Game of Thrones Season 7 Episode 2 Preview. Following the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 7, HBO revealed a preview for Episode 2 of the new season, titled Stormborn. You can watch the preview using the player below At the end of last season, Daenerys Emilia Clarke dragons and her immense army were finally on the way to Westeros, where Cersei Lena Headey has now become Queen after the death of her children. The Night Kings Vladimir Furdik in season 6 army is heading south, and a battle appears to be imminent. The show is based on the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. Last season, however, the TV series moved past the point where the books have stalled. Returning series regulars on Game of Thrones this season also include Emmy and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage Tyrion Lannister, Nikolaj Coster Waldau Jaime Lannister, Aidan Gillen Petyr Littlefinger Baelish, Kit Harington Jon Snow, Diana Rigg Lady Olenna Tyrell, Sophie TurnerSansa Stark and Maisie Williams Arya Stark. Additional returning series regulars this season include Alfie Allen Theon Greyjoy, John Bradley Samwell Tarly, Gwendoline Christie Brienne of Tarth, Liam Cunningham Davos Seaworth, Nathalie Emmanuel Missandei, Jerome Flynn Bronn, Iain Glen Jorah Mormont, Isaac Hempstead Wright Bran Stark, Conleth Hill Varys, Kristofer Hivju Tormund Giantsbane,Hannah Murray Gilly, Carice van Houten Melisandre, Indira Varma Ellaria Sand, Pilou AsbaekEuron Greyjoy, Rory Mc. Cann Sandor The Hound Clegane and Richard Dormer Beric Dondarrion. New cast members for the seventh season include Jim Broadbent, Tom Hopper, Megan Parkinson and Ed Sheeran. Watch The Negotiator Streaming. The executive producers of Game of Thrones Season 7 are David Benioff, D. Mildmannered janitor W. C. must learn to adapt when a zombie outbreak is unleashed while he is cleaning the womens washroom. Aided by the voice of the mysterious. Watch Stalled Streaming' title='Watch Stalled Streaming' />B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield co executive producers are Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, George R. R. Martin and Bryan Cogman and producers are Chris Newman, Greg Spence and Lisa Mc. Coke-and-Popcorn.jpg' alt='Watch Stalled Streaming' title='Watch Stalled Streaming' />DEMOCRACY The Economist. THE most striking thing about the founders of modern democracy such as James Madison and John Stuart Mill is how hard headed they were. They regarded democracy as a powerful but imperfect mechanism something that needed to be designed carefully, in order to harness human creativity but also to check human perversity, and then kept in good working order, constantly oiled, adjusted and worked upon. The need for hard headedness is particularly pressing when establishing a nascent democracy. One reason why so many democratic experiments have failed recently is that they put too much emphasis on elections and too little on the other essential features of democracy. The power of the state needs to be checked, for instance, and individual rights such as freedom of speech and freedom to organise must be guaranteed. The most successful new democracies have all worked in large part because they avoided the temptation of majoritarianismthe notion that winning an election entitles the majority to do whatever it pleases. India has survived as a democracy since 1. Brazil since the mid 1. Robust constitutions not only promote long term stability, reducing the likelihood that disgruntled minorities will take against the regime. They also bolster the struggle against corruption, the bane of developing countries. Conversely, the first sign that a fledgling democracy is heading for the rocks often comes when elected rulers try to erode constraints on their poweroften in the name of majority rule. Mr Morsi tried to pack Egypts upper house with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Mr Yanukovych reduced the power of Ukraines parliament. Mr Putin has ridden roughshod over Russias independent institutions in the name of the people. Several African leaders are engaging in crude majoritarianismremoving term limits on the presidency or expanding penalties against homosexual behaviour, as Ugandas president Yoweri Museveni did on February 2. Foreign leaders should be more willing to speak out when rulers engage in such illiberal behaviour, even if a majority supports it. But the people who most need to learn this lesson are the architects of new democracies they must recognise that robust checks and balances are just as vital to the establishment of a healthy democracy as the right to vote. Paradoxically even potential dictators have a lot to learn from events in Egypt and Ukraine Mr Morsi would not be spending his life shuttling between prison and a glass box in an Egyptian court, and Mr Yanukovych would not be fleeing for his life, if they had not enraged their compatriots by accumulating so much power. Video. Democracy A view from Cairo. Even those lucky enough to live in mature democracies need to pay close attention to the architecture of their political systems. The combination of globalisation and the digital revolution has made some of democracys most cherished institutions look outdated. Established democracies need to update their own political systems both to address the problems they face at home, and to revitalise democracys image abroad. Some countries have already embarked upon this process. Americas Senate has made it harder for senators to filibuster appointments. A few states have introduced open primaries and handed redistricting to independent boundary commissions. Other obvious changes would improve matters. I Love Dick, streaming now, Amazon Prime. Episode Title Pilot Network Synopsis A stalled married couple, Chris and Sylvre, temporarily relocate from. Reform of party financing, so that the names of all donors are made public, might reduce the influence of special interests. The European Parliament could require its MPs to present receipts with their expenses. Italys parliament has far too many members who are paid too much, and two equally powerful chambers, which makes it difficult to get anything done. But reformers need to be much more ambitious. The best way to constrain the power of special interests is to limit the number of goodies that the state can hand out. And the best way to address popular disillusion towards politicians is to reduce the number of promises they can make. The key to a healthier democracy, in short, is a narrower statean idea that dates back to the American revolution. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, Madison argued, the great difficulty lies in this you must first enable the government to control the governed and in the next place oblige it to control itself. The notion of limited government was also integral to the relaunch of democracy after the second world war. The United Nations Charter 1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1. These checks and balances were motivated by fear of tyranny. But today, particularly in the West, the big dangers to democracy are harder to spot. One is the growing size of the state. The relentless expansion of government is reducing liberty and handing ever more power to special interests. The other comes from governments habit of making promises that it cannot fulfil, either by creating entitlements it cannot pay for or by waging wars that it cannot win, such as that on drugs. Both voters and governments must be persuaded of the merits of accepting restraints on the states natural tendency to overreach. Giving control of monetary policy to independent central banks tamed the rampant inflation of the 1. It is time to apply the same principle of limited government to a broader range of policies. Mature democracies, just like nascent ones, require appropriate checks and balances on the power of elected government. Governments can exercise self restraint in several different ways. They can put on a golden straitjacket by adopting tight fiscal rulesas the Swedes have done by pledging to balance their budget over the economic cycle. They can introduce sunset clauses that force politicians to renew laws every ten years, say. They can ask non partisan commissions to propose long term reforms. The Swedes rescued their pension system from collapse when an independent commission suggested pragmatic reforms including greater use of private pensions, and linking the retirement age to life expectancy. Chile has been particularly successful at managing the combination of the volatility of the copper market and populist pressure to spend the surplus in good times. It has introduced strict rules to ensure that it runs a surplus over the economic cycle, and appointed a commission of experts to determine how to cope with economic volatility. Isnt this a recipe for weakening democracy by handing more power to the great and the good Not necessarily. Self denying rules can strengthen democracy by preventing people from voting for spending policies that produce bankruptcy and social breakdown and by protecting minorities from persecution. But technocracy can certainly be taken too far. Power must be delegated sparingly, in a few big areas such as monetary policy and entitlement reform, and the process must be open and transparent. And delegation upwards towards grandees and technocrats must be balanced by delegation downwards, handing some decisions to ordinary people. The trick is to harness the twin forces of globalism and localism, rather than trying to ignore or resist them. With the right balance of these two approaches, the same forces that threaten established democracies from above, through globalisation, and below, through the rise of micro powers, can reinforce rather than undermine democracy. Tocqueville argued that local democracy frequently represented democracy at its best Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science they bring it within the peoples reach, they teach men how to use and enjoy it. City mayors regularly get twice the approval ratings of national politicians. Modern technology can implement a modern version of Tocquevilles town hall meetings to promote civic involvement and innovation. An online hyperdemocracy where everything is put to an endless series of public votes would play to the hand of special interest groups.