# Why Naïve, Pro-Democracy Classical Liberalism Doesn't Work Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-rothbard-1133651/why-na-ve-pro-democracy-classical-liberalism-doesn-t-work Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-rothbard-1133651/why-na-ve-pro-democracy-classical-liberalism-doesn-t-work.md Podcast: [Radio Rothbard](https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-rothbard-1133651) Published: 2026-04-03T20:45:00+00:00 Episode link: https://mises.org/podcasts/radio-rothbard/why-naive-pro-democracy-classical-liberalism-doesnt-work Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/cdn.mises.org/2026-04/272-radiorothbard-20260403.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/radio-rothbard-1133651/episodes/why-na-ve-pro-democracy-classical-liberalism-doesn-t-work ## Resource In this lecture from the 2026 Libertarian Scholars Conference, Ryan McMaken looks at how the old classical liberal program of democracy and constitutions has failed, and why we need a more realist view of the state and its many crimes.  Be sure to follow Radio Rothbard at https://Mises.org/RadioRothbard Radio Rothbard mugs are available at the Mises Store. Get yours at https://Mises.org/RothMug   PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/radio-rothbard-1133651/episodes/why-na-ve-pro-democracy-classical-liberalism-doesn-t-work/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/radio-rothbard-1133651/why-na-ve-pro-democracy-classical-liberalism-doesn-t-work.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.