Democratic Transition: with H.E Danny Faure, former Seychelles President, and Professor Maya Tudor, University of Oxford Artwork

Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth

Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth, a podcast by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), gives a voice to Parliamentarians, civil society experts and activists across the Commonwealth to discuss common democratic challenges and share their ideas on what can be done to solve them. The CPA promotes knowledge of the constitutional, legislative, economic, social and cultural aspects of parliamentary democracy. Our work enables Commonwealth Parliamentarians and officials to uphold and strengthen parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, sustainable development and human rights.

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Parliamentary Conversations in the Commonwealth

Democratic Transition: with H.E Danny Faure, former Seychelles President, and Professor Maya Tudor, University of Oxford

June 30, 2025 • Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

Democracy is in retreat across the globe. To try to understand why, we talked to His Excellency Danny Faure, former President of the Seychelles and Professor Maya Tudor, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.

Danny Faure discusses his role as the head of several Commonwealth Election Observation Missions stretching from Antigua and Barbuda to Gabon. He outlines some of the key day-to-day threats to democratic transition, including AI deepfakes, incumbents refusing to give up power, or unrest during elections. He also outlines the key role of the Election Observation Missions, and how elections can be supported by key institutions like the courts, the police and the media.

Professor Maya Tudor discusses how we should go about defining democracy, the impact of colonialism on democratic transition, and how different varieties of nationalism can either enable or prevent a democratic transition. She also discusses some of the reasons for democratic backsliding across the globe.

This episode was researched and recorded by CPA Communications Officer, Oz Russell, with additional research by CPA Deputy Head of Programmes, James Pinnell.

Music: Vine Crawler by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)

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Recorded in May and June 2025.