Episode 144: Christopher Beem discusses democratic virtues
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Why do many believe democracy is in crisis after the Capitol riot?
Hello
and welcome to Elucidations, an unexpected philosophy podcast. I'm Matt Teichman, and with me today is Christopher Beam, who also goes by Chris. managing director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and research professor of political science at Penn State University, and the author of The Seven Democratic Virtues, What You Can Do to Overcome Tribalism and Save Our Democracy, out now from Penn State Press. And he is here to discuss democratic virtues. Chris Beam, welcome.
Thanks, Matt. It's been a while that we've tried to get this to happen, and it's actually happening. Totally exciting. Yeah. Thank
you. So I thought we could start by talking about the state of our democracy. It's no secret that in America, we're becoming divided. The vision is manifesting itself in more and more stark ways. But one thing I think there's bipartisan agreement about on both sides of the political aisle is that democracy is in crisis. So on the one hand, people who tend to vote Democrat are concerned about the January 6th Capitol riots as an act that kind of like questioned the validity of the democratic process. And in that way, democracy is getting undermined. But then a not insignificant number of people on the other side of the political aisle believe that the democratic process is getting undermined because the election was like somehow fake or fraudulent.
So what do you think about this issue? Do you think that our democracy is in a crisis?
You know, it's one of our human biases, and I'm assuming we're probably going to talk more about that. But one of them is to give a particular importance and distinctiveness to the time in which you find yourself living, right? The best
record is whatever came out when I
was 16. Exactly. That's right. And so we have to be cognizant of that and be aware that that's operative in us. But I also think it's true that there are – regularly now, events that are unprecedented and that bespeak a level of polarization, of animosity that is at least, you know, you'd have to go back to the 60s. And, you know, there are not bombs going off with the regularity that there were in the 60s. And that's another thing to keep in mind. But it is also true that this summer, a group of historians met with Joe Biden just to tell him That this is a distinctive moment and that it at least approaches if does not absolutely qualify as a crisis. And the crisis is about the continued longevity of our democracy.
And so I think it is fair to say, yeah, it's a crisis.
So what would you say is the cause of this split in opinion about whether the voting process we currently work under is legitimate?
To some degree, the ability of human beings to assess reality in ways that conform to their desires is endemic and inescapable. And so some of this is not new. Some of this is inherent to the human species. But it's also true that in the last... 30 years, there have been mechanisms and new phenomena on the scene that exacerbate these tendencies. So I'm thinking of cable news and the 24-hour news cycle and the fact that there has been, through Fox, developed an extremely effective business model of feeding people's worst instincts and their notion that we're the good guys, we're the true Americans, we're the moral people, and the other side is not. That's part of it. And then on top of that, you have the internet, which for all the good that it's done throughout the world in terms of bringing people together and mobilizing them, it's also an excellent way for you to
Connect with people who think precisely like you. And then once that happens, the natural human tendencies to up the ante in terms of rhetoric, to push the envelope in terms of how good we are and how bad our enemies are, have all grown apace. So they are... bigger and larger and more dangerous than they have been here before. There were, you know, when I was growing up in the 70s, there was a much different world where there was a local newspaper that had to reach out to the broad community. And there were three channels, three networks.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do many believe democracy is in crisis after the Capitol riot?
0:09–5:13
2
How does evolutionary psychology explain our tribal instincts and political polarization?
5:13–10:47
3
What role does the 24‑hour news cycle and cable news play in deepening partisan divides?
10:47–14:57
4
How can personal virtues like temperance help us manage anger and avoid hatred in politics?
14:57–18:23
5
What are the democratic virtues outlined in Christopher Beem’s book and how can we cultivate them?
18:23–23:22
6
How does “deep desegregation” differ from superficial integration, and why might it reduce tribalism?
23:22–26:45
7
What practical steps can individuals take to find “political dog parks” and build cross‑partisan relationships?
26:45–30:36
8
Why is it important to recognize opponents as people of integrity even when we disagree on core beliefs?
30:36–37:22
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Elucidations
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