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Episode details

World Service,11 Oct 2020,30 mins

Is America’s democracy under threat?

When Katty Met Carlos

Available for over a year

President Trump’s hospitalisation for Covid-19 prompted many Americans to also worry about the health of the election process, and democracy itself. Katty Kay and Carlos Watson discuss whether American democracy is in crisis, and what its future may hold. They are joined by Julius Krein, of the journal American Affairs, and award-winning Venezuelan-American journalist Mariana Atencio. Mariana argues that America risks descending into a crisis similar to that of her native Venezuela if its democracy is not shored up and valued by its citizens. Julius outlines how the nation’s widening polarisation is damaging for its democracy. Editor: Penny Murphy Produced by Sandra Kanthal, Viv Jones, Iyore Odighizuwa and Maeve McGoran, with reporting from Suzanne Kianpour Mixed by Nigel Appleton

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