Tyler Cowen: "Which are the true perils facing democracy?"

Abstract: "Democracy works best when it is possible to judge truth. But what are the preconditions, epistemic and otherwise, for this to come about? Cass Sunstein has been one of the most profound theorists on this question. He has laid out the conditions for political polarization, how the modern world often encourages them, and how we might reverse this. How can we make our democracy more deliberative? What should be the role of constitutions in this process? His book Nudge, co-authored with Richard Thaler, provides some further microfoundations for rethinking how a better democracy might be reconstituted. Overall, Cass Sunstein is one of our leading thinkers on how democracy stands in peril and how we might save it and indeed improve it." This lecture was held at the 2018 Holberg Symposium: "Democracy and Truth" in honour of Holberg Laureate Cass Sunstein. BIOGRAPHY Tyler Cowen is Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Director of the Mercatus Center. He is co-author of the blog marginalrevolution.com and host of the podcast series Conversations with Tyler.