Politics in Question

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.