{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Political Science","slug":"new-books-in-political-science-408770","podcast_index_feed_id":408770,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LIT7047417664","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/79c533fc-f4de-11e8-9aba-c776eb4c2a32/image/af9ef2afee05125bb265ca99804e6c8a.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":1000,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770"},"episode":{"title":"Stephen F. Jones, \"The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921\" (Harvard UP, 2026)","slug":"stephen-f-jones-the-first-social-democracy-the-democratic-republic-of-georgia-1918-1921-harvard-up-2026","published_at":"2026-04-21T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770/stephen-f-jones-the-first-social-democracy-the-democratic-republic-of-georgia-1918-1921-harvard-up-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4332249231.mp3?updated=1776649945","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4332249231.mp3?updated=1776649945","summary":"Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by creating the first social democratic state. Based on a combination of parliamentarianism and direct democracy, it was a representative government of the peasants and workers themselves, with ballots in their hands. The First Social Democracy: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918–1921 (Harvard University Press, 2026) is the definitive history of a government that should inspire social democrats today. Professor Stephen F. Jones chronicles how the founders of the new state navigated myriad challenges, including territorial threats from abroad, internal ethnic conflicts, and geopolitical rivalries between the imperial Ottomans, the British, and the Germans. In the midst of these existential challenges, Georgia’s social democrats set about writing a constitution to put the country on a distinctive path of genuine self-government—protecting democratic rights, promoting political pluralism, and championing equality. Professor Jones brings to life the passionate debates that shaped Georgia’s democracy during a moment of acute global instability. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was strangled in its crib. Just four days after the constitution was ratified, the capital fell to the Red Army. Under Soviet rule, the republic was lost to history. Soviet scholars were forbidden to research this Georgian story, and Western scholars had little interest in a small and peripheral state that was independent for only three years. Recovering a forgotten experiment in democratic citizenship and statecraft, Dr. Jones reminds us of those audacious times when Georgians created and defended political freedom against the rise of Soviet commu…","meta_description":"Following the collapse of the Russian Empire, the small nation of Georgia established its independence in May 1918. Its leaders surprised the world by cre…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3919,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-political-science-408770/episodes/stephen-f-jones-the-first-social-democracy-the-democratic-republic-of-georgia-1918-1921-harvard-up-2026/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770/stephen-f-jones-the-first-social-democracy-the-democratic-republic-of-georgia-1918-1921-harvard-up-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}