Politics in Question

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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