future? As noted in the previous episode with Richard Wolff,  Chile and Portugal have both recently created new and more effective Democracies. They have it appears, successfully dealt with the disintegration of democratic principles and the very real impacts of autocratic leaders like Agusto Pinochet and the Estado Novo. Putting the current crisis of democracy into historical perspective, Death by a Thousand Cuts chronicles how would-be despots, dictators, and outright tyrants have finessed the techniques of killing democracies. Matt Qvortrup is Professor of Political Science at Coventry University. He is Joint Editor of the top-academic journal European Political Science Review. His acclaimed biography, Angela Merkel: Europe's Most Influential Leader, has been translated into 5 languages and he has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and more than a dozen books on comparative politics and constitutional law.  He has served as a consultant to several governments around the globe and is described by the BBC as 'the world's leading expert on referendums', and he is here today to talk about how democracies die, and what happens, next.

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast.It has been pointed out on this podcast by more than a few people, that our Constitution is as much an economic or class document, as it was a political one. For starters, our colonial era Constitution was designed to protect the interests of the slavocracy, to favor the individual accumulation of wealth and property over the collective well-being of society. In short, the framers created a political system to protect their interests.  We see the economic impacts of that system all around us. We can study the economic and social impacts this system has had on labor in America, on our natural resources and environment, our infrastructure, our foreign policy, and our communities. In America, money is to politics as wealth is to influence. The framers were well aware of that, and it is no wonder why they had a disdain for democracy.Richard Wolff's name has come up more than a few times in this podcast. His ideas have caught the attention of a lot of people. I thought it would be insightful to talk with professor Wolff about the relationship between democracy and capitalism because his message, more than most, suggests there may be a better and more democratic future for humanity. Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, NYC. He is also the founder of Democracy at Work and host of their nationally syndicated show,  Economic Update.If the Sickness is the System, we have some serious problems.  Are we all still living and working under a modern form of slavery? Do we ourselves need to be emancipated?  If so, how would we do that, and what kind of society would we create?More and more people are listening to Richard Wolff's message. His vision of democracy in the workplace is based on an extensive understanding of economics as seen through the lens of capitalism, marxism, and socialism, and he is here today to talk about his extraordinary new book, The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself.

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast.It looks like we could make some very real improvements to our political system. It is becoming more and more obvious that after 233 years, our Constitution could be significantly upgraded.  If we want to have an effective and democratic form of government we should probably be thinking about how to democratize our Constitution.  Confronting this reality will not be easy for many.   But perhaps we should begin by asking ourselves the following questions:What are the undemocratic features of our Constitution? What features would make it more democratic? And, can we as Americans amend, change or even replace our Constitution?But there is also another urgent and more immediate crisis to contend with. Paul Street is the author of over 8 books including, They Rule, Empire and Inequality,  Hollow Resistance, and his most recent book, This Happened Here: Amerikaners, Neoliberals, and the Trumping of America.American-Canadian scholar and cultural critic Henry Giroux, a founding theorist of critical pedagogy in the United States writes, " His analysis of fascism in its post-Trump form and the Trump base is the best I have read. Street is a straight shooter and displays a courageousness and brilliance in the book that should be a model for every public intellectual in America, and a resource for every member of the public when it comes to holding truth to power. The book is an absolute necessary treasure for anyone concerned about the threats now facing the ideal and promise of American democracy."On Paul's book, They Rule, Cornel West, says “Paul Street is the most acute observer and insightful analyst of the 'Obama Phenomena.' This book gets beneath the political smoke and mirrors to reveal the pervasive rule of big money that drives the American Empire and global capitalist economy. Street's courageous truth-telling is the precondition for a massive radical democratic movement.”Paul Street knows a few things about the threats to our nation. He has a deep understanding of the people who control the levers of real power in Washington, and he is here to tell you why This Happened Here and how it is They Rule. 

01/03/22Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast.It looks like we could make some very real improvements to our political system. It is becoming more and more obvious that after 233 years, our Constitution could be significantly upgraded.  If we want to have an effective and democratic form of government, we should probably be thinking about how to democratize our Constitution. Confronting this reality will not be easy for many. But perhaps we should begin by asking ourselves the following questions:What are the undemocratic features of our Constitution? What features would make it more democratic? And, can we as Americans amend, change or even replace our Constitution?But there is also another urgent and more immediate crisis to contend with. Paul Street is the author of over 8 books including, They Rule, Empire and Inequality,  Hollow Resistance, and his most recent book, This Happened Here: Amerikaners, Neoliberals, and the Trumping of America.American-Canadian scholar and cultural critic Henry Giroux, a founding theorist of critical pedagogy in the United States writes, " His analysis of fascism in its post-Trump form and the Trump base is the best I have read. Street is a straight shooter and displays a courageousness and brilliance in the book that should be a model for every public intellectual in America, and a resource for every member of the public when it comes to holding truth to power. The book is an absolute necessary treasure for anyone concerned about the threats now facing the ideal and promise of American democracy."On Paul's book, They Rule, Cornel West, says “Paul Street is the most acute observer and insightful analyst of the 'Obama Phenomena.' This book gets beneath the political smoke and mirrors and reveals the pervasive rule of big money that drives the American Empire and global capitalist economy. Street's courageous truth-telling is the precondition for a massive radical democratic movement.”Paul Street knows a few things about the threats to our nation. He has a deep understanding of the people who control the levers of real power in Washington, and he is here to tell you why This Happened Here and how it is They Rule.  

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast.In the last episode, we talked about our frozen republuc, and how to our detriment, it has not been improved upon in over 230 years. It was designed to be an unbreakable contract between Americans, protecting sectoral rights and the individual accumulation of wealth and property. The slavocracy wanted protection from the intrusion of the north. They did not want their lavish and profitable lifestyles interrupted. Their constitution, the southern planters in particular, was to remain fixed.  It was never meant to be changed.We also discussed some of the reasons why our constitution has become even more rigid over the past century. I'm going to continue the discussion today about our American political system with Dean Steven Taylor on his book,  A DIfferent Democracy. A comparative study of the American political system with other more modern and more effective democracies from around the world. This kind of comparative analysis you might suspect would be common, but on the contrary, it is actually quite rare, even within the broad spectrum of political science. The American system of government is thought of as exceptional and as such it is studied in its own distinct light, apart from other democracies around the world. Not only did our constitution prove victorious in WW2,  it also gave rise to the post-war boom and the great middle class, or so it seemed. America was prosperous and thriving. Infused with the spirit of victory while other nations struggled to rekindle their devastated homelands by creating new and more effective  democratic governments, America sank into another constitutional coma. We turned our backs on the kinds of constitutional changes that would empower the democratic spirit in America as if the economic spirit was all that mattered, and we remained captured by a political system no living American would think logical in today's world.There are many democratic institutions and dynamics which could make our government much more effective and fully democratic. Those more democratic institutions however are completely dismissed by organizations like the NCC and the ACS. Many of our best constitutional scholars seem either uninformed or dismissive of the democratic achievements of the 20th-century in Europe and elsewhere. To them, the American constitution has some kind of immortal standing. It cannot be challenged, even with empirically established facts.The concept of American Exceptionalism is a big topic and I am not sure I can get through the first chapter of A Different Democracy in one hour, let alone the entire book, but to put us on the trail and set our minds to the hunt is Steven Taylor, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Troy University in Alabama.  He is also co-author along with Matthew Shugart, Bernard Grofman, and  Arend Lijphart, on A Different Democracy. The American government is a 31 country perspective.  Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in American Podcast, it's great to have you here!

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast.In the last episode, we talked about our frozen Republic, and how to our detriment, it has not been improved upon in over 230 years. It was designed to be an unbreakable contract between Americans, protecting sectoral rights and the individual accumulation of wealth and property. The slavocracy wanted protection from the intrusion of the north. They did not want their lavish and profitable lifestyles interrupted. Their constitution, the southern planters, in particular, was to remain fixed. It was never meant to be changed.We also discussed some of the reasons why our constitution has become even more rigid over the past century. I'm going to continue the discussion today about our American political system with Dean Steven Taylor on his great book,  A DIfferent Democracy.  A comparative study of the American political system with other more modern and more effective democracies from around the world. This kind of comparative analysis you might suspect would be common, but on the contrary, it is actually quite rare, even within the broad spectrum of political science. The American system of government is thought of as exceptional and as such it is studied in its own distinct light, apart from other democracies around the world. Not only did our constitution prove victorious in WW2,  it also gave rise to the post-war boom and the great middle class, or so it seemed. America was prosperous and thriving. Infused with the spirit of victory while other nations struggled to rekindle their devastated homelands by creating new and more effective, and more democratic governments, America sank into another constitutional coma. We turned our backs on the kinds of constitutional changes that would empower the democratic spirit in America, as if the economic spirit was all that mattered, and we remained captured by a political system no living American would think logical in today's world.There are many democratic institutions and dynamics which could make our government much more effective and fully democratic. Those more democratic institutions however are completely dismissed by organizations like the N.C.C. and the A.C.S. Many of our best constitutional scholars seem either uninformed or dismissive of the democratic achievements of the 20th-century in Europe and elsewhere. To them, the American constitution has some kind of immortal standing. It cannot be challenged, even with empirically established facts.The concept of American Exceptionalism is a big topic and I am not sure I can get through the first chapter of A Different Democracy in one hour, let alone the entire book, but to put us on the trail and set our minds to the hunt is Steven Taylor, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Troy University in Alabama.  He is also co-author along with Matthew Shugart, Bernard Grofman, and  Arend Lijphart, on A Different Democracy. The American government is a 31 country perspective.  Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in American Podcast, Dean Taylor,  thank you so much for joining this conversation.

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast.Thomas Paine believed that Americans must control their constitutions of government, that they should revise and update it every generation. But the Framers, subverting Paine's vision of a democratically controlled government, intentionally left out of their Constitution any process through which the people could do just that. As Jerry Fresia points out in episode 3, that was because their Constitution was designed to prioritize the individual accumulation of wealth and property over the well-being of society as a whole. The Framers did not want that system to be changed. In fact, as we are about to find out, they really did not want the system to even work, and peaceful political revolution was to be repressed at all costs.In the previous episode, we discussed the kinds of changes we could make to our constitution which would make it more effective and democratic. We also noted that Americans, unlike in any other country, have an unusual reverence for their Constitution.  As a consequence, our Constitution has remained frozen for over 230 years. Before we can even begin to think about making changes to our Constitution, like the ones we discussed in episode 4, we need to understand more about this rather bizarre reverence Americans have for their Constitution. For that, I've asked Daniel Lazar to talk with us about his book, The Frozen Republic.There are more than a few big changes to our National Charter that are widely considered to be more effective and democratic than the ones we use today. We have talked about many of them already, yet those democratic improvements are essentially being ignored, even rejected by Americans, because Americans are captured by the very political system they are supposed to control. Americans don't think about changing their constitution, or making a better one, because they blindly believe it is perfect and therefore impossible to improve.Americans are largely unable to think rationally about the dysfunction of our political system or to express peacefully how it might be changed.  We no longer understand how political systems even work, and we are afraid of each other. We no longer even want to control our constitutions of government. We'd rather suffer the intolerable consequences of a system driving us all over the edge than to dare to imagine we could create a better political system than the one we have inherited. It appears our constitution now controls us. We must obey it rather than critique it, and apparently, Americans prefer this kind of bondage to exercising their right to control their systems of government and to protect their liberty from the tyranny of the past.Daniel Lazare is a journalist and the author of The Frozen Republic (1996), The Velvet Coup (2001), and America's Undeclared War (2001). He is currently working on a book about the politics of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and he has been a long outspoken critic of the almost religious reverence of our Constitution, and he is here today to explain why.Daniel, welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in American Podcast, it's great to have you here!

Welcome back to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America PodcastI thought I'd jump ahead a little and discuss some of the basic changes we could make to our constitution which would actually make it a more democratic system of government.  In this episode, I have the genuine pleasure to interview one of the leading experts on democratic forms of government. His seminal book, Patterns of Democracy is probably the best analysis in comparative democracies available today. We all need to know why.Arend Lijphart's research focuses on comparative politics, elections and voting systems, institutions, and ethnicity and politics. His work has had a profound impact on the study of democracy and he is widely considered the leading authority on consociationalism. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration (1977), Democracies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries (1984), Power-Sharing in South Africa (1985), Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences (1986), Parliamentary versus Presidential Government (1992), Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies (1994), and Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries (1999; 2nd ed., 2012). Lijphart has received numerous awards throughout his prestigious career in recognition of his groundbreaking research, including the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, AaronWildavsky Book Award, and honorary doctorates by the University of Leiden, Queen's University Belfast, and the University of Ghent. He was elected to serve as president of the American Political Science Association in 1995 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the Netherlands Academy of Sciences. Most recently, in 2010, he received the Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeritus Award in recognition of his unique and extensive contributions to the University of California, the discipline, and the world. He is also an acquaintance and I am especially happy to be having our first official Zoom meeting since we began exchanging emails almost 3 years ago.  Welcome, Arend to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast. It's so wonderful to have you here.Top Fixes to Our Constitution, in order of discussion:Change Presidential System for Parliamentary System Proportional Representation or Mixed Member Proportional ElectionsGerrymanderingStatehood for D.C. and Puerto RicoMandatory VotingConsensus vs Majoritarian DemocraciesThe KeyReverence of the ConstitutionAbolish the Electoral CollegeNational Popular Vote PlanUniform National Voting StandardsExpand the Court to 17 Justices, Term LimitsAbolish PrimariesFewer ElectionsTerm limits for JudgesAbolish the Senate

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast If Bernie's regular castigation of the elites felt justified to you, you'll find this episode especially interesting. Today, I'm going to be talking about the people who gave us our constitution, the Framers. Who were they? What were their intentions? What kind of political system did they create?  Does it explain the vast influence of the elites in our society today? In his book, The Hidden History of American Oligarchy, Thom Hartmann writes, "If you were looking for a date when the American Oligarchy started, it would be January 30, 1976. But our guest Jerry Fresia will explain to you why that's not quite true. It actually started on September 17, 1787. It was an overcast day in Philidelphia, the cool temperatures heralding the arrival of autumn as the Framers concluded their deliberations over the new Constitution.Jerry Fresia's rather astounding book, Toward an American Revolution, could be titled the people's history of the U.S. Constitution. It is filled with stunning details about the Framers. Most of those facts have been buried away or happily forgotten by the American public. To our detriment, Americans have never fully come to terms with our Framers. In many ways, we have replaced their legacy with a more convenient fiction. Who were the people who created our constitution and gave birth to the world's greatest superpower?There's a lot to unpack when it comes to the people who wrote our constitution, so let's get started with an intense discussion about the untold history of the Framer's Constitution. Jerry Fresia is a political scientist and renowned artist. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has taught at numerous US colleges and universities. He left academia in 1989 and settled in San Francisco to pursue a career in painting. He has written extensively on both art and the political-economy of the United States. He currently lives in Bellagio Italy where he is best known for his remarkable Plein Air paintings of Lake Como.https://www.amazon.com/Toward-American-Revolution-Constitution-Illusions/dp/0896082970

Thanks to Bernie Sanders, "political revolution" has become part of today's vernacular. It's been used widely to describe the need for change on the system level and on the policy level. It's a powerful slogan and a very loaded term. Revolutions tend to be messy. Glorious one day, bloody the next. Political revolutions often end with someone's head on a pike or a neck under a guillotine. Fortunately, that was not the case in 1787. Although our War of Independence in 1776 was a bloody battle, it was fought for more than just our independence. It was also a battle over a political idea. The idea that Americans would establish their own form of government was at the heart of the American experiment in democracy, and that idea became the first peaceful political revolution in the world in 1787. That idea came from Thomas Paine and it was the deeper and more powerful cause behind our independence. Sure, despots and kings would no longer rule over the people,  but in addition, Americans would govern themselves, peacefully, by creating their own constitutions of government. This was the essence of the promise of America.For the first time in history, the people would create their constitutions of government. It was a huge deal. The right to govern ourselves was what made America so admired around the world. That right is the fundamental cornerstone of our form of government and it is enshrined in all our founding documents. And although the constitution was written in secret, approved by the consent of a slim majority of delegates, and declared the law of the land in 1788, it remains the one we still use today. We have inherited this political system from our forefathers. It's not really our constitution anymore. None of us have had anything to do with it.I want to continue the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast with a deeper dive into the importance of Thomas Pain because his ideas, more than any other American, shaped the destiny of the United States. Peaceful Political Revolution is our American birthright, yet few Americans understand that or could tell you why. There are reasons why the story of Thomas Paine has been hidden from view.  If we want to understand why his message was covered up and almost forgotten, we need to take a deeper dive into the life and times of Thomas Paine, and the events that followed his death in 1809. For that, I've reached out to Professor Harvey J Kaye, author of Thomas Paine and the Promise of AmericaHarvey J Kaye is Professor Emeritus of Democracy & Justice Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and an award-winning author and editor of 18 books on history and politics - his most recent titles are Take Hold of Our History: Make America Radical Again and FDR on Democracy.  (But we are here to discuss his lifelong hero THOMAS PAINE - on whom he has written Thomas Paine and the Promise of America AND a young adult biography Thomas Paine: Firebrand of Revolution.)He is an expert on Paine, and he wants you to be one too :)

I want to begin the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast with a discussion about Thomas Paine. His ideas, more than any other American, shaped the destiny of not only 1 revolution, but 3. You might say Thomas Paine is the father of peaceful political revolution. It's difficult to overstate how important Paine's message was to our nation, and to Americans, today. His legacy may be a bit obscure to most Americans, but my guest Gary Berton will bring you all up to date on the essential Thomas Paine. Gary is the President of the Thomas Paine National Historical Association in New Rochelle. He is retired from Iona College where he was the Coordinator of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies and an adjunct professor in Political Science teaching courses on Thomas Paine.  If you want to understand what political revolution in America means, you'll want to get to know Thomas Paine, and for that, we need to have a conversation with Gary Berton.Gary, welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America podcast. How are things in New Rochelle?

Welcome to the Peaceful Political Revolution in America Podcast. In this podcast, I will explore the origins of peaceful political revolution and connect the dots between the Age of Enlightenment and the American political system. I will explore what political revolution means and decipher why the convention of 1787 was so unique.Our founding as a nation was remarkable, yet we often forget or take for granted just why it is so remarkable and why it is so important to understand our political history. We will take a unique stroll through our past and uncover the spirit that holds this nation together. It turns out, it's us. "We the People" is not just another expression. Without that, there is no political revolution. So why could what happened in 1787 matter? What can our own history tell us about political revolution in America? We will address these thoughts and many more in the coming episodes. Stay tuned and please share this podcast with your friends and subscribe.