Understanding Us: We The People. Frank Luntz and Ethan Porter

The January assault on the U.S. Capitol and the depth of toxic partisanship lead us to question our past assumptions about the American electorate and its relationship with the government.

This episode features two experts who have spent many years trying to understand us. Frank Luntz is one of the best-known pollsters and political communications experts in America today. We hear edited extracts from a recent interview he recorded with Harvard Law School Professor and attorney, Lawrence Lessig, on the podcast, "Another Way by Lawrence Lessig".

Ethan Porter is an assistant professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, and the author of the new book "The Consumer Citizen" He investigates how voters' everyday experiences as shoppers and consumers influence their political behavior. We hear extracts from his interview on the podcast, "Politics in Question".

"How Do We Fix It?" and both of the podcasts featured in this episode are members of The Democracy Group podcast network.

"The single best decision that was made since the election was Twitter kicking Donald Trump off because he can't add to that ugliness anymore", says Luntz, who is a committed Republican.

"Government provides people with a lot of benefits that they just don't know about", says Porter. "Because they have a consumer mentality, they become frustrated with government and they want to punish it."

Recommendation: "News of the World" with Tom Hanks is based on a popular novel by Texas writer, Paulette Jiles. Her latest book is "Simon The Fiddler"

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