Politics in Question

Why Are Factions Valuable?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 13:28:07 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James chat with Soren Dayton about the importance of factions within Congress. Dayton is Director of American Governance Policy at the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI) and co-author of a new paper alongside James, Rebuilding Congress from Within: How Factions Facilitate Deliberation and Lawmaking (FAI, 2026). How can factions help decentralize Congress's decision-making process? Where do factions come from? How do factions operate inside the House and Senate? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week's episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why Does Money Matter?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 5 Mar 2026 15:55:37 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee chats with Danielle Thomsen about the role of money in politics. Thomsen is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine and author of The Money Signal: How Fundraising Matters in American Politics (The University of Chicago Press, 2025). How does our current fundraising landscape reinforce inequality in politics? Who typically donates to political campaigns? How has the role of money in politics evolved over the last decade? These are some of the questions Lee explores in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is the American Dream Dead?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 5 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee chats with Liz Suhay about the death and myth of the American Dream. Suhay is a professor of government in the School of Public Affairs at American University and the author of Debating the American Dream: How Explanations for Inequality Polarize Politics (Russell Sage Foundation, 2025). Is the lack of the American Dream the fault of the individual or of systemic factors? What role does partisanship play in individuals’ beliefs about meritocracy? Why do we justify unfair systems? These are some of the questions Lee explores in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How Does Transformation Lead to Regression?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:49:11 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James talk with their former co-host Julia Azari about the role of presidents in shaping of racial norms. Azari is a Professor of Political Science at Marquette University and author of Backlash Presidents (Princeton University Press, 2025).

How have presidents shaped racial norms? Why was President Andrew Johnson a “backlash president”? What role does Congress play in coalition-building and norm shaping? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week’s episode.

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Does Moderation Matter?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 21:01:31 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James dive into the “moderate debate.” They discuss Lee’s recent Substack essay, The Moderation Debate Fiddles with 2% While Democracy’s Dimensionality Collapses.

Should parties move to the center? How do we define “moderate”? And what would it take to reinvigorate dimensionality in party politics? These are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

Links to the previous episodes referenced:

Why do Americans use primary elections to select candidates for office? (featuring Robert Boatright)

How did the Great Migration help shape today's politics? (featuring Keneshia Grant)

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How Do We Stop the Rise of Autocracy? Feat. Stacey Abrams

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 6 Nov 2025 18:11:45 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, host Lee Drutman talks with Leader Stacey Abrams about the current state of democracy. Leader Abrams is a strategist, novelist, and host of the podcast Assembly Required.

How do we create a sustainable democracy? What’s the difference between autocracy and authoritarianism? What role does civil resistance play in sustaining democracy? These are some of the questions Lee asks in this week's episode of Politics in Question.

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Why Are We in a Shutdown?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James talk with Matt Glassman about the state and stakes of the government shutdown. Glassman is a Senior Fellow at The Government Affairs Institute and the author of the Substack Matt’s Five Points.

What's the underlying cause of this shutdown? How do you "win" a shutdown? What will be the future political costs for the Democratic Party in trying to make a healthcare policy deal? These are the questions that James and Lee explore in this week’s episode.

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What Can the Data Tell Us?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee talks with G. Elliot Morris about all things polling. Morris is a data-driven journalist and author of Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them (W. W. Norton & Company, 2022).

How should we evaluate the quality of polling data? What can polling data actually tell us about a candidate’s performance in an election? What factors cannot be measured through polling? These are the questions that Lee explores in this week’s episode.

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How Are Social Movements Built?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and Julia talk with Hahrie Han, a recent MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, about the intricacies of local-level political organizing. Han is a Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, the Inaugural Director of the SNF Agora Institute, Faculty Director of the P3 Research Lab, and author of Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church (Knopf, 2024).

What are the mechanics of creating collective action? How is power negotiated and built within social movements? And what role do researchers play in shaping our understanding of political systems and power? These are the questions Lee and Julia explore in this week’s episode.

Note: This episode is a rebroadcast, originally recorded in October 2024.

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What is a Pocket Rescission?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 20:46:49 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James discuss the context behind the looming government shutdown. They walk through the history of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and examine whether Congress can still play its constitutional role in checking the executive. What exactly is a rescission, and how does it work? How does a “pocket rescission” differ from the normal process? Should lawmakers amend the Budget Act? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is American Politics Stuck in a Gerontocracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 19:07:09 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee sits down with Oscar Pocasangre and Dustin Wahl to discuss the representation of young people in politics. Pocasangre is a Senior Data Analyst at New America, and Wahl is the Executive Director of Fix Our House. Together, they co-authored a new report, The Age Divide, published by Protect Democracy (2025).

Is gerontocracy a uniquely American problem? How can we bring more young people into politics? And what changes to our electoral system could make politics more representative? These are some of the questions Lee explores in this week’s episode.

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Who Really Controls the Map?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 6 Aug 2025 18:20:00 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James catch up on the state of redistricting in the U.S. They discuss Lee’s latest Substack piece, “Democracy in Pieces: Did the Texas Gerrymander Just Break the Districting Game ?”

Who writes the rules? Does the Democrats’ response to redistricting in Texas affirm the idea that political actors ultimately control the electoral process? And does it undermine Democrats’ past claims of supporting independent redistricting? Do the people still have meaningful influence over the process?

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What's the Future of Casework?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 13:24:36 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee Drutman discusses with Anne Meeker how case work and constituent services would work under proportional representation. Meeker is Deputy Director of POPVox and co-author of a white paper titled How Would Constituent Services in American Multi-Member Districts Work?

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Do We Need Conflict in American Politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James discuss the role of conflict in policy making, guided by E.E. Schattschneider's The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America (1960).

How can conflict drive change? How do our current views of partisanship and conflict inform decision-making? How does who controls the scope of conflict shape democratic participation? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week's episode.

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Who Has the Power?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s special live episode of Politics In Question, James and Lee talk with Soren Dayton about cycles of electoral reform. Dayton is the Director of Governance at the Foundation for American Innovation.

What are the boundaries of presidential power? How has power been centralized within the Executive Branch throughout history? What role does partisan politics play in the current conflicts over the separation of powers? These are some of the questions James and Lee explore in this week’s episode.

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What Happened to Our Political Parties?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 4 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s special live episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Didi Kuo about the evolution of political parties in America. Kuo is a Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and author of The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave and Why They Don't (Oxford University Press, 2025).

Why do we need strong political parties? What is the foundation for a “good” political party? And how do we get them? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia explore in this week’s episode.

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Where Does Christianity Fit in American Politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk with Jonathan Rauch about Christian nationalism and its relationship to democracy. Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the author of Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (Yale University Press, 2025).

How new and distinct is this version of Christianity in American public life? What has been the historical role of Christianity in American democracy? And what exactly is civic theology? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week's episode.

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Do We Need to Redefine Democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 5 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk with Samuel Bagg about participation and democracy. Bagg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina and the author of The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2024).

What are the origins of deliberative democracy? What is the role of participation in the 21st century? How should we think about democracy beyond individual decision-making? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week's episode.

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What Defines a Political Scandal?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 5 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Charles Hunt and Jaclyn Kettler about political scandals. Hunt is a Professor of Political Science at Boise State University (BSU), and Kettler is a Political Science Associate Professor at BSU. They are the hosts of Scandalized , a podcast where each episode unpacks a political scandal from American history.

What's the difference between an honest mistake and a scandal? How does the political landscape contextualize how we think about corruption? When does corruption become framed as normalcy? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia explore in this week's episode.

Note: This episode was recorded in October 2024.

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Have We Entered a New Constitutional Order?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee talks with Paul Pierson and Eric Schickler about the polarization of American politics and the emergence of a new constitutional order. Pierson is the John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Berkeley, and Schickler is the Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science and co-Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at Berkeley. They are the authors of Partisan Nation: The Dangerous New Logic of American Politics in a Nationalized Era (The University of Chicago Press, 2024).

How has the rise of new institutions shifted our constitutional order? How does polarization today differ from other eras? What changes have occurred in local political parties from the 1960s to now? These are some of the Lee explores in this week’s episode.

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How Did the Heartland Go Red?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee talk with Stephanie Ternullo about the political shift among white working-class Americans. Ternullo is an Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University and author of How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of Nationalized Politics (Princeton University Press, 2024).

How do people grow partisan attachments within their social groups? What are the crucial elements of class? How do national party politics translate to local party organizing? These are some of the questions Julia and Lee explore in this week’s episode.

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How Do We Fix Political Dysfunction?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, James, Julia, and Lee discuss political dysfunction and how our perceptions of politics influence our views. They discuss Lee’s Substack piece We Need More (and Better) Parties and Julia’s Substack piece The Odds vs. The Stakes: In 2024, They Don't Seem to Be Related.

How should media cover elections? In what ways is power being used to shape policy? Should we build political parties through existing social networks? These are some of the questions James, Julia, and Lee explore in this week’s episode.

Note: This episode was recorded in September 2024.

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Is Democracy Under Threat?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 3 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Zack Beauchamp about how we make sense of democratic threats. Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox and author of The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World (PublicAffairs, 2024).

What are the risks to American democracy? How do social and economic hierarchies influence the functioning of democracy? Who defines democratic values? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia explore in this week’s episode.

Note: This episode was recorded in August 2024.

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How Do Voting Laws Affect Turnout?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 2 Dec 2024 13:33:11 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee talks with Kevin Morris about demographics, voting rights, and elections. Morris, a Senior Research Fellow and Voting Policy Scholar at the Brennan Center, is the co-author of the report Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022.

How have voting rights laws, policies, and practices evolved over time? How has the Shelby County v. Holder decision impacted voting laws within states? Is there a correlation between state laws and voter turnout among communities of color? These are some of the questions Lee explores in this week’s episode.

Note: This episode was recorded in July 2024.

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Can multiparty presidentialism revitalize U.S. democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia talks with Scott Mainwaring about multipartism and presidentialism. Mainwaring is the Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He is the co-author, alongside Lee Drutman, of The Case for Multiparty Presidentialism in the U.S. (Protect Democracy, 2023).

How do institutions impact coalition fluidity? What is the role of actors within formal institutions? What can we learn about multipartism from Latin America? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia explore in this week’s episode.

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What is the role of parties?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:16:49 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee talk with Sam Rosenfeld and Daniel Schlozman about the evolution of political parties in the United States. Rosenfeld is an is Associate Professor of Political Science at Colgate University and Scholzman is a Joseph and Bertha Bernstein Associate Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. They are the authors of The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics (Princeton University Press, 2024).

Why are parties locked in a polarized struggle for power? How did Biden’s nomination illustrate party hollowness? How has the political economy of parties shifted? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia ask in this week’s episode.

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What are the politics of debt relief?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 07:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Chloe Nicol Thurston and Emily Zackin about the United State’s relationship to debt and debtors. Thurston is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Zackin is an Associate Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. They are the authors of The Political Development of American Debt Relief (Chicago University Press, 2024).

What role has race played in the United States' history of debt relief? How has debtor activism contributed to state-building? How has debt relief been connected to contemporary issues? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia ask in this week’s episode.

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How does memory shape democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question Lee and Julia dive into the latest from their Substack newsletters, Undercurrent Events and Good Politics/Bad Politics. They delve into how negativity bias, nostalgia bias, identity, and messaging all shape the current state of our democracy.

How do we think of the present and the past? How do emotion, identity, and community shape the way we perceive and engage with politics? In what ways does our collective memory influence the course of democracy? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia ask in this week’s episode.

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What does changing demographics mean for parties?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 15:05:28 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question Lee talks with Jocelyn Kiley to discuss the Pew Report, Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation. Kiley is a Senior Associate Director of Research at Pew Research Center.

What are the most important demographic groups within each party? What is the correlation between age and partisanship? How are partisan divisions reinforced by demographic differences? These are some of the questions Lee and Jocelyn ask in this week’s episode.

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Has the Senate been disrupted?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 4 Nov 2024 23:20:29 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore the role of the Senate and the dysfunction we see today with Sean Theriault. Theriault is a Professor at the Department of Government at the University of Texas, Austin and the author of Disruption?: The Senate During the Trump Era (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Do we need the Senate? What has caused gridlock in the Senate? What would the Senate look like during a second Trump term? These are some of the questions Sean, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How do direct primaries impact American self-government?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 14:10:20 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore America’s reliance on direct primaries in federal elections with Nick Troiano. Troiano is the Executive Director of Unite America and the author of The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes (Simon & Schuster, 2024).

What are direct primaries? Why do Americans rely on them? When did they first start using direct primaries in federal elections? And what are the consequences? These are some of the questions Nick, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Why do Americans use primary elections to select candidates for office?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 14:13:31 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee discusses the history of primary elections and options for reform with Robert Boatright. Boatright is professor of political science at Clark University and the world’s leading expert on the American primary system. He is also the director of research for the National Institute of Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. His most recent book is Reform and Retrenchment: A Century of Efforts to Fix Primary Elections (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Why did the United States become the only democracy in the world that gives its voters a decisive voice in candidate selection? When did Americans begin using primary elections to select a party’s candidates for office? What is the difference between open and closed primaries? How did primary elections change in the 1960s and 1970s? Did the Democratic and Republican parties sideline reformers and take over primary elections during that period? How do different factions within each party view primary reform? These are some of the questions Robert and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Who rules America?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 12:03:32 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ari Berman joins Julia and Lee to discuss voting rights in the United States. Berman is Mother Jones’ national voting rights correspondent. He is the author of numerous books, including Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024).

Why is American politics dysfunctional? Is it because the Constitution prevents a majority of Americans from enacting their preferred policies without compromising with a minority of the population? Is the Constitution’s structure incompatible with the nation’s increasing diversification? What are the pros and cons of having voting laws administered at the state and local level? These are some of the questions Ari, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Why is it amateur hour on Capitol Hill?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 8 Jul 2024 20:17:03 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Porter joins Lee to consider the consequences of political amateurs in Congress. Porter is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. Her research interests include American political institutions and political methodology, with a particular focus on Congress, elite behavior, and methods for computational social science. Most recently, her work has sought to explore and explain the rising success of political amateurs in elections for the U.S. House of Representatives. Before coming to Notre Dame, she earned a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Political Science & International Affairs at the University of Georgia.

What is a political amateur? Why have the number of political amateurs in the House of Representatives increased since 2010? Is there a difference between Democratic and Republican amateurs? What role does experience play in governing? And what are the consequences of the decline in careerism for American self-government more broadly? These are some of the questions Rachel and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Is American democracy in crisis?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 1 Jul 2024 12:31:08 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jake Grumbach joins Lee and James to consider whether American democracy is in crisis. Grumbach is an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He studies the political economy of the United States, with interests in democratic institutions, labor, federalism, racial and economic inequality, and statistical methods. And he is the author of Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics (Princeton University Press, 2022).

What is the state of American democracy? Are concerns that it is failing overblown? Or are they justified? What is the best standard to evaluate the quality of representation in the United States? How does that standard change based on the different types of democracy? These are some of the questions Jake, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What is the state of American Democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 16 May 2024 18:53:50 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Congressman John Sarbanes, D-Md., joins Lee to talk about the health of American democracy. Sarbanes has represented Maryland’s third congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2007. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. Sarbanes was born and raised in Baltimore and has experience working in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

What does it mean to live in a democracy? What is the state of American democracy? Is it a flawed democracy? If so, what can be done to fix it? These are some of the questions Rep. Sarbanes and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Do white rural Americans pose a threat to democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 12:45:49 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman join Lee and James to discuss the urban-rural divide in American politics. Schaller is a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Waldman is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in numerous publications, including MSNBC. Their new book is White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy (Random House, 2024).

Why is Mingo County, West Virginia important? How has the decline of political parties shaped America’s present rural-urban divide? What is rural America? Do rural white Americans all think the same thing? Are rural Americans unique in their frustration with the federal government? Or are people from all walks of life frustrated with their government? These are some of the questions Tom, Paul, Lee, and James ask – and argue about – in this week’s episode.

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What is the right way to do politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 19:38:48 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Matt Glassman joins Lee and James to discuss the right way to do politics. Glassman is a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. Before that, he worked on congressional operations, separation of powers, appropriations process, agency design, and congressional history at the Congressional Research Service. He also served as professional staff on the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

How do you do politics? What is the right way to do politics? Is there one right way? Does it vary between the White House and Congress? These are some of the questions Matt, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Is the House broken?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 14:33:47 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James ask Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas, if the House of Representatives is broken. Roy is a devoted husband and father of two, serving his third term in Congress representing Texas's 21st Congressional District. He serves on the House Judiciary, Rules, and Budget Committees and is the House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair. Roy previously served as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas under Ken Paxton, Chief of Staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, senior advisor to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Senate Judiciary Committee staff director under Sen. John Cornyn, and as a federal prosecutor. Prior to the public sector, he worked for nearly three years as an investment banking analyst. He holds a B.S. and M.A from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Texas.

Is the House broken? What does a functioning House look like? What do lawmakers need to fix it? How does the House's institutional dynamic make it harder to form cross-party coalitions? Are cross-party coalitions the solution to what ails the institution? What is the "uni-party" and how is it preventing the House from addressing America's problems? These are some of the questions that Roy, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

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Why can't Americans compromise?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:52:22 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jonathan Rauch joins Lee and James to consider why Americans can’t compromise. Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program and the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer of The Atlantic and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. His many Brookings publications include the 2021 book “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth”, as well as the 2015 ebook “Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy.” Other books include “The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better after 50” (2018) and “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America” (2004). He has also authored research on political parties, marijuana legalization, LGBT rights and religious liberty, and more.

What is compromise? Where does it happen? What does it take to get it? And what is preventing Americans from doing it today, especially in Congress? Are lawmakers really trying to win in the House and Senate? These are some of the questions that Jonathan, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Are Americans democracy hypocrites?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sun, 4 Feb 2024 01:45:50 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk about Bonnie Tyler, Tina Turner, and Americans’ views of democracy. What is democracy? How do Americans view it? Do they think about democracy differently when it gets in their way? Does that make them “democracy hypocrites?” Why are Americans holding out for a hero in such moments? And does democratic self-government need another hero to make it work? These are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What does 2023 tell us about what could happen in American politics in 2024?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 8 Jan 2024 14:11:15 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss what happened in 2023, and what could happen in 2024. What did we learn in 2023? Was American politics less fluid and surprising than it was in 2022? Will the 2024 presidential election be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump? What are the consequences of divided parties? Why is Congress such a hot mess? And why aren’t more people talking about the first-in-the-nation island primary? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How can Americans bridge the urban-rural divide in their politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jonathan Rodden joins Julia and Lee to discuss the challenges presented by urban-rural polarization in American politics. Rodden is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University. His work focuses on the comparative political economy of institutions. He has written on various topics, including federalism and fiscal decentralization, the geographic distribution of political preferences within countries, legislative bargaining, the distribution of budgetary transfers across regions, and the historical origins of political institutions. He is also the author of Why Cities Lose: The Deep Roots of the Urban-Rural Divide (Basic Books, 2019).

What is urban-rural polarization? How do political parties perpetuate it? Does America’s presidential system exacerbate the underlying problem? And what reforms can help Americans bridge the urban-rural divide in their politics? These are some of the questions Jonathan, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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What does political polling miss?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 4 Dec 2023 21:04:43 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee takes a big picture look at political polling with Michael Podhorzer. Podhorzer is a senior fellow at the Center for American Process where he writes weekly on election data and political strategy. He is the former political director of the AFL-CIO. Podhorzer founded the Analyst Institute, the Independent Strategic Research Collaborative (ISRC), the Defend Democracy Project, and the Polling Consortium, and helped found America Votes, Working America, For Our Future, and Catalist.

Does political polling account for place, community, and political organization? How does the present approach to polling overlook state and local dynamics? To what extent have the Democratic and Republican parties altered their geographical bases of support in recent decades? How have the cultural and economic aspects of place shaped the two parties? And is a kakistocracy? These are some of the questions Michael and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Why are political leaders important?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 20:51:46 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, James discusses the importance of political leadership with Daniel Stid. Stid is the Executive Director of Lyceum Labs. He previously served as the founding director of the Hewlett Foundation’s U.S. Democracy Program. From 2013-22, Daniel led $180 million in grantmaking to shore up U.S. democracy in a time of polarization. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at The Bridgespan Group, where Daniel advised nonprofit, foundation, and government leaders; a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group; and a Congressional Fellow on the staff of House Majority Leader Dick Armey. He is the author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution. In his blog, The Art of Association, Daniel explores the interplay between civil society and democracy in America. He has a B.A. from Hope College, an M.Phil. in politics from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.

What role do political leaders play in making American politics work? What constitutes good leadership? Where do political leaders come from? And how do we get more? These are some of the questions that Daniel and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What will American democracy look like in the 21st century?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 16:18:39 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee considers what American democracy will look like in the 21st century with Archon Fung. Fung is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at Harvard Kennedy School and director of Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals.

What is the present state of American democracy? What impact will artificial intelligence have on it? Will the way in which people consume information exacerbate extremism and negativity in American politics? These are some of the questions Archon and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Why does the House need a Speaker?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:15:49 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James reflect on the House’s Speaker drama. Why did it take so long for the House to select a Speaker? What is the House for? Why does it need a Speaker - and other powerful leaders - to operate? And what can the House’s history teach us about alternative ways to manage the institution? These are some of the questions that Lee and Jams ask in this week’s episode.

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What can social movements teach us about American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 13:34:38 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia considers social movements and political parties with Marcus Board Jr. Board is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Howard University. His research engages social movements, radical Black feminist theories of power, and public opinion. He is the author of Invisible Weapons: Infiltrating Resistance and Defeating Movements (Oxford University Press, 2022). Board most recently co-authored a chapter on social movements and political parties in the American Political Science Association’s Presidential Task Force on Political Parties report, “More Than Red and Blue: Political Parties and American Democracy” (July 2023).

What is a social movement? How do they differ from political parties and interest groups? Can social movements benefit from joining forces with political parties? What are the implications for political parties when social movements try to transform our political institutions? And what can gumbo teach us about grappling with complicated political questions? These are some of the questions Marcus and Julia ask in this week’s episode.

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What's wrong with American politics and how can we make it right?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 13:39:04 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James assess what’s wrong with American self-government? Why is it dysfunctional? What will it take to change the status quo? And will Lee and James ever get a chance to open a vegetarian piano bar restaurant? These are some of the questions that they ask in this week’s episode.

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Are state legislators really accountable to their voters?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 16:28:17 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Steven Rogers joins Julia and Lee to discuss state legislatures. Rogers is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Saint Louis University, where he teaches and conducts research on elections, state legislatures, and public opinion.

How many people can name their state representative? Does it matter if they have no idea who represents them in the state capital? What are the implications of low electoral accountability in state legislative elections? Would more competition make state legislators more accountable to their constituents? These are some of the questions Steve, Julia, and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

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How did Trump threaten American self-government when he was president?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 13:30:44 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Miles Taylor joins Julia and Lee to talk about the resistance to Donald Trump when he was president. Taylor is the author of Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump. He served in the Trump administration as the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, Taylor worked in Congress and served in the George W. Bush administration.

How did administration officials counter the threat to American self-government that they believed Donald Trump posed when he was president? Why did some Republicans resist the president while others supported him? What will happen if Trump - or Trumpism - wins the presidency in 2024? Can a great civic awakening prevent that scenario from happening? And what is the “axis of adults?” These are some of the questions Miles, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Where do busy people find the time to participate in democratic self-government?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 15:07:26 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Kevin Elliott joins Lee and James to talk about how busy people can make democracy work for them. Elliott is a political scientist and Lecturer in Ethics, Politics, and Economics (EP&E) at Yale University. His main research interests are in political theory, particularly democratic theory, and focus on the ethics of democratic citizenship, political epistemology, and the normative justification and design of political institutions. He is the author of Democracy for Busy People (University of Chicago Press, 2023).

Does democratic self-government demand too much of Americans? Can democracy work for people focused on meeting the everyday demands of life? Or do Americans need to rethink some of the ways in which they do democratic self-government? And what is “stand-by citizenship?” These are some of the questions that Kevin, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What can storytelling teach us about politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Jake Tapper) — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jake Tapper joins Lee and James to talk about his latest novel, All the Demons Are Here (Little, Brown and Company, 2023) and how storytelling helps us understand politics. Tapper is CNN’s chief Washington correspondent and hosts its award-winning program, The Lead with Jake Tapper, and its Sunday morning show, State of the Union. He is also the author of five novels, including The Hellfire Club and The Devil May Dance.

What does fiction allow writers to do that non-fiction doesn’t? Why do fictionalized accounts of the past help us better understand the present? What is different about politics in the 1970s and politics today? And what is so special about Evel Knievel? These are some of the questions Jake, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Why Congress?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 14:09:51 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Philip Wallach joins Lee and James to talk about Congress, how it’s broken, and how we can fix it. Philip is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies America’s separation of powers, with a focus on regulatory policy issues and the relationship between Congress and the administrative state. Philip’s latest book is Why Congress (Oxford University Press, 2023).

How broken is today’s Congress? What is Congress’s job? How has it performed that job differently throughout its history? What has changed in Congress over the past few decades? Who changed it? And what do Americans want out of Congress? These are some of the questions that Philip, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Why is it so hard to buy things with nickels? (plus questions about the debt limit debate and 2024 presidential election)

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode, Julia, Lee, and James deconstruct the debt limit debate and the 2024 presidential election. What does the debt limit debate tell us about polarization in American politics? Why did the debt debate play out like it did? Does it tell us anything about the 2024 presidential election? Will it be a rematch between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump? Is Trump winning the Republican nomination inevitable? What is a Substack? And why is it so hard to pay for a latte with nickels? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Does America have a representation problem?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 20:16:39 +0000

In this week’s episode, Lee speaks with Lisa Disch about the state of America’s representative democracy. Disch is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan. Her work focuses on contemporary continental political thought, especially feminist theory, political ecology, and theories of democracy in both the United States and France. She is the author of Making Constituencies: Representation as Mobilization in Mass Democracy (The University of Chicago Press, 2021), The Tyranny of the Two Party System (Columbia University Press, 2002) and Hannah Arendt and the Limits of Philosophy (Cornell University Press, 1994).

How responsive are legislators to their constituents’ concerns? What role do legislators play in shaping their constituents’ views? And is there a crisis of representation in American politics? These are some of the questions Lisa and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Can podcasts save America?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 8 Jun 2023 11:14:40 +0000

In this week’s episode, Mila Atmos joins Julia and James to discuss how podcasts can save American politics. Atmos is the producer and host of Future Hindsight, a weekly podcast that aims to spark civic engagement through in-depth conversations with citizen change-makers. She combines life experiences from living in multiple cultures ranging from Indonesia to Germany to the rural U.S., with her knowledge base in history, economics, and international affairs (B.A. & M.I.A. Columbia University) in creating Future Hindsight.

What is the central threat presently facing American self-government? How can the podcast medium help Americans better understand that threat? Can it personalize political debates by hosting intimate conversations on controversial issues? And how do podcasts presently reinforce America’s political dysfunction? These are some of the questions that Mila, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How does public opinion influence policymakers?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 22 May 2023 20:03:39 +0000

In this week’s episode, Daniel J. Hopkins joins Lee and James to consider the influence of public opinion on American politics. Hopkins is a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Stable Condition: Elites’ Limited Influence on Health Care Attitudes.

How does public opinion influence policy outcomes in Congress? Do the American people have power over policymakers that they rarely use? How much leeway do policymakers have to act independent of public opinion?And how does the Affordable Care Act debate inform our understanding of the relationship between public opinion and policymaking? These are some of the questions that Dan, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Should lawmakers use the debt limit as leverage to cut spending?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 8 May 2023 17:01:23 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James discuss the federal debt limit. What is the debt limit? What is the case for raising it? Should lawmakers use the debt limit as leverage to obtain policy concessions that reduce the deficit and debt? And what does the present debate over the debt limit say about American politics more broadly? These are some of the questions that Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What is the relationship between populism and nationalism in American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 06:44:59 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Bart Bonikowski joins Julia and Lee to discuss the relationship between populism and nationalism in American politics. Bonikowski is an associate professor of sociology and politics at New York University. He uses relational survey methods, computational text analysis, and experimental research to apply insights gleaned from cultural sociology to the study of politics in the United States and Europe. Bonikowski focuses on nationalism, populism, and radical-right parties.

What is populism? Is it synonymous with radical politics? How does left-wing populism and right-wing populism differ? What explains the success of populist nationalist movements in the United States? And what is the likelihood of a populist movement causing democratic backsliding in the US? These are some of the questions Bart, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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How do Americans define democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 14:25:53 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Nicholas Davis joins Julia and Lee to discuss how Americans define democracy. Davis is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama. His research focuses on political psychology, public opinion, ideology, and how Americans understand democratic values more broadly. He is the co-author of Democracy’s Meanings: How the Public Understands Democracy and Why It Matters (the University of Michigan Press).

How have Americans defined democracy differently over time? What are its essential characteristics? Do Americans view democracy in procedural terms? Is its primary function the protection of civil liberties? Or do Americans understand democracy in social terms? Do they believe it is central to helping people meet their material needs? And what about the people who hold views between these two poles? These are some of the questions Nicholas, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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How do we regulate political parties?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 13:55:21 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Tabatha Abu El-Haj joins Lee to discuss political parties and the law. El-Haj is a professor of law in the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University. Her work focuses on the process of politics, democratic accountability, and governmental responsiveness. She is the author of numerous articles on America’s politics and its government including, Changing the People: Legal Regulation and American Democracy (NYU Law Review 2011) and Networking the Party: First Amendment Rights & the Pursuit of Responsive Party Government (Columbia Law Review, 2018).

What are political parties? How do the laws that presently regulate partisan primary elections influence how we understand them? Who decides which party’s candidate determines who won the election. Are closed primaries - in which only party members could participate? Can open primaries be part of the solution? And what exactly is a blanket primary. These are some of the questions Tabatha and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

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Is America too polarized or too fragmented?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 15:01:45 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rick Pildes joins Lee and James to consider two different explanations for America’s present political dysfunction. Pildes is the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at the New York University School of Law. His work explores legal and policy issues concerning the structure of democratic elections and institutions, such as the role of money in politics, the design of election districts, the regulation of political parties, the structure of voting systems, the representation of minority interests in democratic institutions, and similar issues. Earlier in his career, Pildes clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. Most recently, President Biden appointed Pildes to the President’s Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Why is American politics presently dysfunctional? Is it because Americans are too polarized? Or is it because they are too fragmented? How has political fragmentation affected politics in the past? What challenges does it pose for effective governance? What is an effective government? And how many political parties do Americans really need? These are some of the questions that Rick, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How do factions impact American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 6 Mar 2023 19:08:35 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Dan DiSalvo joins Lee and James to discuss party factions. DiSalvo is a professor and chair of the political science department in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York. He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. DiSalvo focuses on American political parties, elections, labor unions, state government, and public policy. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Engines of Change: Party Factions in American Politics, 1868-2010 (Oxford University Press, 2012) and Government Against Itself: Public Union Power and Its Consequences (Oxford University Press: 2015).

What are factions? What do they tell us about American politics? Do they make significant policy change possible? How have factions influenced government in the past? And what are the factions within the Democratic and Republican parties today? These are some of the questions Dan, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What is the State of the Union?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 14:08:05 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the President’s State of the Union Address. What is the State of the Union? Does anyone watch it? What purpose does it serve? Can it be made better? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What is conservative populism?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:37:19 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Paul Elliott Johnson joins Julia and James to discuss conservative populism. Johnson is Assistant Professor of Deliberation and Civic Life in the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on rhetorical theory, argumentation, and American politics, with a particular focus on the rhetoric of populism and American conservatism. He is the author of I the People: The Rhetoric of Conservative Populism in the United States (University of Alabama Press, 2022).

What is conservative populism? Does it define American conservatism? How does it differ from liberal populism? And what does it tell us about the next chapter in American politics? These are some of the questions Paul, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How do extraordinary ordinary people change the world?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 3 Feb 2023 18:19:35 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Lears joins Julia and James to discuss how filmmaking can help us understand how people make political change happen. Lears is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and cinematographer. Her film Knock Down the House (Netflix) won the U.S. Documentary Audience award and the Festival Favorite award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Knock Down the House was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy in 2020. Lears’ latest film, To the End, captures the emergence of a new generation of leaders in the movement to combat the climate crisis.

How do people make the politically impossible possible? Why does telling their story visually give us a different perspective on politics than we would get from reading about them in the New York Times or the Washington Post? What explains the progressive movement’s recent resurgence? And what skills do people need to change the political status quo? These are some of the questions Rachel, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How much money should Americans spend on their elections?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 17:19:47 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ryan Williamson joins James to consider how much money Americans spend on their elections. Williamson is a resident governance fellow at the R Street Institute. He researches and writes on issues related to election reform and administration and governance, such as legislative procedure and capacity.

Who is responsible for funding elections in the United States? Do some jurisdictions underfund their elections more than others? How much should elections cost? And how will spending more money on elections impact American politics moving forward? These are some of the questions that Ryan and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sat, 14 Jan 2023 17:05:42 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee kick off a new year by considering what the House Speaker election says about the Republican Party. What is going on with the GOP? Is the Speaker's race an example of healthy factional fighting? Or is it a sign of Republican disarray? How does the Republican infighting differ from recent debates within the Democratic Party? And what is Lee’s terrible pun? These are some of the questions Julia and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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What happened in 2022?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 15:53:58 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider what happened in 2022 and what it means for American politics moving forward. They discuss the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Congress’s January 6 Committee investigation, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and November’s midterm elections. How did these events shape the course of American politics in 2022? Did they change America’s political institutions? And what do they tell us about how those institutions work for the American people? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How do winner-take-all elections harm American democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sat, 10 Dec 2022 02:31:50 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee join Brendan Nyhan, Lilliana Mason, Aziz Huq, and Jennifer Victor to discuss how America’s system of winner-take-all congressional districts exacerbates the challenges its democracy faces. Nyhan is the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor, Department of Government, Dartmouth College. Mason is an SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. Huq is the Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. And Victor is an associate professor of political science at George Mason University’s Schar School Policy and Government.

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How can business help solve America's democracy crisis?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sun, 4 Dec 2022 13:07:37 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Daniella Ballou-Aares joins Lee and James to discuss the relationship between business and democracy. Ballou-Aares is the CEO and cofounder of the Leadership Now Project, a membership organization of business and thought leaders taking action to protect and renew American democracy. Ballou-Aares began her career at Bain & Company, working across the firm’s offices in the US, South Africa and the UK. She spent five years in the Obama Administration as the Senior Advisor for Development to the Secretary of State, serving under Secretaries Clinton and Kerry. What is the state of democracy in the United States? How much responsibility does business bear for the present state of democracy? And how can business change the status quo? These are some of the questions Daniella, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What do the 2022 midterm results mean?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 04:29:49 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss what happened in this year’s midterm elections. Is the Red Wave a superhero or college mascot? Why didn’t it appear on Election Day? Was the midterm outcome a surprise? How did political institutions influence it? What does the outcome tell us about American politics more broadly? And when will Julia announce her 2024 presidential bid? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How do the politics of race impact the American presidency?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 21:07:09 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Robert C. Smith joins Julia to discuss race and the American presidency. Smith is a professor emeritus of political science at San Francisco State University. He is a nationally-recognized expert on African American politics. His research has examined comparisons between President Barack Obama and President John F. Kennedy and the relationship between conservatism and racism in the United States. Smith is the author of numerous articles and books on national and African American politics, the presidency, and Congress, including Polarization and the Presidency: From FDR to Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and the Politics of Ethnic Incorporation and Avoidance. His most recent article is “Presidential Responsiveness to Black Interests From Grant to Biden: The Power of the Vote, the Power of Protest” in Presidential Studies Quarterly.

Are recent presidents hostile or complacent about the needs of African Americans? Is their record on these issues reflective of broader forces in the political system? How enduring is white racial liberalism in the modern Democratic Party? And what is Obama’s racial legacy? These are some of the questions Robert and Julia ask in this week’s episode.

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Is America on the cusp of a realignment?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 4 Nov 2022 17:57:01 +0000

In this week’s episode, Timothy Shenk joins Lee and James to discuss electoral politics in the United States. Shenk is a historian of the modern United States in the Department of History at the George Washington University, where he researches and writes about American political and intellectual history. He is the author of Realigns: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022).

Is America on the cusp of a realignment in which a new majority will emerge to shape our politics for the next generation? Or are Americans stuck in a cycle of anxiety-producing, high-stakes elections that are closely contested year after year? What can we learn from the past about the present moment in American politics? These are some of the questions that Tim, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What can we learn from political polls?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 18:33:04 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Elliott Morris joins Julia and Lee to discuss political polling. M o rris is a data journalist and US correspondent at The Economist, where he writes on American politics, elections, and public opinion. Morris previously worked for an elections returns start-up and the Pew Research Center and has contributed articles to the New York Times. He is the author of Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them.

How does polling work? Can polls tell us something that we don’t already know? Are polls misleading? Is the practice good or bad for democracy? These are some of the questions that Elliott, Julia, and Lee ask on this week’s episode.

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What does it mean to be a good citizen in the United States?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 21:19:19 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Sara Wallace Goodman joins Julia and Lee to discuss citizenship and its impact on politics. Goodman is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Her research examines citizenship and the shaping of political identity through immigrant integration. She is the author of Citizenship in Hard Times: How Ordinary People Respond to Democratic Threat (Cambridge University Press, 2022), co-author of Pandemic Politics (Princeton University Press, 2022), and author of Immigration and Membership Politics in Western Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Her work has also appeared in the Journal of Politics, World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, International Organization, and other venues.

What does it mean to be a good citizen? Can it be taught? Do conservatives and liberals define citizenship differently? How does partisanship influence Americans’ citizenship definitions? These are some of the questions Sara, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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What's wrong with the Constitution?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 19:50:28 +0000

In this week’s episode, Sanford Levinson joins Lee and James to discuss constitutional reform. Levinson holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. He is also a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas. Levinson is the author of numerous articles and books, including Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) and Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Government. His most recent book is Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Graphic Novel (Macmillan, 2020).

Is the United States Constitution undemocratic? Does its complex institutional structure prevent Americans from doing big things in politics? Or does it ensure that no one rules America? What would a more democratic Constitution look like? What does it take to change the Constitution? And can Americans change it without empowering a majority to rule? These are some of the questions Sandy, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How does electoral reform happen?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 20:11:26 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jack Santucci joins Lee to discuss electoral reform. Santucci is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Politics at Drexel University. His research examines American political institutions in comparative and historical perspectives. He is the author of More Parties or No Parties: The Politics of Electoral Reform in America (Oxford University Press, 2022).

What makes an electoral reform successful? How is it sustained? What can Americans learn from the history of efforts to advance proportional voting in the United States? And what mistakes does that history help them to avoid? These are some of the issues Jack and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Is there a generation gap in American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 9 Sep 2022 15:39:59 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Kevin Munger joins Lee to discuss the generation gap in American politics. Munger is the Jeffrey L. Hyde and Sharon D. Hyde and Political Science Board of Visitors Early Career Professor of Political Science and Assistant Professor of Political Science and Social Data Analytics at Penn State University. His research has appeared in leading journals like the American Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Political Communication, and Political Science Research & Methods. Munger is the author of Generation Gap: Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture (Columbia University Press 2022).

Is there a generational divide in American politics? What issues do young people care about most? How can they influence what’s happening in Washington, D.C.? And is it time for an older generation to pass the torch? These are some of the issues Kevin and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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What's wrong with primary elections?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 6 Sep 2022 18:42:39 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Matt Germer joins Julia and Lee to discuss election reform. Germer is a resident elections fellow for the Governance Program at the R Street Institute. Before joining R Street, he was a policy counsel and strategic planning coordinator at the Washington House of Representatives. Prior to that, Germer served as nonpartisan staff in the Oregon state legislature.

What are primary elections and why do they exist? Do primary elections help polarize American politics? And if they are a problem, how should primary elections be reformed? These are some of the questions Matt, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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What decisions do political parties make after losing an election?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 9 Aug 2022 18:07:25 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Seth Market joins Julia and James to consider how losing an election affects partisans. Market is a professor of political science and the director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. He is the author of several books and articles on political parties, campaigns and elections, and state legislatures. His most recent book is Learning from Loss: The Democrats 2016-2020 (Cambridge 2020). Market contributes regularly at FiveThirtyEight, Mischiefs of Faction, and the Denver Post. He is currently working on a book project examining the Republican Party’s interpretations of the 2020 election and its preparations for 2024.

Who holds power in the Democratic and Republican parties after an election defeat? Does the location of power vary between the two parties? How do partisans explain losing an election? And how do party leaders and partisan activists try to frame election defeats to gain leverage on their intra-party rivals? These are some of the questions Seth, Julia, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Why are Americans so upset about politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 23:05:53 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James consider why Americans are so upset about politics. Why are Americans so angry when it comes to politics? What is upsetting them? And what can Americans do to change politics when the political system doesn’t work as they want it to work? These are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Is it time to rethink how we understand political parties?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 18:55:17 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Hans Noel joins Julia and James to talk about political parties. Noel is an associate professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, where he conducts research on political coalitions, political parties, and ideology. He is the author of Political Ideologies and Political Parties in America, and a co-author of The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. Noel also blogs on political parties at Mischiefs of Faction and the Monkey Cage.

How have events over the last decade shaped our understanding of political parties? Should we think about parties differently today than how we thought about them ten years ago? Why are the Democratic and Republican parties comprised of certain groups and interests? And does the conventional view of ideological polarization distort political reality when it comes to parties? These are some of the questions Hans, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Is it a good idea to require Americans to vote in federal elections?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 6 Jul 2022 14:36:58 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport join Lee to discuss their new book, 100% Voting: The Case for Universal Voting. Dionne writes about politics for The Washington Post. He is also a government professor at Georgetown University, a visiting professor at Harvard University, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio and MSNBC. Rapoport is Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to his appointment to the Ash Center, Rapoport was president of the independent grassroots organization Common Cause and headed the public policy center Demos.

What would happen if everybody voted? How would democracy change? In some countries, voting is mandatory. Should the United States become one of those countries? These are some of the questions E.J., Miles, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Is the Supreme Court's legitimacy at risk?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 14:56:22 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the Supreme Court and democratic legitimacy in front of a live audience at The Washington Center in Washington, D.C. How does public opinion influence the Supreme Court? What role does the Court play in the federal government? Is it the ultimate arbiter of controversial policy questions? And should it be reformed? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What will it take to change how the federal government budgets?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 20:31:24 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jonathan Bydlak joins James to talk about the federal budget. Bydlak is director of the Governance Program at the R Street Institute, where he also oversees the Fiscal and Budget Policy project and the Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group.

Why does the federal government budget like it doesn’t care about the future? How will events like the war in Ukraine, the pandemic, and inflation impact the United States’ fiscal health. And what will it take to change the federal government’s fiscal trajectory? These are some of the questions Jonathan and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What if things happened differently?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 12:44:15 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider what could have been if things happened differently at key moments in American political history. What would politics look like today if Richard Nixon defeated John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election? Would Barack Obama’s defeat in the 2012 presidential election alter the trajectory of American politics over the last ten years? What impact do individuals have on politics? Do events matter? Or is politics determined by forces beyond our control? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Is Trumpism in decline?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sun, 3 Apr 2022 18:08:18 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James ask about Donald Trump’s ongoing influence on the Republican Party. Will the former president be the GOP nominee in 2024? Can anyone defeat Trump if he seeks the nomination? What is the present state of Trumpism in the Republican Party? Is Trumpism changing? Is it in decline? And what do we mean by “Trumpism” in the first place? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

Julia Azari, “How Republicans Are Thinking About Trumpism Without Trump,” FiveThirtyEight (March 15, 2022).

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What do Americans think about immigration policy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 21:17:10 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Sophia Jordán Wallace joins Lee and James to discuss public opinion on immigration policy. Wallace is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington. She specializes in Latino Politics, representation, and immigration politics and policy. Wallace is the author of Walls, Cages, and Family Separation: Race and Immigration Policy in the Trump Era (Cambridge University Press 2020). And she has published articles in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, International Migration Review, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Political Research Quarterly, Politics, Groups, & Identities, American Politics Research, Social Science Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, and Urban Affairs Review.

What do Americans think about immigration policy? How does the rhetoric on immigration policy impact American elections? And why can’t Congress pass legislation reforming immigration policy and securing the border? These are some of the questions Sophia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Why did Russia invade Ukraine and what can the United States do about it?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 21:01:04 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Heather Hurlburt joins Julia and James to talk about what’s happening in Ukraine. Hurlburt is the director of the New Models of Policy Change project at New America’s Political Reform program. She is a contributor to New York Magazine and she has published articles in numerous publications, including Politico, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, Fortune, Vox, and Time. Hurlburt also co-hosts the Drezburt podcast and frequently appears in print and broadcast media. Previously, she ran the National Security Network, a premier source for internationalist foreign policy messaging and advocacy, held senior positions in the White House and State Department under President Bill Clinton, and worked on Capitol Hill and for the International Crisis Group.

What can the United States do to help Ukrainians repel Russia’s invasion of their nation? What are the diplomatic, economic, and military tools at the federal government’s disposal? Why did Russia invade Ukraine in the first place? And are America’s political institutions capable of crafting a Ukraine strategy that isn’t counterproductive in the long run? These are some of the questions that Heather, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What's stopping the United States from changing its energy policy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 21:36:28 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Leah Stokes joins Lee and James to discuss energy policy in the United States. Stokes is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She is the author of Short Circuiting Policy (Oxford University Press, 2020). Her articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Nature Energy, Energy Policy, and Environmental Science & Technology, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, and CNN.

What is the current state of the nation’s energy policy? How does the U.S. compare to other industrialized nations in this area? Are things as stagnant as many people think? Or is the federal government making progress? And what is stopping the government from moving more quickly? These are some of the questions Leah, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Where is the Republican Party headed?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 4 Mar 2022 21:30:05 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James talk Republican Party politics. What’s happening inside the GOP? Has the party become more authoritarian in recent years? Are there any Republicans who will push back against former President Trump and his allies? Can they succeed? Or is this the wrong way to think about Republican Party politics altogether? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Did conservatives transform the Supreme Court?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 02:23:05 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Amanda Hollis-Brusky joins Julia and Lee to discuss the conservative legal movement’s effort to transform the Supreme Court. Hollis-Brusky is associate professor and chair of the Department of Politics at Ponoma College. She is the author of two books on the conservative legal movement and the Supreme Court’s transformation. Has Chief Justice John Roberts lost control of the court? How have the recent appointments of Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh transformed the Court? What’s up with President Biden’s effort to fill the seat vacated by Stephen Breyer’s recent retirement? And what should court reform look like? These are some of the questions that Amanda, Julia and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

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Why is everyone talking about the Supreme Court?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 00:36:29 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the impending debate over President Biden’s pick to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Stephen Breyer’s retirement. Whom will Biden nominate to fill Breyer’s seat? Will the president pick a black woman as promised during the 2020 presidential campaign? How will the nominee’s confirmation process unfold in the Senate? Will all Democrats support the nominee? Is there anything Republicans can do to block - or at least slowdown - the process in this instance? And why do we even have a Supreme Court in the first place? What is its role in the federal government? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Why can't the Senate pass voting rights legislation?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 22:18:34 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider Senate Democrats’ failure to pass voting rights legislation. Why did Democrats bring up a bill when they didn’t have the votes to pass it? Did Democrats really think that they could pass the voting-rights bill by blowing up the Senate rules? And what is the filibuster’s future? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What will American politics look like in 2022?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 14:38:33 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider what American politics will look like in 2022. Is American democracy in decline? What do we mean by democracy? Do Americans focus too much on elections and not enough on what happens in-between elections? What will come out of Congress over the coming year? Do Americans want major policy change to happen? And what will happen in the 2022 midterm elections? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Is America's constitutional order on the brink of collapse?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 20:23:21 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider claims that America’s constitutional order is on the brink of collapse. Are supporters of former President Donald Trump actively plotting to overthrow the government if their candidate does not win the presidency in 2024? Is the effort presently underway in some state legislatures to change the laws that regulate elections an extension of the January 6 attack on the Capitol? And how can Americans protect their democratic-republic from any forces that threaten it? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Should the Senate eliminate the filibuster to pass the Freedom to Vote Act?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 14:34:23 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee, and James discuss civic participation and voting reform. What is the Freedom to Vote Act? Why can’t the Senate pass it? And why should Americans care? Are there other ways to fix the broken electoral system in some states? these are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What is thermostatic politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 9 Dec 2021 21:36:44 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss thermostatic politics. What is thermostatic politics? Does public opinion shift whenever the party in power changes in American politics? Why do people change their mind on public policy from election to election? Is this phenomenon driven by a lack of responsiveness in American politics more generally? And what is public opinion in the first place?

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Building the Relationships for Collaborative Governance: Interview with Colorado State Senator Faith Winter

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 2 Dec 2021 20:46:43 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Colorado State Senator Faith Winter discusses the successful collaborative governance process that led to Colorado becoming the first state in the country to enact statewide paid leave through a ballot initiative. Collaborative governance, or co-governance, is a democratic process where residents, activists, bureaucrats, and elected officials share in decision-making power to achieve common goals. In this interview, Faith discusses her involvement in the legislative efforts to pass statewide paid leave and working closely with the coalition that turned to a ballot initiative to get the measure passed.

To learn more about Colorado’s initiative, as well as four other co-governance case studies, read New America’s recent report, Building the Relationships for Collaborative Governance: Case Studies from Across America, available here.

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What the hell is going on with the Republican Party?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 8 Nov 2021 22:23:13 +0000

Lee and James talk Republican Party politics in this week’s episode of Politics In Question. Are Republicans becoming an illiberal and authoritarian party as their critics attest? Or is Republicans’ increasingly strident rhetoric on issues like vaccine mandates and critical race theory a distraction from their unwillingness to act to achieve their goals in institutions like the House and Senate? How does gridlock in Congress obscure divisions among Republicans over important issues like health care, immigration, and tax policy? And what will it take to change things on Capitol Hill? These are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What issues should Democrats emphasize ahead of the 2022 midterm elections?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 17:26:24 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss David Shor’s recent controversy-provoking advice for Democrats. What does Shor advise Democrats to do ahead of next year’s midterm elections? Why is his advice controversial? And what does the race-versus-economics debate that Shor’s advice sparked reveal about American politics more broadly and why our political institutions are dysfunctional? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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How do congressional elections fuel dysfunction in Congress?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 13:50:11 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Katherine Gehl joins Julia, Lee, and James to take a fresh look at how Americans conduct their elections and to discuss the prospects for reform. Gehl is the founder of the Institute for Political Innovation, a non-profit, cross-partisan public policy organization that aims to reform American politics by using private-sector insights to improve congressional elections and - by extension - fix Congress. She is the author of The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy and the leading proponent of Politics Industry Theory.

How do members of Congress get (and keep) their jobs? Does it help (or hurt) Congress’s ability to do its job? Is there a better way to elect lawmakers? What is Final Five Voting? Can it change how the House and Senate operate? And what is Politics Industry Theory? These are some of the questions that Katherine, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What can Congress’s present dysfunction teach us about our politics and how to make it better?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 1 Oct 2021 12:34:13 +0000

In the season four opener of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James unpack the rampant dysfunction on Capitol Hill. Why did Congress wait until the last minute to fund the government and raise the debt limit? What is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., endgame? And will Democratic divisions prevent Congress from passing President Joe Biden’s agenda moving forward? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How much conflict is too much conflict in politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Politics In Question, Amanda Ripley joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss political conflict. Ripley is an investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author. Her most recent book is High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out (Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2021). Ripley's writing has appeared in the Atlantic Magazine, Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, Politico, the Guardian, and The Times of London.

What is high conflict? How does it impact politics? Can participating in politics in institutions like Congress help solve the problems high conflict causes? And what exactly is a conflict entrepreneur? These are some of the questions Amanda, Julia, Lee, and James ask in this episode.

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What is affective polarization?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 16:07:29 +0000

In this episode of Politics In Question, Noam Gidron joins Julia and Lee to discuss political polarization. Gidron is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the co-author of American Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2020). His writing has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Annual Review of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and Social Forces.

What is affective polarization? How does it differ from ideologically polarization? And how does American political polarization compare to politics in other nations? These are some of the questions Noam, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Should lawmakers be afraid of taking votes?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 20 May 2021 22:17:50 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Tony Madonna joins Julia and James to discuss voting in Congress. Madonna is an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Georgia. He received his PhD in political science from Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests include American political institutions and development, congressional politics and procedure and presidential politics. His work has appeared in such journals as the American Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, the Journal of Politics, Presidential Studies Quarterly and the Illinois Law Review.

Why don’t lawmakers like taking votes? What goes through their heads when they think about voting? Have lawmakers always been afraid of taking votes? When did things change? And why? How can lawmakers conquer their fear of taking votes? These are some of the questions Tony, Julia, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Should House Republicans fire Liz Cheney?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 7 May 2021 21:00:27 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss Liz Cheney and whether House Republicans should remove her from their leadership team. What role do party leaders play in Congress? Has that role changed over time? How does the party leader job change when a president of the same party is in the White House? And when is it ok for rank-and-file members to change leaders? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

Show Notes

Daniel P. Klinghard, “Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and the Emergence of the President as Party Leader,” Presidential Studies Quarterly Vol. 35, no. 4 (December 2005).

Julia Azari, “Is the U.S. the Exception to Presidential Perils?” in Democracy and Autocracy Vol. 19, no. 1 (April 2012).

Susan Dunn, Roosevelt’s Purge: How FDR Fought to Change the Democratic Party (Belknap Press, 2012).

Marina Pitofsky, “Jordan says ‘votes are there’ to oust Cheney from GOP leadership,” The Hill (May 6, 2021).

Liz Cheney, “The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us.” The Washington Post (May 5, 2021).

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Is American democracy backsliding?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 5 May 2021 12:55:34 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jake Grumbach, joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss democratic backsliding in the United States. Grumbach is is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington. He has developed a tool for measuring democracy in the states called the State Democracy Index. His research focuses broadly on the political economy of the United States. He is particularly interested in public policy, American federalism, racial capitalism, campaign finance, and statistical methods. His book project, based on his award-winning dissertation, investigates the causes and consequences of the nationalization of state politics since the 1970s.

What is American democracy? How do Americans measure the health of their democracy? Is it backsliding at the state and federal levels? When is it ok for citizens to change how they regulate their elections? Who decides if those changes are good or bad? How do they decide? And where do they decide? These are some of the questions that Jake, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

Show Notes

Jacob M. Grumbach, “Laboratories of Democratic Backsliding,” (March 26, 2021).

Jacob M. Grumbach, “From Backwaters to Major Policymakers: Policy Polarization in the States, 1970-2014,” Perspectives on Politics vol. 16, n. 2 (2018): 416-435.

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Can Biden transform American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 21:08:47 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss President Joe Biden’s performance during his first 100 days in office. Is Biden a transformative president? Or will his presidency be remembered as “Not Trump?” Can presidents even transform American politics? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What does presidential rhetoric say about the state of American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 08:15:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Mary Stuckey joins Julia and Lee to discuss presidential rhetoric. Stuckey is Sparks Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University. She is the author of numerous books and articles on presidential communication and rhetoric. Her forthcoming book is Deplorable: The Worst Presidential Campaigns from Jefferson to Trump (Penn State University Press).

Why should Americans care about presidential rhetoric? When is it despicable? How does the rhetoric in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections compare to past contests? And how does President Biden’s rhetoric in office compare to President Trump’s? These are some of the questions that Mary, Julia, and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

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Why can't Congress do its job?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 19:16:47 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Kevin Kosar joins Lee and James to consider why Congress can’t do its job. Kosar is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies Congress, the administrative state, American politics, election reform, and the US Postal Service. Before joining AEI, Kosar served as the R Street Institute’s vice president of policy, vice president of research partnerships, and senior fellow and director of the Governance Project. He also cofounded the long-running Legislative Branch Capacity Working Group to help strengthen the legislative branch. Prior to this, Kosar spent more than a decade focusing on a wide range of public administration issues while working at the Congressional Research Service. Kosar has written numerous books and journal articles. Most recently, he co-edited Congress Overwhelmed: The Decline in Congressional Capacity and Prospects for Reform (University of Chicago Press, 2020).

What is Congress’s job? Is it a place where the peoples’ representatives interact with one another to make decisions on their behalf? Or is it a factory where workers clock-in each day to assemble products according to a blueprint that was designed elsewhere? Why can’t Congress do its job? What happens when Congress fails to do that job? And what reforms can its members adopt to avoid those consequences in the future? These are some of the questions that Kevin, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What are the prospects for elections reform at the federal level?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sat, 3 Apr 2021 08:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Sara Sadhwani joins Julia and Lee to discuss elections reform. Sadhwani is an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College and serves on California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission. She specializes in Asian American and Latino voting behavior, elections, interest groups, and representation. Her research has been published in Political Behavior, PS: Political Science and Politics, the California Journal of Politics and Policy, and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. Sadhwani’s analysis of elections has appeared in the Washington Post, Vox, LA Times, and the NPR affiliate KCRW-Los Angeles.

What’s wrong with our elections? Is gerrymandering the problem? Will independent redistricting commissions solve it? What lessons can we learn from states like California about the prospects for elections reform at the federal level. And what are the implications of elections reform for federalism? These are some of the questions that Sara, Julia, and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

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How do independent voters impact American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 19:03:26 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Yanna Krupnikov joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss independent voters and the impact they have on American politics. Krupnikov is Professor of Political Science at Stony Brook University. Her research and teaching focuses on political psychology, political communication, political persuasion, political behavior, and empirical methodology. She is the co-author (with Samara Klar) of Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Has Led to Political Inaction (Cambridge University press, 2016).

What causes Americans to identify as political independents? What impact do they have on politics? And what does their rising number in recent years reveal about American politics more broadly? These are some of the questions that Yanna, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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How does conspiracism impact American Politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 17:11:19 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Nancy Rosenblum joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss conspiracism and the Republican Party. Rosenblum is the Harvard University Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita. She is the co-author of numerous books and articles, including, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2019).

What causes conspiracism? How does it threaten American democracy? And what can we do about it? These are some of the questions that Nancy, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What makes American democracy work?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 5 Mar 2021 18:20:43 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss what makes democracy work in the United States. What is democracy? Can democracy’s meaning change across place and time? If so, which type of democracy is best suited for the American political system at present? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Who disciplines bad behavior in government?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 21:33:24 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider who is responsible for disciplining bad behavior in government. Do voters, parties, or institutions decide what constitutes bad behavior in government? Where do they make that decision? How do they enforce it? And what are the consequences of not disciplining bad behavior when it occurs? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Did the filibuster break the Senate?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 21:25:34 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Adam Jentleson joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss what makes the Senate dysfunctional. Jentleson served as deputy chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. He is a frequent contributor to MSNBC and is the author of the new book, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy.

To what extent is the filibuster responsible for the Senate’s current dysfunction? Where did it come from? Why does it persist? What role has partisanship played in exacerbating its use? And how can it be reformed? These are some of the questions Adam, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Will Americans pay for government if they don't trust it?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 8 Feb 2021 01:56:22 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ethan Porter joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss the relationship between Americans’ trust in government and their willingness to pay for the things that government does. Porter is assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. He is the author of The Consumer Citizen (Oxford University Press, 2021). What is a consumer citizen? How does it differ from the traditional understanding of citizenship? Does a consumer mindset alleviate the team mentality that is pervasive in American politics today? And what role has presidential rhetoric played in creating the consumer citizen? These are some of the questions Ethan, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why do Americans celebrate presidential inaugurations?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 3 Feb 2021 21:20:05 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss Joe Biden’s inauguration as the nation’s 46th president of the United States and Kama Harris as Vice President. Why do Americans celebrate presidential inaugurations? What did Biden’s inauguration accomplish? How will it define the Biden presidency moving forward? And was this a peaceful transfer of power? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What is the future of the Republican Party?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Sun, 17 Jan 2021 18:18:51 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Blum joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss the future of the Republican Party. Blum is an Assistant Professor in the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center and the Department of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma. Her research examines how political parties interact with and shape U.S. political institutions. She is the author of How the Tea Party Captured the GOP: Insurgent Factions in American Politics (University of Chicago Press, 2020). What is the TEA Party? How did it come to dominate the Republican Party? Is it a radical force in American Politics? And to what extent is it connected with the rise of Trumpism in recent years? These are some of the questions Rachel, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Will Congress change how it operates in 2021?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 1 Jan 2021 16:09:06 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ruth Bloch Rubin joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider how Congress may work in the new year. Bloch Rubin is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. She studies American politics, with a substantive focus on legislative institutions, political parties, and American political development. Bloch Rubin is the author of Building the Bloc: Intraparty Organization in the U.S. Congress (Cambridge University Press, 2017). She earned her PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
How will the 117th Congress function differently? Can the House and Senate change the way they operate? Will intraparty factions challenge both chambers’ centralized party structure? These are some of the questions Ruth, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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What is the best way to pick United States senators?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:32:32 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Wendy Schiller joins Julia, Lee, and James to talk about how we elect senators in the United States. Schiller is Professor of Political Science, Professor of International and Public Affairs, and Chair of Political Science at Brown University. She has also experienced politics as a practitioner, having served on the staffs of Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the Senate and Governor Mario Cuomo in New York. Schiller is the author of several books, including Electing the Senate: Indirect Democracy before the Seventeenth Amendment (Princeton University Press) and Partners and Rivals: Representation in U.S. Senate Delegations (Princeton University Press). And she has published articles in the American Journal of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Studies in American Political Development, and the Journal of Politics.

What is the best way to pick United States senators? What are the consequences of different modes of electing senators? Does direct election of senators impact their behavior inside the Senate differently than indirect election? What would happen if Americans repealed the 17th Amendment? And why are there two Senate seats up for grabs in Georgia at the same time? These are some of the questions that Wendy, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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How did losing to Trump in 2016 help Democrats win the presidency in 2020?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 19:53:20 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Seth Masket joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss the future of the Democratic Party. Masket is professor of political science and director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. He is the author of numerous books and articles about political parties, elections, state politics, and, on occasion, Star Wars. He is also the founder of the political science blog, Mischiefs of Faction. His most recent book, Learning From Loss: The Democrats, 2016-2020, examines how Democrats’ perceptions of why they lost in 2016 shaped their behavior in the 2020 presidential election.

How did Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss to Donald Trump influence Democrats’ decision to nominate Joe Biden in 2020? To what extent do broad narratives impact voters’ perceptions of what is at stake in elections? Do those narratives also impact the behavior of elected officials in-between elections? And if election narratives have this kind of power, does that create a feedback loop that inhibits serious change? These are some of the questions that Seth, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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Does it really matter which party controls Congress next year?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:57:31 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Philip Wallach joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider how the 2020 elections will impact Congress. Wallach is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute where he studies and writes about the administrative state, Congress, and the separation of powers. He is the author of To the Edge: Legality, Legitimacy, and the Responses to the 2008 Financial Crisis (Brookings Institution Press) and has published articles in numerous publications, including in the Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets, Studies in American Political Development, Fortune, National Affairs, National Review, Law & Liberty, The Los Angeles Times, RealClearPolicy, The American Interest, The Bulwark, The Hill, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Most recently, Wallach examines how Congress fell behind the executive branch in a chapter in the forthcoming edited volume, Congress Overwhelmed: The Decline in Congressional Capacity and Prospects for Reform.

Does it really matter which party controls Congress next year? Will the House and Senate still be dysfunctional if Democrats control both chambers in the 117th Congress? Or is a change in Congress’s partisan balance of power just what it needs for its members to get back to work? These are some of the questions Philip, Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Can a new agency improve national elections in America?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 3 Dec 2020 13:19:38 +0000

n this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Charlotte Hill joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider how Americans conduct national elections. Charlotte is a Ph.D. candidate at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. She studies how election and voting laws impact political engagement. Her current research examines how voting barriers reduce youth turnout and how electoral reforms can increase voter participation. Outside of academia, Charlotte previously served as Vice President of the San Francisco Elections Commission and currently sits on the boards of nonpartisan advocacy organizations FairVote and RepresentUs. She recently co-authored a New America white paper and a New York Times op-ed with Lee advocating for establishing a nonpartisan and independent agency to oversee federal elections.

How do Americans conduct elections at the federal level? Why are they so confusing? Would a national elections agency have improved the 2020 election? These are some of the questions Charlotte, Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

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How should Americans interpret the results of the 2020 election?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 20:41:00 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss what happened in this year’s election and what it means for American democracy. How should Americans interpret the results of the election? Should they be worried about Republicans’ ongoing efforts to change the outcome? And what do the election results reveal about the future of the Democratic and Republican parties? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

Julia Azari, “For 4 years I’ve written that Trump was a disjunctive leader. Now I’m not so sure,” Mischiefs of Faction (November 10, 2020).

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Did American democracy win on Election Day?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 21:38:53 +0000

Ezra Klein joins Lee and James to discuss what the 2020 election reveals about the present state of American democracy. Klein is the editor-at-large and founder of Vox. He is the host of The Ezra Klein Show and the author of Why We’re Polarized. Klein has also written for the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. He has appeared on Face the Nation, Real Time with Bill Maher, The McLaughlin Report, the Daily Show, and many more.

How well did democracy do on Election Day? Will Donald Trump’s post-election behavior have long-term consequences for the health of America’s political system? Will Democrats try to capitalize on their Election Day gains? And how will Republicans respond to their efforts? These are some of the questions Ezra, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

Ezra Klein, “Trump is attempting a coup in plain sight,” Vox (November 7, 2020).

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Do presidential debates help Americans make better choices when they vote?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 17:00:31 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James debate presidential debates. What role do they play in campaigns? In their current form, do they really help people to evaluate candidates? If not, how should debates be administered? And how should people evaluate presidential candidates? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

Show Notes

Lee Drutman, “There is a better way to run presidential debates. Actually, there are several.” Vox (November 5, 2015).

Lee Drutman, “Want to be president? Show us how you’d handle a disaster.” Washington Post (July 30, 2015).

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Should the Democrats play hardball in 2021?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 16:31:11 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Matt Green joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider whether Democrats should play constitutional hardball if they control Congress and the presidency in 2021. Matt is a professor (and chair) of the Department of Politics at the Catholic University of America. His research focuses on political institutions (especially Congress), state and local politics, and federalism. Matt is the author of numerous books and articles on Congress and is currently working on a research project examining cases of legislative hardball at the state and federal levels. He is also a staff writer at Mischiefs of Faction.

What is constitutional and legislative hardball? Is it a bad thing in and of itself or does that depend on what Democrats use hardball to accomplish? Is it possible to undermine the political system by using the rules authorized by that system? These are some of the questions Matt, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

Show Notes

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die (New York: Broadway Books, 2018).

Mark V. Tushnet, “Constitutional Hardball,” Georgetown University Law Center (2004).

Lee Drutman, Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).

Keith E. Whittington, Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy: The President, the Supreme Court, and Constitutional Leadership in U.S. History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009).

Jacques Derrida, Negotiations: Interventions and Interviews, 1971-2001 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002).

David Hume, Political Essays, ed. Knud Haakonssen (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994).

Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future (New York: Penguin Books, 1977).

James Madison, “Federalist 58,” in The Federalist Papers.

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How should the United States select its judges?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:48:34 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Questions, Judith Resnik joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider how a democracy should select its judges. Judith is the Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School and the Founding Director of the Arthurs Liman Center for Public Interest Law. Her scholarship focuses on the relationship of democratic values to government services; the roles of collective redress, class actions, and arbitration; contemporary conflicts over privatization; the relationships of states to citizens and non-citizens; the forms and norms of federalism; and equality and gender. Judith has written numerous books and articles, including: Representing Justice: Invention, Controversy, and Rights in City-States and Democratic Courtrooms (with Dennis Curtis, Yale University Press, 2011); Federal Courts Stories (co-edited with Vicki C. Jackson, Foundation Press, 2010); Migrations and Mobilities: Citizenship, Borders, and Gender (co-edited with Seyla Benhabib, New York University Press, 2009); “Punishment in Prison: Constituting the ‘Normal’ and the ‘Atypical’ in Solitary and Other Forms of Confinement” (with Hirsa Amin, Sophie Angelis, Megan Hauptman, Laura Kokotailo, Aseem Mehta, Madeline Silva, Tor Tarantola, and Meredith Wheeler; Northwestern Law Review, 2020); “(Un)Constitutional Punishments: Eighth Amendment Silos, Penological Purposes, and People’s ‘Ruin’” (Yale Law Journal Forum, 2020); and “Collective Preclusion and Inaccessible Arbitration: Data, Non-Disclosure, and Public Knowledge” (with Stephanie Garlock and Annie J. Wang; Lewis & Clark Law Review, 2020).

How should a democracy like the United States select its judges? Why do we need judges in the first place? How do we ensure that the president and Senate appoint good judges? Is there a single best way? Or does the ideal process change across time? And what reforms can address the dismal state of today’s confirmation process? These are some of the questions that Judith, Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

Show Notes

Judith Resnik, “Judicial Selection and Democratic Theory: Demand, Supply, and Life Tenure,” Cardozo Law Review Vol. 26, no. 2 (2005).

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How well do our political parties represent us in government?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 9 Oct 2020 17:45:25 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ted Johnson joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider the role that political parties play in perpetuating popular dissatisfaction with politics. Ted is a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. His work explores the role that race plays in electoral politics, issue framing, and disparities in policy outcomes. Previously, Ted was a national fellow at New America and a research manager at Deloitte. He is also a retired commander in the U.S. Navy following a two-decade career that included service as a White House fellow, military professor at the U.S. Naval War College, and speechwriter to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ted’s work has appeared in the Washington Post, Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, National Review, and Politico, among other publications. He teaches law and public policy to master’s and doctoral students and is currently working on a book about national solidarity and race relations.

How well do the Democratic and Republican parties represent Americans in general and black Americans in particular? What options do the two parties offer Americans once in government? And what can voters do when Democrats and Republicans ignore their concerns in office? These are some of the questions that Ted, Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What can we learn from other nations about pernicious polarization in the United States?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 2 Oct 2020 16:06:17 +0000

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Jennifer McCoy joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss political polarization in the United States and worldwide. McCoy is a professor of political science at Georgia State University. Her research examines democratization, polarization, mediation and conflict prevention, election processes and election observation, and Latin American politics. McCoy is the author of several articles and books, and recently co-edited a volume of The Annals with Murat Somer exploring pernicious polarization in eleven countries (Polarizing Polities: A Global Threat to Democracy). Her current research project on Polarized Democracies seeks to determine the causes, consequences, and solutions to polarized societies worldwide, including Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, Thailand, Hungary, Greece, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and the United States.

What is pernicious polarization? How worried should we be about it? How does populism fuel the phenomenon? What lessons can we learn from efforts to combat it in other nations? How does the American political system differ from the nation-state model? And does that difference alter how we should think about the influence of pernicious polarization on American politics? These are some of the questions that Jennifer, Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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How will the debate to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg end?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 17:29:49 +0000

On this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the fight to replace her on the Supreme Court. Coming just weeks before the presidential election, the debate over whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden should get to pick who will replace Ginsburg on the Supreme Court has injected new controversy into an already controversial campaign. How will Ginsburg’s death impact the 2020 election? How much time does the Senate really need to consider a Supreme Court nomination? And what does this controversy say about the role that the Court plays in our politics today? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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What did the political conventions tell us about the state of the 2020 presidential campaign?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 21:58:31 +0000

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. Why do party conventions matter? Do they still have a place in our politics? What did the recent conventions tell us about the state of the Democratic and Republican parties? And what is this election really about? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

Julia Azari, “The GOP Convention Violated Plenty of Norms, But Did It Undermine Democratic Values?” FiveThirtyEight (September 1, 2020).

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How important is expertise and experience in Congress?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 15:16:34 +0000

On this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Alexander C. Furnas joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider the importance of expertise and experience in making Congress work. Alexander is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Science and Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He studies the use of information, science, and expertise in policymaking, interest groups, and elite political behavior using survey, text analysis and network methods. Alexander has published articles in the American Political Science Review, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Legislative Studies Quarterly. Most recently, he coauthored “Congressional Brain Drain: Legislative Capacity in the 21st Century” with Timothy M. LaPira.

What role do staff play in making Congress work? Does the ongoing decline in issue-area expertise and experience among staffers explain today’s political dysfunction. Or is the problem a decline in members’ ability to legislate? What reforms can address these issues? These are some of the questions Alexander, Julia, Lee, and James consider on this week’s episode.

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What Are the Pillars of Democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 20:12:56 +0000

On this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Suzanne Mettler and Robert Lieberman join Julia and Lee to discuss the state of democracy in the United States. Suzanne is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in the Government Department at Cornell University. Her research and teaching interests include American political development, inequality, public policy, political behavior, and democracy. Robert is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He studies American political development, race and American politics, and public policy. Robert also writes about the development of democracy in the United States. Suzanne and Robert are the authors of Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy (St. Martin’s Press, 2020).

Why has democracy persisted in the United States? Is it still secure today? If not, what threats does it currently face? And when did they arise? These are some of the questions Suzanne, Robert, Julia, and Lee discuss on this week’s episode.

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How did the suffrage movement win the right to vote for all women in the United States?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:54:25 +0000

Tennessee made history on August 18, 1920, when it became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment, guaranteeing all women the right to vote in the United States, was officially added to the Constitution a few days later on August 26, 1920. It was a momentous event, capping off more than seven decades of organized action by a diverse group of women from across the nation to secure political equality.

To celebrate that historic campaign, Congress created the Women’s Vote Centennial Commission (www.womensvote100.org) to commemorate the heroic struggle of those who took part in it to ensure that future generations will remember the events that helped women to secure the right to vote.

Throughout the month of August, the Commission is coordinating a nationwide celebration with partners from across the country to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment through innovative and educational programming.

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When should Americans remove statues of historical figures from the nation's public square?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 17:17:42 +0000

On this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Greg Weiner joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider the controversy surrounding recent efforts to remove monuments and memorials from the public square that commemorate the Confederacy and other prominent historical figures. Greg is the Provost and Academic Vice President at Assumption University, where he is also an Associate Professor of Political Science. He specializes in the study of American politics and history, political theory, the Founding, Congress, and constitutional law. Greg is the author of several books including, most recently, The Political Constitution: The Case Against Judicial Supremacy (University Press of Kansas, 2019) and Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln and the Politics of Prudence (Encounter Books, 2019). He is also a regular contributor at the New York Times and a contributing editor of Law & Liberty. When should Americans remove monuments from the proverbial public square? Should all of those targeted come down? How do citizens make that decision? Where do they make it? And what exactly is a National Garden of American Heroes? These are some of the questions Greg, Julia, Lee, and James discuss on this week’s episode. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How is identity politics impacting the 2020 presidential election?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:43:28 +0000

Perry Bacon Jr., “How Biden Is Winning An Identity Politics Election So Far,” FiveThirtyEight (July 10, 2020).

James Wallner, “Make America Diverse Again,” Law & Liberty (June 11, 2019).

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How do Republicans win elections?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 19:50:25 +0000

Learn more at http://www.politicsinquestion.com

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What will a Biden presidency look like?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 15:34:17 +0000

Learn more at http://www.politicsinquestion.com.

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How will public opinion on democracy impact the 2020 presidential election?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Thu, 9 Jul 2020 14:31:40 +0000

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How did the Great Migration help shape today's politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 1 Jul 2020 22:25:41 +0000

Learn more at https://www.politicsinquestion.com/

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What will it take to achieve racial justice in American politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 22:50:48 +0000

Megan Ming Francis, “The white press has a history of endangering black lives going back a century,” Washington Post (June 15, 2020).

Dorothy Roberts, “Abolishing Policing Also Means Abolishing Family Regulation,” The Chronicle of Social Change (June 16, 2020).

Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter From Birmingham Jail (April 16, 1963).

Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, translated by John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd., 1962).

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “The End of Black Politics: Black leaders regularly fail to rise to the challenges that confront young people,” New York Times (June 13, 2020).

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What are the politics of protest?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 17:35:25 +0000

Learn more at https://www.politicsinquestion.com/.

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What values are essential in a successful democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (James Wallner) — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 12:49:49 +0000

Learn more at https://www.politicsinquestion.com/.

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How do democratic self-governments respond to extremism?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 22:03:36 +0000

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What role do norms and values play in democratic self-government?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 27 May 2020 15:15:44 +0000

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How does populism threaten democracy around the world?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 20 May 2020 12:34:38 +0000

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Does incivility weaken or strengthen democracy?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 13 May 2020 19:56:34 +0000

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Will Americans hold the government accountable for its pandemic response?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Thu, 7 May 2020 12:53:16 +0000

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Did the media create political polarization?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 19:21:48 +0000

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The Never Trump Movement: Emergent Faction or Dwindling Group of Has-Beens?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 22:35:38 +0000

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How will COVID-19 impact the November elections?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 19:09:03 +0000

Julia references an Electoral Studies article by R. Michael Alvarez, Thad E. Hall, and Betsy Sinclair (“Whose absentee votes are returned and counted: The variety and use of absentee ballots in California”) when discussing the disproportionate way Americans’ votes are counted.

Lee references the work of MIT’s Charles Stewart on public opinion in elections and Rick Hansen’s book, Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy, when discussing the extent to which both Democrats and Republicans feel that election outcomes are illegitimate.

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Do ideas or interests drive our politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 8 Apr 2020 12:11:00 +0000

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Filibuster or Filibusted?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 22:10:08 +0000

Julia argues that we need to pay greater attention to the informal norms surrounding the filibuster and cites a 2012 article she authored with Jennifer K. Smith (“Unwritten Rules: Informal Institutions in Established Democracies”). She also references a 2016 book by Matt Grossman and Dave Hopkins, Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats.

James references work by Gregory J. Wawro and Eric Schickler (Filibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate) to highlight the fact that the Senate was able to legislate before its members adopted the current cloture rule to end debate in 1917. He also cites Frances Lee’s book, Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign, to support his claim that the observed behavior of senators at present does not align with the conventional wisdom on how we think they are behaving. Finally, James contends that there are numerous ways that Senate majorities can get around the filibuster and cites Molly Reynolds ' book, Exceptions to the Rule: The Politics of Filibuster Limitations in the U.S. Senate.

Lee mentions Jonathan Bernstein’s proposal to give the majority party one “Superbill” in each Congress that cannot be filibustered.

The open letter written by 70 former senators is available here. James’ response is available here.

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What are the politics of the coronavirus pandemic?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:42:02 +0000

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Is there a better way to pick presidential nominees?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 17:49:01 +0000

James references Martin Van Buren’s 1827 letter to Thomas Ritchie in which he outlines his plans for the creation of a new Democratic Party. Julia mentions her recent Mischiefs of Faction piece reacting to Super Tuesday. Lee reminds listeners that the two-party system exacerbates the problems in how we pick presidential nominees and references his new book, Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America.

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Should the House have more members?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 4 Mar 2020 20:27:39 +0000

Lee reminds Julia and James that the original First Amendment to the Constitution proposed by James Madison in 1789 concerned apportionment and traces the present issue to the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929. He also mentions the cube root law to highlight the extent to which the United States is a global outlier when it comes to the size of Congress’s lower chamber.

James cites Federalist 58 when suggesting that increasing the size of the House is unlikely to empower its rank-and-file members and argues that the reform will further centralize power in the party leadership. He references Thomas Jefferson’s idea of a ward republic and Hannah Arendt’s council system when considering what a truly participatory politics looks like. He mentions John Aldrich’s work on parties in the first Congress to highlight the impact of party heterogeneity on centralization in the House.

Lee cites Frances Lee’s book, Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign when considering the impact that a bigger House could have on Congress and its two political parties. He references his new book, Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America.

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What is unprecedented about our politics?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 13:01:00 +0000

This week, Lee and James ask special guest Matt Glassman what is unprecedented about our politics. Matt is a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University and a co-host of the podcast, Congress, Two Beers In. Is American politics in an unprecedented era? Is the decline in civility overstated? Has politics always been rough and tumble? These are some of the question we discuss on this week’s episode.

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Do we have too much judicial review?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 13:01:00 +0000

This week, Julia, Lee, and James court a debate over the role of our third branch, the federal judiciary. Has the long arm of the law reached too far beyond its robes? Are unelected judges legislating from the bench? Are we looking to the courts too much to break our deadlocked politics? What if anything should we do about it?

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Did the impeachment process work?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 13:01:00 +0000

This week, Julia, Lee, and James consider impeachment in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s acquittal in the Senate. They debate what worked and what didn’t work. And they ask how the impeachment process can be improved.

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Is American politics too contentious?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 5 Feb 2020 13:01:00 +0000

This week, Julia, Lee, and James work through America’s love-hate relationship with political conflict. How much conflict can our institutions handle? Have we already reached that point? Or are the disagreements in our nation’s capital merely the result of a legitimate opposition doing its job? How do we tell the difference between good conflict and bad conflict? These are some of the questions they tackle in this episode.

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Do Americans need more parties?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:01:00 +0000

This week, Julia, Lee, and James are examining a counter-intuitive proposal to counteract the menacing effects of partisanship - more partisanship. Why are parties important? What is their role in our political system? And how many does America really need? These are some of the questions we tackle in this episode.

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Is populism a problem?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 13:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode, Julia, Lee, and James tackle populism. They consider what it is, where it comes from, and its influence on American politics.

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What's the deal with the separation of powers?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 12:00:00 +0000

In this week’s episode, Julia, Lee, and James tackle the separation of powers. They consider why it exists and explore its consequences for our politics in 2019.

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How should we think about impeachment?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 9 Oct 2019 13:46:51 +0000

In this week’s episode, Julia, Lee, and James think through the House’s inquiry into whether it should impeach President Trump. They consider the history of presidential impeachments, discuss their constitutional implications, and assess the potential political consequences if the House decides to move forward in this instance.

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What is a gerrymander?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Tue, 1 Oct 2019 12:00:00 +0000

In today’s episode, Julia, Lee, and James go in search of the storied gerrymander. They consider how it impacts our politics, examine what the courts say about it, and ask how we can reform the electoral process to minimize any negative consequences it may have on what happens (or does not happen) in the House of Representatives.

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Should we abolish the Senate?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 12:56:52 +0000

In today’s episode, Julia, Lee, and James tackle the Senate and the debate whether it is time to scrap it. They ask why it is that we have a Senate, discuss the role it plays in our politics, and consider how today’s institution measures up. Does the Senate cause the government to be dysfunctional? If so, what can we do about it?

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Are we in a political realignment?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Tue, 6 Aug 2019 12:20:00 +0000

Julia, Lee, and James try to make sense of what is currently happening inside the Democratic and Republican parties.

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Can ranked choice voting save us?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 12:20:00 +0000

Julia, Lee, and James talk about the reform plan people can’t stop talking about.P

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Are primary elections really that bad?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Tue, 9 Jul 2019 12:20:00 +0000

The Electoral College has been in the news lately. But it isn’t the only thing people are talking about when it comes to how we pick our next president. Before electors cast their ballots for president and vice president, political parties must pick their candidates in primary elections.

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Should the Electoral College be abolished?

jameswallner@gmail.com (Politics In Question) — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 20:20:58 +0000

In this week’s episode, Julia casts an absentee ballot on-air while discussing proposals to eliminate the Electoral College with Lee and James.

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