Project 2025 is a transition plan for a second Trump administration created by the Heritage Foundation, along with other conservative organizations. Heritage has created similar documents for presidential transitions every four years since 1980. One aspect of Project 2025, which is distinct from these previous iterations, is a focus on personnel policy. Near the end of the first Trump administration, the White House issued an executive order establishing a new classification of federal bureaucrats, Schedule F. The intent was to allow the president to exercise more control over career civil servants by exempting them from civil service protections and making it easier for the president to fire them. Project 2025 seeks to take advantage of Schedule F by creating a list of vetted conservatives who can replace, or credibly threaten to replace, employees who previously would have been considered non-political. This would likely have negative effects both on the quality and efficiency of government services, and on democratic accountability. Donald Moynihan is a public policy professor at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and codirects the Better Government Lab at Georgetown University. He previously served as the McCourt Chair for Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and as director of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School. His work focuses on the administrative burdens citizens encounter during interactions with government. In addition to his research, Moynihan is the president of Association for Public Policy and Management. https://donmoynihan.substack.com/

For 49 years, from 1973 until 2022, the Supreme Court declared that the US Constitution protected abortion rights. With this precedent overturned, decision making about reproductive rights now resides with state governments. But the court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization relied on a partial and inaccurate understanding of American history, and its claims to be a pro-democracy decision were disingenuous. Dobbs is just one example of the court smashing precedents in the last few years. Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at New York University, where she specializes in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice. She has written for a wide range of academic journals and popular publications and regularly provides legal commentary for several major media outlets. Her credits include the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the New York Times, Washington Post, and many others. She’s a legal analyst at MSNBC and is also one of the cohosts of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which focuses on the Supreme Court. https://crooked.com/podcast-series/strict-scrutiny/ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250881397/thefallofroe

Latinos are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States and are now the second-largest ethnic group in the country. Growing diversity shouldn’t be a challenge to democracy—no race or culture holds a monopoly on self-government. But Latinos are disproportionately young, and like other young voters, they often vote at lower rates and can benefit from being explicitly invited to participate in elections and other democratic practices. Latinos also have a particular set of shared interests. Unfortunately, elected politicians often seem more concerned with placing barriers on voter registration and the ballot than they are with attending to a changing electorate’s democratic preferences. These are all issues that this episode’s guest—María Teresa Kumar—has spent her career working to address. María Teresa Kumar is the president of Voto Latino, an organization she cofounded with actor Rosario Dawson in 2004, and is today the largest Latino voter registration organization in the United States. Kumar also heads the Voto Latino Foundation, an influential Latino youth advocacy organization. She served on President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and is a member of several important organizations, including the National Task Force on Election Crises and the Council on Foreign Relations. She’s also a Kettering Foundation senior fellow. https://votolatino.org/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/06/china-russia-republican-party-relations/678271/

For democracy to endure, democratic institutions and values must be passed from one generation to the next. And there’s plenty of good news about how Gen Z—the youngest and most diverse generation of voters—is engaging in politics. Young people are participating and voting at levels at least equal to previous generations. But there are reasons for concern too: Many Americans are growing up in civic deserts, without access to political associations or other forms of collective action. Many of Gen Z are struggling to find a stable political home in the two-party system. And Gen Z is also experiencing a mental health crisis, which is interrelated in complex ways to declines in associational life and political alienation. Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg is the Newhouse Director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), which aims to expand pathways to civic learning and engagement. Kawashima-Ginsberg also serves on the boards of March for Our Lives and Rhizome. Ruby Belle Booth started at CIRCLE as a Diverse Democracy Fellow, then transitioned to working as Election Coordinator, and is now a Researcher. She contributes to CIRCLE’S Growing Voters report and the Young Leaders Learning Community. Booth was also a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. https://circle.tufts.edu/

In a democracy, we resolve political disagreements through elections rather than through physical force. Political violence is a threat to democratic societies – but it can also be connected to a complex range of other political and social problems, including corruption, polarization, social division, and limitations on free speech. These are not easy problems to solve, but the United States can learn from international examples – both about what can go wrong in democracies, and also how structural reforms can help to discourage violence and other forms of extremism. Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. She is an expert on how democracies can improve, particularly in countries facing polarization, violence, and corruption. She has written three books, contributes regularly to major media outlets, and often briefs the US government and allied democracies on issues at the intersection of democracy, security, and the rule of law. Kleinfeld serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, and States United Democracy Center, and on the advisory board of Protect Democracy. https://carnegieendowment.org/people/rachel-kleinfeld?lang=en https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_kleinfeld_a_path_to_security_for_the_world_s_deadliest_countries/transcript?subtitle=en

Democracy should work for everyone. Christine Todd Whitman explains how political parties are more concerned with maintaining power than solving problems for everyday people. She discusses the factors underlying American political dysfunction, including the growth of political parties, noncompetitive districts, and money in politics. Christine Todd Whitman is president of Whitman Strategy Group. She served as the 50th and first woman governor of New Jersey and as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during George W. Bush’s presidency. She is the author of It’s My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America. In addition to cochairing several organizations, including the States United Democracy Center and the Forward Party, she is a Kettering Foundation senior fellow. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/294063/its-my-party-too-by-christine-todd-whitman/

American history is a story about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Stacey Abrams discusses why Americans should embrace and defend DEI as democratic values. She explains how DEI benefits all Americans, expanding participation in our democracy and access to the American dream. Stacey Abrams is a political leader, lawyer, voting rights activist, and bestselling author. Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives for over a decade and as the Minority Leader from 2011-2017. As Georgia’s Democratic nominee for governor in 2018, she became the first Black woman to win a major party’s gubernatorial nomination. She is the inaugural Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics at Howard University and CEO of Sage Works Productions. Abrams has launched several organizations to protect and advance democracy, including Fair Fight Action, the Southern Economic Advancement Project, and most recently, American Pride Rises.

American democracy relies on nonpartisan civil servants to detect and combat corruption. Alexander Vindman was one such civil servant when he reported abuses of power by former President Trump, resulting in Vindman being fired from the federal government and retiring from the armed forces. Vindman discusses what a second Trump administration and Project 2025 would mean not only for democracy in the US, but also in Ukraine. Vindman explains the history of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and its implications for global democracy. Alexander Vindman is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and an expert in national security. He has previously served as the director for European affairs on the United States National Security Council, the political-military affairs officer for Russia at the Pentagon, and as an attaché at the American embassies in Moscow and Kyiv. In addition to being a Hauser Leader at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute, he is a Kettering Foundation Senior Fellow.

Neal Katyal, a legal expert, discusses how the Supreme Court's rush to decide social controversies damages its legitimacy. He highlights recent decisions on presidential immunity and regulatory agencies, impacting American democracy. Exploring the balance of powers, impacts of overturning precedents, and shifts in administrative law, the podcast focuses on the Court's institutional credibility.

What if the January 6 attack on the US Capitol had been successful? Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan explore just that in their graphic novel series, entitled 1/6: The Graphic Novel. They also discuss how the events of January 6, 2021, diverge from democratic principles, such as free speech and the right to protest. Alan Jenkins is a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. His previous positions include President of The Opportunity Agenda (a social justice communication lab that he cofounded), Assistant to the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice, and Director of Human Rights at the Ford Foundation. Gan Golan is an artist, cultural strategist, and bestselling author. He has organized major protest movements, including Occupy Wall Street and the People’s Climate March, and is the cocreator of the Climate Clock in NYC. Links: https://onesixcomicsstore.com/ https://www.westernstatescenter.org/s/WSC-Action-Guide-1-6-single-pg.pdf