to core and accessories. there's something for every c-span fan. every purchase supports nonprofit operations, shop now or anytime, c-spanshop.org. >> in the us, senate returns at 3:00 pm eastern to consider nomination of the deputy undersecretary for international finance and development at the treasury department. a vote to advance his nomination at 5 p.m. eastern, more work on president biden's executive nomination including former los angeles mayor eric garcetti to us ambassador to india. the president nominated him nearly two years ago in july of 2,020 one. the house is in a district work period. they will return for legislative business on wednesday march 22nd after the house republicans annual retreat in orlando, florida. watch live coverage the house

on c-span, the senate on c-span2 and you can watch our congressional coverage with our free video apps, c-span now, or online, c-span.org. >> welcome back to washington journal, our spotlight on podcast segment. my guest is adrienne ross, host of "democracy! the podcast," the consortium for political elections and processing advisor. >> so happy to be here. >> host: tell us about the podcast and what it focuses on and where the funding comes from. >> the podcast has become a pet project and is an excellent opportunity to highlight what democratic strengthening is happening in 40 countries around the world. impartial with usaid, the podcast is an opportunity to

get people front row seat to history to see how strengthening happens on the ground with countries fighting for their freedom. in many cases standing up to tear any, doing extraordinary work, the podcast is an excellent venue to showcase that work. >> host: your funding comes from usaid. >> it is a partnership, under a cooperative agreement with usaid, in partnership with local partners on the ground, is able to work with local partners to strengthen democratic institution and that takes on many forms. i would be remiss without mentioning the consortium is made of three partners. it is the international republican institute, national democratic institute and the foundation system. >> host: i will remind callers and viewers that if he would

like to call and make a comment or ask a question you can do so by party affiliation, democrats 202-748-8000, republicans, 742-8001 and independents, 8002. i know your focus, the elephant in the room when we talk about democracy strengthen is the attack on the capital on january 6th. what are your comments on that? >> the consortium is not spending so much energy in the united states on democracy. it is a work in progress as democracies are anywhere and sometimes they have some backsliding. i would say that is what we saw on january 6th. we don't work specifically in the united states, democracy is a worldwide universal virtue everybody seems to be working towards. >> host: your second season on the podcast lunch, you have an

"in depth" miniseries on ukraine. why the focus on ukraine and what do you talk about? >> strengthening teams, to do the second season of the podcast seems to be an opportunity to talk about ukraine and other nations without taking a break and an "in depth" look at ukraine. >> host: do you take a position on us support for ukraine, the weapons building, and we are here to strengthen ukraine's democracy, to sustain democracy and freedom and ukraine, it's important to note ukraine celebrated 30 years of freedom since the soviet union fell in 1991. the consortium is a partnership

with ukraine in helping maintain the sovereignty they themselves have established. >> host: one of the episodes of the first season was called democratic resilience. >> that is our most listen to of the episodes we have live, seems to be most popular and features the president and former ambassador to burma and talks quite a bit about democratic resilience, what elements we look for when we talk about democratic resilience, how we get it and the problems that might hold us up. >> host: i want to ask about an article in the economist. a new low for global democracy, more pandemic restrictions damage democratic freedoms in 2,020 one.

talk about some of the issues that go into strengthening democracy, what does it take, what are the factors? >> guest: the quality of a democracy is not always tangible but we know what the initial factors that indicate a democracy might be backsliding. there are things we hear about in washington. censorship, media transparency, transparency in our institutions and sometimes democracies are on the backslide before we recognize the backslide. >> host: what is the us after all strengthening democracies overseas? what's the benefit to americans for that funding or that effort to going to other countries? >> guest: the united states is a leader in democracy. we know we have downfalls sometimes. our democracy struggles as well so we offer hand in hand support to partners and foreign

governments when they are interested in working with us to strengthen our institutions, the state department takes a role, diplomats and ambassadors working with government, usaid has more development support and they are on the ground, sleeves rolled up, digging into local with local partners and they are working on these to provide democratic strengthening. >> host: let's talk to callers, lauren is first in new york, new york, democrat. >> caller: my idea was to talk about they took the whole 5 weeks of the case -- >> host: how is that related to democracy overseas? >> caller: got a lot to do with overseas. we are going to the wars and

back and forth. over here, on the land, on planet earth, too busy paying attention to other people overseas, resistant over here on the mainland. >> host: let's go to anthony, republican. >> caller: good morning. hope you're having a good weekend. i'm trying to understand the role of media in other countries that are trying to promote democracy. looking at the situation in the united states, the media has a significant bias towards one side and i think it is degrading our democracy that we don't have a media the holes what they are supposed to hold as truth to power. i see the hunter biden laptop story being an example of that,

the russian dossier for donald trump which is promoted by the media and other countries the media must be the base of truth for democracy to flourish. i want your opinion about where we are in our country and our media? >> host: you had an episode called the power of the press, media's role in democracy. >> guest: c-span is an exemplary place to look at democracy in action. it was the first organization, only organization to get cameras in the chamber in the 80s so we applaud the ability you have here to have public discourse and criticize the government and talk among yourselves and these are

hallmarks of a strong democracy. we address media, the power of media in the episode of the previous season and i implore everyone to listen to and it will answer your questions about media abroad and it is difficult. we have a long-established media in washington, in the united states. other countries are just getting up to speed and able to have a functioning media that can effectively criticize or look at what the government is doing. the consortium can work in local areas with local partners to help strengthen the transparency and access reporters may have. in some cases they are just learning to cover their government because they haven't had access to those institutions in many years.

>> host: this is from reporters without borders. this is a map they put out for global score on press freedom. can you talk about the trend of press freedom around the world, is it getting worse or better? >> we know in places like russia, access to true information or media itself, on the podcast, the mayor of kyiv, former heavyweight boxing champ, true information, access to information is more valuable than tanks and weapons, talked about the trouble to get information out. reporters every year have had an uptick in the number of murders they are suffering. quite a crusade among reporters to get accurate information

into the public's hands. >> host: independent line. >> caller: what i said. the vision to lead, the united states, like overseas. for one example in haiti, a politician, you need a lot, a lot to do it. the democrat administration, the possibility, by, the monday of.

that one, i don't -- the democratic rules, the democratic rules, to progress. >> host: you have an episode. >> absolutely we do. i urge everyone to listen. the podcast is for every one, we are hurting 140 countries around the world, 42 cities but in the case of haiti we have local partners on the podcast. they talk about what the situation has been like on the ground in security and democracy and what they hope to achieve and that features the president of the international foundation who's a veteran of the united nations and spent

many years through tumultuous times in haiti and is able to give an eloquent tap on the situation on the ground and what we are looking at in terms of democracy and how haiti can move past the turmoil it is experienced. >> host: allen in east chicago, democrat. >> caller: thank you for taking my call. i love washington journal on tv. i have a question and a comment. the united states never established democracy overseas in any country but established a lot of right wing conservative dictatorships around the world. one of the things, a boondoggle in domestic policy is is real. in my opinion, this is me speaking, israel is not a

democracy. it is apartheid state. the zionists and myth, they want a country only with jews, what they are doing to the palestinians, they occupy the country, they are oppressing them. no one has ever gone to the gaza strip to see how they are living, totally locked in, no communication with the outside, dependent on any aid they get from israel that we give to israel. >> host: let's get a response. >> guest: you are entitled to your opinion. it is a democracy, we are happy to have discourse and debate. the united states does not establish governments. that something that is important to point out. we strengthen democracy in

places where partners are wanting that democracy and freedom, that an establishment of independence themselves and can't do it without our local partners. it is a hand in hand relationship. the united states is not setting up governments. >> host: it is women's history month, talk about women in government and leadership positions and how that can strengthen democracy. >> guest: i would be remiss if i mentioned we didn't have secretary madeleine albright on the first season, lucky to have her. if anyone is interested in the subject and want to cherry pick an episode that would be a good one to look at. as every one knows she was a wonderful voice on equal rights for women. a funny story to tell on the podcast but we know around the world women make up half of the

population and in many cases don't represent 1/4 of political engagement. that is something we have seen a push for among governments that are trying to make that evolution towards democracy. >> host: let's talk to david in canyon lake, texas, independent. >> caller: talking about democracy. i would like to speak about democracy in our country. got to keep our principles. the president is voted in to protect the people of the country, not a country 6000 miles away. they have their problems. but we have immigrants coming in, the homeless people not even taken care of. i don't think biden is doing his job, taking care of the people in the country. >> host: democracy is a work in progress.

that sounds like a throw will away line but it is true. if you look at the democratic resilience we talk about, if there was one thing i could say to every want to help you have stronger healthcare, stronger economic system, more equal rights, not perfect but we are striving towards true equal rights and i tell you that one thing with democracy, wouldn't you say that was worth the struggle. it is a work in progress. democracy offers us freedom. >> host: i want to ask about disinformation and social media. what are your thoughts? you did an episode about that. >> guest: sounds like we only have presidents on but that is not true but the president of the international republican institute, extremely verbose man who talks about the trouble

with disinformation and how we see it as a leverage governments often use to manipulate and encourage people to do things that may not be in their best interests, we talked about the situation in ukraine. ukrainians are struggling to get access to information, they turned to social media rather than mainstream media, another thing to point out is the media channels are in alignment. and important thing, what we are talking about. take a little extra time, check it out, google the headline and find 20 stories about it and

crosscheck and see what you as a human, thinking person, what you think is true information or somebody trying to get inside your head and turn the truth around. >> host: let's talk to kevin in arkansas, democrat. >> caller: i have a philosophical question about democracy as a virtue which you stated. i am a philosophy professor from local community college and speak -- teach american history. classical liberalism, pretty "in depth". the founding fathers in the united states greatly influenced by john locke and other philosophers, they are critical of democracy, it would lead to tyranny, one of the

apocryphal quotes, 51% of people and democratic society can vote away the rights of 100% of the people in that kind of society. what do you think of the role of multinational corporations in democratic societies and how much influence they get in that democratic political system and appreciate your time today. >> guest: i encourage you to listen to the podcast. i will say the opportunity for democracy and basic terms is autocracy so i think when one person hordes all the power, information, and money, the alternative is democracy. if you are looking at the two systems i don't think there's

any competition and democracy will win out every time. as far as multinational companies, it's an opportunity for countries to engage with multinationals. i want to point out in the case of sudan you will hear the democratic strengthening individuals on the ground in the harshest of conditions. for several days, the rainfalls were so heavy but it is the beginning of establishing democracy. we hear this from the democratic strengthening team that talks about offering sudan a variety of options, things other countries do not necessarily the united states, but other countries do and how other countries operate. and it's not necessarily the

united states putting virtues and values and principles on other nations but lending a hand. >> let's talk to donald in new york, new york. good morning. >> how are you doing? >> i am good. a simple question. you talking about democracy overseas? >> yes. >> that is a fascinating subject. my question is this. how can you promote democracy overseas when we are losing it here? >> host: is that your question? all right. i think we already addressed this but i will take another shot at it. democracy is very fragile and also a work in progress and it is backsliding.

very difficult ten years. you have experienced covid 19 and understand how much of your rights, if you will, have been infringed upon for the health of your fellow citizens. we recognize that there are factors that change, different variables that influence how strongly democracy is at a certain moment in time. it's a work in progress. >> host: new york, new york, democrat, good morning. >> caller: i am going to address a similar issue about our own democracy. i have been following some indexes, they track 60 factors or so. you mentioned a couple. education, healthcare. the indexes i think show us as around number 37. ..

the greatest democracy in the world. we simply aren't. it's not true. and not for the reason, i'm a democrat so obviously i believe the reason we aren't is for very different reasons than the republican gentleman who just called in. i also think you said we are a leader. it's tough to be a leader when we're functioning with, we now are classified from democracy to autocracy as a challenge democracy. because of our poor educational system, for healthcare system and many other factors. i would just like, i feel like we are being, things are being skewed a little bit and i would like your comments on how they can be a leader for democracy when we, in fact, are so challenged.

>> guest: so the greatest thing you can do at a think you'll hear this throughout the podcast, almost every single democratic expert who we speak with talks with doing something in your backyard. we even have a guy in boston hurts bosnia-herzegovina who was inspired to participate because his father was murdered. he talks about literally taking the garbage about the street and cleaning up your little block of your neighborhood. democracies don't thrive on their own. they thrive when a citizen are participating and actively taking part in democracy. if you are concerned about the status of democracy in the united states the greatest thing to do is get involved in your neighborhood. really just on your street. >> host: william and chicago, illinois, independent. good morning. >> yes good morning. how are you doing today? >> guest: good, thank you, i wanted to go back and ask a a question i think a gentleman earlier mentioned i guess he inquired this notion, well, you

said that democracy does not remove leaders. i just wanted to get some clarity on that. >> host: you talk about american policy overseas as far as creating democracy? is that what you're talking about, william, that question? >> caller: may be narrative which america did not supplant leaders. >> host: when moving world leaders. >> guest: yes. so usaid is in the many partner on the ground. the best case scenario is that were working towards helping again local partners make their own decisions, the best decision for their nation. i can't overstate how much of the democracies us and the united states is. it may be suffering some backsliding. we know democracies again are up

and down but in places like sudan, kd, just starting at the bare minimum. local partners are looking for guidance, information, but as it were, how do you vote? howdy hold free and for elections? we often take for granted here in the united states because they been in place for so long. i think again a lot of opportunity in the podcast if you're driving around and you need something to do. there's things to learn them think anybody can benefit from. >> host: you did a two-part show called navigating the northern triangle about the root cause of immigration. tell us about those episodes. >> guest: yes. it's impossible again to talk about democracy and freedom without looking at some hotspots if you will in the united states, i'm sorry, abroad. imagine some of those. we've talked about ukraine but the northern triangle is that the place that has really

experienced some variables in democracy themselves and yet we see what usaid is determining white spots right now. we see places like el salvador and guatemala just returned from stepping up and incremental very important ways to try to strengthen the own democracy which in turn will strengthen the economy, strengthen the security abroad and hopefully retain more of their own people at home and give them freedom and opportunities and economic prosperity which is something that is been a root drive of migration. >> host: scott is in cody, wyoming, republican line. scott? , , yes. i'm a longtime viewer. could you comment on the contribution that commonwealth of nations has contributed to democracy? thank you. >> host: you know anything about that, commonwealth of

nations? >> guest: i don't, sorry. >> host: brad is in maine. democrat. good morning. >> caller: i wanted to ask about the electoral systems, i mean, in other countries and what one works the best. one that i think we're missing out on is a majority based, in other words, majority requirement which maine does have ranked-choice voting which does require majority, at least we for a few elected offices in congress, but what influence does that have on the outcome of democracy? that's my question, if you understand the question. >> guest: i'm not sure i understand your question entirely. i will point out that in

countries like latin america where we discussed the northern triangle they use different system instead of the electoral college and what we have in place here. they often do a general election and then a second runoff. it's a literally number by number some countries number one, number two becomes president vice president. i'm not certain if that's what you're asking but it is an interesting thing to look at, how different countries manage their election count. >> host: and the different types of election systems, do you have an opinion about how that impacts how voter participation and voter confidence in the results? >> guest: i don't, not individual systems. going back to the question misinformation and disinformation, we know better educated, better rate individuals, people have access to organizations come need input like c-span here, to make better decisions in the voting booth. in terms of voter confidence,

the more transparency that's available, the more information on the candidate, the more accessibility that people have to this candidates to ask questions to get their thoughts heard and sort of filtered by the candidates, we know there is better voter turnout. >> host: brad is an winthrop maine, democrat. good morning. >> caller: i'm still here. >> host: i'm sorry. i only talk to you, brad. does that answer your question? to just something further to add? public what about the difference between a plurality and the majority, instead of having elections based on the most votes without a majority? would it make a difference? >> guest: what's really important is a country comes together and in the case of ukraine the have a referendum vote and so they themselves can't change their federal law without voting on as a nation.

again we are working in more than 140 countries, and so i think plurality versus majority it just depends on what nation you in and what the citizens of that nation have chosen other system and what they feel best about. >> host: let's talk to stephen in san diego, independent line. >> caller: good morning. what i just wanted to say is that democracy, the notion of democracy on your part can be a bias. there were for years to my professors of russian history in new york, and i took a class under one of them. dr. paul average years ago, and for some nations and for some groups of people, democracy is

just not a natural thing. it never seems to work out. and that is a part of russia's history. as you well know they went from the czars time to the soviet times, and now they have putin i just listen to someone in the philippines, a young man, who lost family members during the times of ferdinand marco's, and yet ferdinand marco's grandson is in power now. and this young person, the grandson, is installing virtues of an autocratic leader who is backed by the previous autocratic leader of duarte. and a lot of times when we as

americans interfere in other countries for the sake of democracy, we mess the world up. >> host: let's get a response. >> guest: i will point out more than 70% of the world is living in an autocracy right now. we've covered democratic backsliding quite a bit and so i think we talked about how places like the philippines and and flow in terms of their democracy. but generally speaking -- ebb and flow -- the united states is not putting democracy on other nations. we are democratic strengthening team. the consortium does this team with partners and we help them make, to execute the decisions that they are choosing for their nation. >> host: ronald, aurora, colorado, independent. good morning, ronald. >> caller: good morning.