In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Amanda Hollis-Brusky joins Julia and Lee to discuss the conservative legal movement’s effort to transform the Supreme Court. Hollis-Brusky is associate professor and chair of the Department of Politics at Ponoma College. She is the author of two books on the conservative legal movement and the Supreme Court’s transformation. Has Chief Justice John Roberts lost control of the court? How have the recent appointments of Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh transformed the Court? What’s up with President Biden’s effort to fill the seat vacated by Stephen Breyer’s recent retirement? And what should court reform look like? These are some of the questions that Amanda, Julia and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the impending debate over President Biden’s pick to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Stephen Breyer’s retirement. Whom will Biden nominate to fill Breyer’s seat? Will the president pick a black woman as promised during the 2020 presidential campaign? How will the nominee’s confirmation process unfold in the Senate? Will all Democrats support the nominee? Is there anything Republicans can do to block - or at least slowdown - the process in this instance? And why do we even have a Supreme Court in the first place? What is its role in the federal government? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider Senate Democrats’ failure to pass voting rights legislation. Why did Democrats bring up a bill when they didn’t have the votes to pass it? Did Democrats really think that they could pass the voting-rights bill by blowing up the Senate rules? And what is the filibuster’s future? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider what American politics will look like in 2022. Is American democracy in decline? What do we mean by democracy? Do Americans focus too much on elections and not enough on what happens in-between elections? What will come out of Congress over the coming year? Do Americans want major policy change to happen? And what will happen in the 2022 midterm elections? These are some of the questions Julia, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider claims that America’s constitutional order is on the brink of collapse. Are supporters of former President Donald Trump actively plotting to overthrow the government if their candidate does not win the presidency in 2024? Is the effort presently underway in some state legislatures to change the laws that regulate elections an extension of the January 6 attack on the Capitol? And how can Americans protect their democratic-republic from any forces that threaten it? 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, Lee, and James discuss civic participation and voting reform. What is the Freedom to Vote Act? Why can’t the Senate pass it? And why should Americans care? Are there other ways to fix the broken electoral system in some states? these are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss thermostatic politics. What is thermostatic politics? Does public opinion shift whenever the party in power changes in American politics? Why do people change their mind on public policy from election to election? Is this phenomenon driven by a lack of responsiveness in American politics more generally? And what is public opinion in the first place?

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Colorado State Senator Faith Winter discusses the successful collaborative governance process that led to Colorado becoming the first state in the country to enact statewide paid leave through a ballot initiative. Collaborative governance, or co-governance, is a democratic process where residents, activists, bureaucrats, and elected officials share in decision-making power to achieve common goals. In this interview, Faith discusses her involvement in the legislative efforts to pass statewide paid leave and working closely with the coalition that turned to a ballot initiative to get the measure passed.To learn more about Colorado’s initiative, as well as four other co-governance case studies, read New America’s recent report, Building the Relationships for Collaborative Governance: Case Studies from Across America, available here.

Lee and James talk Republican Party politics in this week’s episode of Politics In Question. Are Republicans becoming an illiberal and authoritarian party as their critics attest? Or is Republicans’ increasingly strident rhetoric on issues like vaccine mandates and critical race theory a distraction from their unwillingness to act to achieve their goals in institutions like the House and Senate? How does gridlock in Congress obscure divisions among Republicans over important issues like health care, immigration, and tax policy? And what will it take to change things on Capitol Hill? These are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss David Shor’s recent controversy-provoking advice for Democrats. What does Shor advise Democrats to do ahead of next year’s midterm elections? Why is his advice controversial? And what does the race-versus-economics debate that Shor’s advice sparked reveal about American politics more broadly and why our political institutions are dysfunctional? These are some of the questions that Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.