Politics with Paul

Approachable, nonpartisan, and nonideological analysis of various political topics by nonpartisan political analyst, writer, researcher, and speaker Paul Rader.

What is Democracy—And How is it Working in America? | Politics with Paul #69

E70 • Dec 2, 2025 • 65 mins

Democracy in America is fragile, yet a lot of the rhetoric surrounding it is fraught with biases and appeals that are about winning elections and political battles rather than truly preserving democracy. There are also a lot of misunderstandings and debate about what democracy is and should be. To truly uphold and preserve democracy in this country, we must truly understand what it means and the challenges that face it. Today's episode of Politics with Paul explores what the core of American democracy is about, including whether we truly are a democracy, public perceptions of American democracy, and threats that we must wary of and address.

Key Points

Understanding the technical definitions and ideals of democracy is crucial to evaluating the American system of government.
Political polarization and cults of personality around candidates are a couple of the significant threats to the ideals of democracy.
Upholding democracy isn't just about making the system better--people also have to FEEL that it is working.
There are some positive and negative aspects of polling about how Americans evaluate democracy in the US.

My links:

Download my FREE 5-day educational email course on how to fight polarization: https://detoxifyamericanpolitics.com/
Buy my book on Amazon (ebook and paperback): https://www.amazon.com/Why-Independents-Rarely-Win-Elections-ebook/dp/B09K8PYM5J/
My website: https://paulrader.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulRaderWrites
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulrader352/
Medium: https://paulrader-42650.medium.com/
Email: [email protected]

Speakers

Paul Rader

Host • 86%

Paul Rader

Host • 14%

Chapters

0:00	Introduction to Democracy in America
1:44	What Exactly is a Democracy?
8:22	Is the American Government a Democracy? Yes...and No
13:04	Where We See Democracy in America
25:19	What are the Ideals of American Democracy?
32:40	How Americans Have Felt About US Democracy Historically
39:12	How Americans Feel About US Democracy in 2025
48:10	Threats to Democracy Going Forward
49:05	Threat to Democracy: Political Polarization
50:51	Threat to Democracy: Delegitimization of Political Institutions
54:58	Threat to Democracy: Huge Economic Inequality
58:45	Threat to Democracy: Worship and Praise of Candidates
1:03:21	Closing: The Need to Discuss How to Uphold Democracy

Transcript

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