For this first episode to be recorded after the results of the presidential election, I've brought on my friend and former colleague ⁠Walter Olson⁠. Walter is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a staunch defender of democracy and liberal institutions, and an expert in the processes and law of American elections. We talk about why the election went the way it went, avenues for electoral reform, and what lessons liberals should take from the results, given that we now need to commit ourselves, over the next four years, to a rigorous defense of liberalism. If you enjoy ReImagining Liberty, I encourage you to check out my companion newsletter, where I write about the kinds of ideas we discuss on this show. You can find it on my website at ⁠www.aaronrosspowell.com⁠. Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Today's episode was recorded a few weeks before the results of the November presidential election, and before an unrelated change I've made to this podcast. So before we jump into my conversation with Matthew McManus, I wanted to take a moment to give some context and talk about ReImagining Liberty going forward.

First, for all of its life, ReImagining Liberty has been a listener supported show, and the way listeners supported it was to become paying members and get early access to new episodes. Starting today, I'm no longer doing that. Every episode of ReImagining Liberty will come out when it's ready, and I've turned off paid memberships. I did this primarily because I had an increasingly difficult time being consistent with the show's release schedule, and I didn't want people paying to get early access to episodes that weren't coming out on time. If you're listening to the show right now, nothing changes for you. You'll continue to get episodes right here--just now at the same time as every else.

That said, if you do want to support ReImagining Liberty, there are three ways you can do it. First, leave a review on Apple Podcasts. This helps Apple to show the podcast to more people, and encourages people who find it to subscribe. Second, tell your friends. If you like an episode, forward it along to someone. If you like the show, tell people about it. Third, I have a free newsletter at www.aaronrosspowell.com. Sign up for that to get my new writing. Any or all of those three is a huge help and does a ton for the show.

Okay, now on to today's episode.

The election results very much have liberalism on the defensive. The Trump years are likely to be quite dark, the darkest most of us have seen in our lifetimes. There's a lot liberals can do to fight back, and we'll explore that in future episodes.

One area we need to pay a lot of attention to is why the arguments we make--and by "we" I mean what we might label "market liberals"--fail to persuade everyone they need to persuade.

Today's episode is very much about that. It's about a position that overlaps with a lot of liberal principles, but also rejects a lot of the free market positions I and other market liberals take.

My guest is my friend Matthew McManus, a ReImagining Liberty regular. He's a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Michigan. In his new book, The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism, he argues that not only are socialism and liberalism compatible, but that the future of liberalism depends upon the embrace of certain kinds of socialism.

I'm unsurprisingly skeptical about many aspects of that argument, which is why I wanted to get Matt on the show to discuss it. I think his book sets out clearly a widely believed argument from the left against market liberalism. So I've brought him on to set out and defend his case and to help draw out the primary points of disagreement between his view of liberalism and mine.

Produced by Landry Ayres. Podcast art by Sergio R. M. Duarte. Music by Kevin MacLeod.

Unless you're an early access supporter of the show, this is the last episode you'll hear before the presidential election, which will profoundly shape the state, or looming absence, of American democracy.

The critical importance of the choice between Harris and Trump has much of the country thinking about getting more people involved in politics—and the question of political participation, and particularly how much of it is reasonable, is what my guest spends a great deal of his time thinking about.

Kevin J. Elliott is a political scientist and Lecturer in Ethics, Politics, & Economics at Yale University. He's the author of Democracy for Busy People, and I've brought him back on the show to discuss the barriers to democratic participation, the "Paradox of Empowerment," and what it would look like to get more Americans interested in the political process.

Want to listen to new episodes of ReImagining Liberty two weeks early? ⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a supporter⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get early access and other perks.

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Landry Ayres⁠⁠⁠⁠. Podcast art by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sergio R. M. Duarte⁠⁠⁠⁠. Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kevin MacLeod⁠⁠⁠⁠.