Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U Radio - With a high stakes election in the U.S., a sudden BC election called amidst a pandemic, and numerous local elections across Canada, the role of democracy is on many people’s minds. What works? What doesn’t? How is it that democracies can be used for personal gain and it can seem so hard to change things even when they seem to so obviously go wrong.

This week’s guest, Rex Weyler, is a pulitzer-prized nominated author, journalist, ecologist, co-founder of Greenpeace International, musician, educator, and immigrant. He’s a favourite at Folk University and I’m glad to welcome you here to Folk U Radio. Thank you Rex!

How do democracies go wrong?“ “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” is a quote by British politician Lord Acton. People use power, often unintentionally, for their own gain, even if well intentioned. Democracy attempts to disseminate this power out to more people.

Nevertheless, democracies go wrong all the time. Listen to the program to find out how.