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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.