Politics in Question

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Kevin Elliott joins Lee and James to talk about how busy people can make democracy work for them. Elliott is a political scientist and Lecturer in Ethics, Politics, and Economics (EP&E) at Yale University. His main research interests are in political theory, particularly democratic theory, and focus on the ethics of democratic citizenship, political epistemology, and the normative justification and design of political institutions. He is the author of Democracy for Busy People (University of Chicago Press, 2023).Does democratic self-government demand too much of Americans? Can democracy work for people focused on meeting the everyday demands of life? Or do Americans need to rethink some of the ways in which they do democratic self-government? And what is “stand-by citizenship?” These are some of the questions that Kevin, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jake Tapper joins Lee and James to talk about his latest novel, All the Demons Are Here (Little, Brown and Company, 2023) and how storytelling helps us understand politics. Tapper is CNN’s chief Washington correspondent and hosts its award-winning program, The Lead with Jake Tapper, and its Sunday morning show, State of the Union. He is also the author of five novels, including The Hellfire Club and The Devil May Dance.What does fiction allow writers to do that non-fiction doesn’t? Why do fictionalized accounts of the past help us better understand the present? What is different about politics in the 1970s and politics today? And what is so special about Evel Knievel? These are some of the questions Jake, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.

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.