Is democracy a sham, a pipe dream that keeps disappointing us? If so, then perhaps the problem is the way we think about democracy in the first place. This week on the Campbell Conversations, host Grant Reeher talks with two highly respected political scientists who have recently co-authored a very provocative book on American democracy, titled "Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government". Vanderbilt professor Larry Bartels and Princeton professor Christopher Achen explore the problems with what they term our "folk myth" of democracy, and why it produces results that mystify and frustrate us. They also cover the current presidential primary season.
