Politics in Question

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee talks with Kevin Morris about demographics, voting rights, and elections. Morris, a Senior Research Fellow and Voting Policy Scholar at the Brennan Center, is the co-author of the report Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022.How have voting rights laws, policies, and practices evolved over time? How has the Shelby County v. Holder decision impacted voting laws within states? Is there a correlation between state laws and voter turnout among communities of color? These are some of the questions Lee explores in this week's episode.Note: This episode was recorded in July 2024.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia talks with Scott Mainwaring about multipartism and presidentialism. Mainwaring is the Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He is the co-author, alongside Lee Drutman, of The Case for Multiparty Presidentialism in the U.S. (Protect Democracy, 2023).How do institutions impact coalition fluidity? What is the role of actors within formal institutions? What can we learn about multipartism from Latin America? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia explore in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee talk with Sam Rosenfeld and Daniel Schlozman about the evolution of political parties in the United States. Rosenfeld is an is Associate Professor of Political Science at Colgate University and Scholzman is a Joseph and Bertha Bernstein Associate Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. They are the authors of The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics (Princeton University Press, 2024).Why are parties locked in a polarized struggle for power? How did Biden's nomination illustrate party hollowness? How has the political economy of parties shifted? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Chloe Nicol Thurston and Emily Zackin about the United State's relationship to debt and debtors. Thurston is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Zackin is an Associate Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. They are the authors of The Political Development of American Debt Relief (Chicago University Press, 2024).What role has race played in the United States' history of debt relief? How has debtor activism contributed to state-building? How has debt relief been connected to contemporary issues? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question Lee and Julia dive into the latest from their Substack newsletters, Undercurrent Events and Good Politics/Bad Politics. They delve into how negativity bias, nostalgia bias, identity, and messaging all shape the current state of our democracy.How do we think of the present and the past? How do emotion, identity, and community shape the way we perceive and engage with politics? In what ways does our collective memory influence the course of democracy? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question Lee talks with Jocelyn Kiley to discuss the Pew Report, Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation. Kiley is a Senior Associate Director of Research at Pew Research Center.What are the most important demographic groups within each party? What is the correlation between age and partisanship? How are partisan divisions reinforced by demographic differences? These are some of the questions Lee and Jocelyn ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore the role of the Senate and the dysfunction we see today with Sean Theriault. Theriault is a Professor at the Department of Government at the University of Texas, Austin and the author of Disruption?: The Senate During the Trump Era (Oxford University Press, 2024).Do we need the Senate? What has caused gridlock in the Senate? What would the Senate look like during a second Trump term? These are some of the questions Sean, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore America's reliance on direct primaries in federal elections with Nick Troiano. Troiano is the Executive Director of Unite America and the author of The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes (Simon & Schuster, 2024).What are direct primaries? Why do Americans rely on them? When did they first start using direct primaries in federal elections? And what are the consequences? These are some of the questions Nick, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee discusses the history of primary elections and options for reform with Robert Boatright. Boatright is professor of political science at Clark University and the world's leading expert on the American primary system. He is also the director of research for the National Institute of Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. His most recent book is Reform and Retrenchment: A Century of Efforts to Fix Primary Elections (Oxford University Press, 2024).Why did the United States become the only democracy in the world that gives its voters a decisive voice in candidate selection? When did Americans begin using primary elections to select a party's candidates for office? What is the difference between open and closed primaries? How did primary elections change in the 1960s and 1970s? Did the Democratic and Republican parties sideline reformers and take over primary elections during that period? How do different factions within each party view primary reform? These are some of the questions Robert and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Ari Berman joins Julia and Lee to discuss voting rights in the United States. Berman is Mother Jones' national voting rights correspondent. He is the author of numerous books, including Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024).Why is American politics dysfunctional? Is it because the Constitution prevents a majority of Americans from enacting their preferred policies without compromising with a minority of the population? Is the Constitution's structure incompatible with the nation's increasing diversification? What are the pros and cons of having voting laws administered at the state and local level? These are some of the questions Ari, Julia, and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Porter joins Lee to consider the consequences of political amateurs in Congress. Porter is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. Her research interests include American political institutions and political methodology, with a particular focus on Congress, elite behavior, and methods for computational social science. Most recently, her work has sought to explore and explain the rising success of political amateurs in elections for the U.S. House of Representatives. Before coming to Notre Dame, she earned a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Political Science & International Affairs at the University of Georgia.What is a political amateur? Why have the number of political amateurs in the House of Representatives increased since 2010? Is there a difference between Democratic and Republican amateurs? What role does experience play in governing? And what are the consequences of the decline in careerism for American self-government more broadly? These are some of the questions Rachel and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Jake Grumbach joins Lee and James to consider whether American democracy is in crisis. Grumbach is an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He studies the political economy of the United States, with interests in democratic institutions, labor, federalism, racial and economic inequality, and statistical methods. And he is the author of Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics (Princeton University Press, 2022).What is the state of American democracy? Are concerns that it is failing overblown? Or are they justified? What is the best standard to evaluate the quality of representation in the United States? How does that standard change based on the different types of democracy? These are some of the questions Jake, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, John Sarbanes, D-Md., joins Lee to talk about the health of American democracy. Sarbanes has represented Maryland's third congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2007. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. Sarbanes was born and raised in Baltimore and has experience working in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.What does it mean to live in a democracy? What is the state of American democracy? Is it a flawed democracy? If so, what can be done to fix it? These are some of the questions Rep. Sarbanes and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman join Lee and James to discuss the urban-rural divide in American politics. Schaller is a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Waldman is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in numerous publications, including MSNBC. Their new book is White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy (Random House, 2024).Why is Mingo County, West Virginia important? How has the decline of political parties shaped America's present rural-urban divide? What is rural America? Do rural white Americans all think the same thing? Are rural Americans unique in their frustration with the federal government? Or are people from all walks of life frustrated with their government? These are some of the questions Tom, Paul, Lee, and James ask – and argue about – in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Matt Glassman joins Lee and James to discuss the right way to do politics. Glassman is a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. Before that, he worked on congressional operations, separation of powers, appropriations process, agency design, and congressional history at the Congressional Research Service. He also served as professional staff on the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.How do you do politics? What is the right way to do politics? Is there one right way? Does it vary between the White House and Congress? These are some of the questions Matt, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James ask Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas, if the House of Representatives is broken. Roy is a devoted husband and father of two, serving his third term in Congress representing Texas's 21st Congressional District. He serves on the House Judiciary, Rules, and Budget Committees and is the House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair. Roy previously served as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas under Ken Paxton, Chief of Staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, senior advisor to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Senate Judiciary Committee staff director under Sen. John Cornyn, and as a federal prosecutor. Prior to the public sector, he worked for nearly three years as an investment banking analyst. He holds a B.S. and M.A from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Texas.Is the House broken? What does a functioning House look like? What do lawmakers need to fix it? How does the House's institutional dynamic make it harder to form cross-party coalitions? Are cross-party coalitions the solution to what ails the institution? What is the "uni-party" and how is it preventing the House from addressing America's problems? These are some of the questions that Roy, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Jonathan Rauch joins Lee and James to consider why Americans can't compromise. Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program and the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer of The Atlantic and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. His many Brookings publications include the 2021 book “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth”, as well as the 2015 ebook “Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy.” Other books include “The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better after 50” (2018) and “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America” (2004). He has also authored research on political parties, marijuana legalization, LGBT rights and religious liberty, and more.What is compromise? Where does it happen? What does it take to get it? And what is preventing Americans from doing it today, especially in Congress? Are lawmakers really trying to win in the House and Senate? These are some of the questions that Jonathan, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk about Bonnie Tyler, Tina Turner, and Americans' views of democracy. What is democracy? How do Americans view it? Do they think about democracy differently when it gets in their way? Does that make them “democracy hypocrites?” Why are Americans holding out for a hero in such moments? And does democratic self-government need another hero to make it work? 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 what happened in 2023, and what could happen in 2024. What did we learn in 2023? Was American politics less fluid and surprising than it was in 2022? Will the 2024 presidential election be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump? What are the consequences of divided parties? Why is Congress such a hot mess? And why aren't more people talking about the first-in-the-nation island primary? 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, Jonathan Rodden joins Julia and Lee to discuss the challenges presented by urban-rural polarization in American politics. Rodden is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University. His work focuses on the comparative political economy of institutions. He has written on various topics, including federalism and fiscal decentralization, the geographic distribution of political preferences within countries, legislative bargaining, the distribution of budgetary transfers across regions, and the historical origins of political institutions. He is also the author of Why Cities Lose: The Deep Roots of the Urban-Rural Divide (Basic Books, 2019).What is urban-rural polarization? How do political parties perpetuate it? Does America's presidential system exacerbate the underlying problem? And what reforms can help Americans bridge the urban-rural divide in their politics? These are some of the questions Jonathan, Julia, and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee takes a big picture look at political polling with Michael Podhorzer. Podhorzer is a senior fellow at the Center for American Process where he writes weekly on election data and political strategy. He is the former political director of the AFL-CIO. Podhorzer founded the Analyst Institute, the Independent Strategic Research Collaborative (ISRC), the Defend Democracy Project, and the Polling Consortium, and helped found America Votes, Working America, For Our Future, and Catalist.Does political polling account for place, community, and political organization? How does the present approach to polling overlook state and local dynamics? To what extent have the Democratic and Republican parties altered their geographical bases of support in recent decades? How have the cultural and economic aspects of place shaped the two parties? And is a kakistocracy? These are some of the questions Michael and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, James discusses the importance of political leadership with Daniel Stid. Stid is the Executive Director of Lyceum Labs. He previously served as the founding director of the Hewlett Foundation's U.S. Democracy Program. From 2013-22, Daniel led $180 million in grantmaking to shore up U.S. democracy in a time of polarization. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at The Bridgespan Group, where Daniel advised nonprofit, foundation, and government leaders; a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group; and a Congressional Fellow on the staff of House Majority Leader Dick Armey. He is the author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution. In his blog, The Art of Association, Daniel explores the interplay between civil society and democracy in America. He has a B.A. from Hope College, an M.Phil. in politics from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.What role do political leaders play in making American politics work? What constitutes good leadership? Where do political leaders come from? And how do we get more? These are some of the questions that Daniel and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee considers what American democracy will look like in the 21st century with Archon Fung. Fung is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at Harvard Kennedy School and director of Harvard's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals.What is the present state of American democracy? What impact will artificial intelligence have on it? Will the way in which people consume information exacerbate extremism and negativity in American politics? These are some of the questions Archon and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James reflect on the House's Speaker drama. Why did it take so long for the House to select a Speaker? What is the House for? Why does it need a Speaker - and other powerful leaders - to operate? And what can the House's history teach us about alternative ways to manage the institution? These are some of the questions that Lee and Jams ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia considers social movements and political parties with Marcus Board Jr. Board is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Howard University. His research engages social movements, radical Black feminist theories of power, and public opinion. He is the author of Invisible Weapons: Infiltrating Resistance and Defeating Movements (Oxford University Press, 2022). Board most recently co-authored a chapter on social movements and political parties in the American Political Science Association's Presidential Task Force on Political Parties report, “More Than Red and Blue: Political Parties and American Democracy” (July 2023).What is a social movement? How do they differ from political parties and interest groups? Can social movements benefit from joining forces with political parties? What are the implications for political parties when social movements try to transform our political institutions? And what can gumbo teach us about grappling with complicated political questions? These are some of the questions Marcus and Julia ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James assess what's wrong with American self-government? Why is it dysfunctional? What will it take to change the status quo? And will Lee and James ever get a chance to open a vegetarian piano bar restaurant? These are some of the questions that they ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Steven Rogers joins Julia and Lee to discuss state legislatures. Rogers is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Saint Louis University, where he teaches and conducts research on elections, state legislatures, and public opinion.How many people can name their state representative? Does it matter if they have no idea who represents them in the state capital? What are the implications of low electoral accountability in state legislative elections? Would more competition make state legislators more accountable to their constituents? These are some of the questions Steve, Julia, and Lee discuss in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Miles Taylor joins Julia and Lee to talk about the resistance to Donald Trump when he was president. Taylor is the author of Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump. He served in the Trump administration as the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, Taylor worked in Congress and served in the George W. Bush administration.How did administration officials counter the threat to American self-government that they believed Donald Trump posed when he was president? Why did some Republicans resist the president while others supported him? What will happen if Trump - or Trumpism - wins the presidency in 2024? Can a great civic awakening prevent that scenario from happening? And what is the “axis of adults?” These are some of the questions Miles, Julia, and Lee ask in this week's episode.

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.

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.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Dan DiSalvo joins Lee and James to discuss party factions. DiSalvo is a professor and chair of the political science department in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York. He is also a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. DiSalvo focuses on American political parties, elections, labor unions, state government, and public policy. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Engines of Change: Party Factions in American Politics, 1868-2010 (Oxford University Press, 2012) and Government Against Itself: Public Union Power and Its Consequences (Oxford University Press: 2015).What are factions? What do they tell us about American politics? Do they make significant policy change possible? How have factions influenced government in the past? And what are the factions within the Democratic and Republican parties today? These are some of the questions Dan, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss the President's State of the Union Address. What is the State of the Union? Does anyone watch it? What purpose does it serve? Can it be made better? 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, Paul Elliott Johnson joins Julia and James to discuss conservative populism. Johnson is Assistant Professor of Deliberation and Civic Life in the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on rhetorical theory, argumentation, and American politics, with a particular focus on the rhetoric of populism and American conservatism. He is the author of I the People: The Rhetoric of Conservative Populism in the United States (University of Alabama Press, 2022).What is conservative populism? Does it define American conservatism? How does it differ from liberal populism? And what does it tell us about the next chapter in American politics? These are some of the questions Paul, Julia, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Lears joins Julia and James to discuss how filmmaking can help us understand how people make political change happen. Lears is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and cinematographer. Her film Knock Down the House (Netflix) won the U.S. Documentary Audience award and the Festival Favorite award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Knock Down the House was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy in 2020. Lears' latest film, To the End, captures the emergence of a new generation of leaders in the movement to combat the climate crisis.How do people make the politically impossible possible? Why does telling their story visually give us a different perspective on politics than we would get from reading about them in the New York Times or the Washington Post? What explains the progressive movement's recent resurgence? And what skills do people need to change the political status quo? These are some of the questions Rachel, Julia, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Ryan Williamson joins James to consider how much money Americans spend on their elections. Williamson is a resident governance fellow at the R Street Institute. He researches and writes on issues related to election reform and administration and governance, such as legislative procedure and capacity.Who is responsible for funding elections in the United States? Do some jurisdictions underfund their elections more than others? How much should elections cost? And how will spending more money on elections impact American politics moving forward? These are some of the questions that Ryan and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee kick off a new year by considering what the House Speaker election says about the Republican Party. What is going on with the GOP? Is the Speaker's race an example of healthy factional fighting? Or is it a sign of Republican disarray? How does the Republican infighting differ from recent debates within the Democratic Party? And what is Lee's terrible pun? These are some of the questions Julia and Lee ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James consider what happened in 2022 and what it means for American politics moving forward. They discuss the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Congress's January 6 Committee investigation, the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and November's midterm elections. How did these events shape the course of American politics in 2022? Did they change America's political institutions? And what do they tell us about how those institutions work for the American people? 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 and Lee join Brendan Nyhan, Lilliana Mason, Aziz Huq, and Jennifer Victor to discuss how America's system of winner-take-all congressional districts exacerbates the challenges its democracy faces. Nyhan is the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor, Department of Government, Dartmouth College. Mason is an SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. Huq is the Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. And Victor is an associate professor of political science at George Mason University's Schar School Policy and Government.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Daniella Ballou-Aares joins Lee and James to discuss the relationship between business and democracy. Ballou-Aares is the CEO and cofounder of the Leadership Now Project, a membership organization of business and thought leaders taking action to protect and renew American democracy. Ballou-Aares began her career at Bain & Company, working across the firm's offices in the US, South Africa and the UK. She spent five years in the Obama Administration as the Senior Advisor for Development to the Secretary of State, serving under Secretaries Clinton and Kerry. What is the state of democracy in the United States? How much responsibility does business bear for the present state of democracy? And how can business change the status quo? These are some of the questions Daniella, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Julia, Lee, and James discuss what happened in this year's midterm elections. Is the Red Wave a superhero or college mascot? Why didn't it appear on Election Day? Was the midterm outcome a surprise? How did political institutions influence it? What does the outcome tell us about American politics more broadly? And when will Julia announce her 2024 presidential bid? 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, Robert C. Smith joins Julia to discuss race and the American presidency. Smith is a professor emeritus of political science at San Francisco State University. He is a nationally-recognized expert on African American politics. His research has examined comparisons between President Barack Obama and President John F. Kennedy and the relationship between conservatism and racism in the United States. Smith is the author of numerous articles and books on national and African American politics, the presidency, and Congress, including Polarization and the Presidency: From FDR to Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, and the Politics of Ethnic Incorporation and Avoidance. His most recent article is “Presidential Responsiveness to Black Interests From Grant to Biden: The Power of the Vote, the Power of Protest” in Presidential Studies Quarterly.Are recent presidents hostile or complacent about the needs of African Americans? Is their record on these issues reflective of broader forces in the political system? How enduring is white racial liberalism in the modern Democratic Party? And what is Obama's racial legacy? These are some of the questions Robert and Julia ask in this week's episode.