What does research on democracy in the 21st century look like? How can we study a political system that is under constant challenge? For years, the Albert Hirschman Centre for Democracy has pioneered a collaborative approach that draws on the views of its namesake – Albert O. Hirschman – and shared it with listeners in podcast form.

After a successful first season, the Research at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy (RAHCD) returns for a second season to reflect on the fieldwork, methods, and readings of its researchers, as well as on the meaning and state of democracy. Its audio form is a nod to the concept of ‘voice’ in Hirschman’s famed 1970 book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, which might just be central to understanding current democratic practices.

The podcast returns with episodes putting its researchers in conversation with experts in the field, as well as with a special series on 2024 as an electoral year where over half of the population heads to the ballot box, entitled “Who is voting in 2024?”. The series is not just about who we are voting for – it's about the act of voting itself, and how it serves, increasingly, as just one expression of many expressions of our collective "voice" in democracy.