Jan-Werner Müller is a German political philosopher and historian of political ideas at Princeton University, where he has taught political theory and the history of political ideas since 2005.

His books, which have been translated into numerous languages, include What Is Populism? (2016), Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth Century Europe (2011), Constitutional Patriotism (2007) and others.

His latest book is Democracy Rules: Liberty, Equality, Uncertainly, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2021.

In addition, he writes opinion pieces for The Guardian, New York Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Le Monde, The New York Review of Books, The London Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, as well as others.

This edition of Forthright Radio concludes with a poem by Dan Roberts, “Holy Card for Greta Number 3.” You can find out more about Dan’s work including The Shortwave Report, Rhythm Running River, and the award winning Youth Speaks Out, as well as his photography and paintings here: http://outfarpress.com/

Articles pertinent to this interview include:

Is barring Trump from office undemocratic? Let’s assess point by point https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/21/is-barring-trump-from-office-undemocratic

President Biden finally is sounding the alarm about democracy. Good https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/10/president-biden-finally-is-sounding-the-alarm-about-democracy-good

The American right is whitewashing Hungary’s nasty, autocratic regime https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/24/the-american-right-is-whitewashing-hungarys-nasty-autocratic-regime

Madison Cawthorn backed the Capitol attack. Will he be barred from office? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/07/madison-cawthorn-backed-the-capitol-attack-will-he-be-barred-from-office

Populism and the People https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n10/jan-werner-mueller/populism-and-the-people

‘It’s chilling what is happening’: a rightwing backlash to Biden takes root in Republican states https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jul/19/joe-biden-republicans-polarization-us-politics-texas

They Rejected Democracy. They Lied. And They Spent July Fourth Calling Themselves Patriots. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republicans-overturn-presidential-election-capitol-riot-july-4_n_60e4793ee4b0e01b6b233fc3

Abolishing the filibuster won’t lead to a ‘tyranny of the majority’. It’s quite the opposite https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/22/filibuster-senate-joe-manchin

Enchaining democracy: The now-transnational project of the US corporate libertarian right https://mcusercontent.com/cca23739793ff131bae0a457f/files/7855428a-b505-762c-0032-c336e7bb5222/MacLean_The_Now_Transnational_Project.pdf

Guest column: Eroding public schools’ role as the great equalizer https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/guest_columnists/guest-column-eroding-public-schools-role-as-the-great-equalizer/article_aeff6b67-daef-5cd9-a797-fa93b0aff737.html

Athens: The Truth About Democracy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPnUK176AR0