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Trey talks with constitutional law professor Maxwell Stearns about his new book Parliamentary America which argues the U.S. needs to adapt the U.S. House to include proportional representation. Topics Trey and Max Cover Include- how the median voter theory is inaccurate- why American parties are tending in extreme directions- proposals to double the size of the House of Representatives- proposals to transform the selection of president and vice president- proposals to change how to remove a president- the historic necessity of convincing relevant actors to agree to these changes. Follow Max on X, and check out Parliamentary AmericaAdditional InformationThe Politics Guys PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group
Join Michael Zeldin in a conversation with Princeton historian, Julian Zelizer, about his book, Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party. In Burning Down the House, Zelizer pinpoints the moment when Gingrich began steering our country onto a path of bitter partisanship and ruthless politics — which culminated in the election of Donald Trump. Perhaps more than any other politician, Gingrich introduced the rhetoric and tactics that have shaped the Trump presidency. Guest Julian E. Zelizer Julian E. Zelizer has been one of the pioneers in the revival of American political history. He is the author and editor of 19 books on American political history, including Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975—winner of the Ellis Hawley Prize for Best Book on Political History and the D.B. Prize for Best Book on Congress–On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000, Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security—From World War II to the War on Terrorism, Jimmy Carter, Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981-1989 (co-authored with Meg Jacobs), Governing America: The Revival of Political History and The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society, winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize for Best Book on Congress. In January 2019, Norton will publish his new book, co-authored with Kevin Kruse, entitled Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974. Zelizer is also a frequent commentator in the media. He has published over nine hundred op-eds, including his weekly column on CNN.Com. He has received fellowships from the Brookings Institution, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, New America, and the New York Historical Society. He has just released, “Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party” (Penguin Press) and is currently working on his next book, “Abraham Joshua Heschel” (Yale University Press). Follow Julian on Twitter: @julianzelizer Host Michael Zeldin Michael Zeldin is a well-known and highly-regarded TV and radio analyst/commentator. He has covered many high-profile matters, including the Clinton impeachment proceedings, the Gore v. Bush court challenges, Special Counsel Robert Muller's investigation of interference in the 2016 presidential election, and the Trump impeachment proceedings. In 2019, Michael was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he taught a study group on Independent Investigations of Presidents. Previously, Michael was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as Deputy Independent/ Independent Counsel, investigating allegations of tampering with presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport files, and as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee, October Surprise Task Force, investigating the handling of the American hostage situation in Iran. Michael is a prolific writer and has published Op-ed pieces for CNN.com, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Hill, The Washington Times, and The Washington Post. Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelzeldin
Join Michael Zeldin in a conversation with Princeton historian, Julian Zelizer, about his book, Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party. In Burning Down the House, Zelizer pinpoints the moment when Gingrich began steering our country onto a path of bitter partisanship and ruthless politics — which culminated in the election of Donald Trump. Perhaps more than any other politician, Gingrich introduced the rhetoric and tactics that have shaped the Trump presidency. Guest Julian E. Zelizer Julian E. Zelizer has been one of the pioneers in the revival of American political history. He is the author and editor of 19 books on American political history, including Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975—winner of the Ellis Hawley Prize for Best Book on Political History and the D.B. Prize for Best Book on Congress–On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000, Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security—From World War II to the War on Terrorism, Jimmy Carter, Conservatives in Power: The Reagan Years, 1981-1989 (co-authored with Meg Jacobs), Governing America: The Revival of Political History and The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society, winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize for Best Book on Congress. In January 2019, Norton will publish his new book, co-authored with Kevin Kruse, entitled Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974. Zelizer is also a frequent commentator in the media. He has published over nine hundred op-eds, including his weekly column on CNN.Com. He has received fellowships from the Brookings Institution, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, New America, and the New York Historical Society. He has just released, “Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party” (Penguin Press) and is currently working on his next book, “Abraham Joshua Heschel” (Yale University Press). Follow Julian on Twitter: @julianzelizer Host Michael Zeldin Michael Zeldin is a well-known and highly-regarded TV and radio analyst/commentator. He has covered many high-profile matters, including the Clinton impeachment proceedings, the Gore v. Bush court challenges, Special Counsel Robert Muller's investigation of interference in the 2016 presidential election, and the Trump impeachment proceedings. In 2019, Michael was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he taught a study group on Independent Investigations of Presidents. Previously, Michael was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice. He also served as Deputy Independent/ Independent Counsel, investigating allegations of tampering with presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport files, and as Deputy Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee, October Surprise Task Force, investigating the handling of the American hostage situation in Iran. Michael is a prolific writer and has published Op-ed pieces for CNN.com, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Hill, The Washington Times, and The Washington Post. Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelzeldin
Susan Ellison’s Domesticating Democracy: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2018) explores the world of foreign-funded alternate dispute resolution (ADR) organizations working in El Alto, Bolivia. Ellison’s engaging ethnography takes readers into the streets, homes, and workplaces of Alteños who use ADR to avoid state bureaucracies and juridical procedures as well as the conflictólogos who make a living practicing ADR. Ellison captures the nuances of both groups’ relationships to ADR while still noting the disciplinary effects of programs aimed to create stable market conditions. Domesticating Democracy suggests that ADR programs foster a kind of counterinsurgent citizenship, encouraging residents of Bolivia’s most famously rebellious city to be less contentious in their dispute resolution and to resolve conflicts at an interpersonal rather than systemic level. Domesticating Democracy earned an Honorable Mention for the 2018 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing and won the Latin American Studies Association’s Bryce Wood Book Award for outstanding work in the humanities and social sciences. Ellison is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wellesley College with extensive experience working in Bolivia. Elena McGrath is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College. She is a historian of race, revolution, and natural resources in the Andes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Susan Ellison’s Domesticating Democracy: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2018) explores the world of foreign-funded alternate dispute resolution (ADR) organizations working in El Alto, Bolivia. Ellison’s engaging ethnography takes readers into the streets, homes, and workplaces of Alteños who use ADR to avoid state bureaucracies and juridical procedures as well as the conflictólogos who make a living practicing ADR. Ellison captures the nuances of both groups’ relationships to ADR while still noting the disciplinary effects of programs aimed to create stable market conditions. Domesticating Democracy suggests that ADR programs foster a kind of counterinsurgent citizenship, encouraging residents of Bolivia’s most famously rebellious city to be less contentious in their dispute resolution and to resolve conflicts at an interpersonal rather than systemic level. Domesticating Democracy earned an Honorable Mention for the 2018 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing and won the Latin American Studies Association’s Bryce Wood Book Award for outstanding work in the humanities and social sciences. Ellison is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wellesley College with extensive experience working in Bolivia. Elena McGrath is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College. She is a historian of race, revolution, and natural resources in the Andes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Susan Ellison’s Domesticating Democracy: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2018) explores the world of foreign-funded alternate dispute resolution (ADR) organizations working in El Alto, Bolivia. Ellison’s engaging ethnography takes readers into the streets, homes, and workplaces of Alteños who use ADR to avoid state bureaucracies and juridical procedures as well as the conflictólogos who make a living practicing ADR. Ellison captures the nuances of both groups’ relationships to ADR while still noting the disciplinary effects of programs aimed to create stable market conditions. Domesticating Democracy suggests that ADR programs foster a kind of counterinsurgent citizenship, encouraging residents of Bolivia’s most famously rebellious city to be less contentious in their dispute resolution and to resolve conflicts at an interpersonal rather than systemic level. Domesticating Democracy earned an Honorable Mention for the 2018 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing and won the Latin American Studies Association’s Bryce Wood Book Award for outstanding work in the humanities and social sciences. Ellison is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wellesley College with extensive experience working in Bolivia. Elena McGrath is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College. She is a historian of race, revolution, and natural resources in the Andes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Susan Ellison’s Domesticating Democracy: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2018) explores the world of foreign-funded alternate dispute resolution (ADR) organizations working in El Alto, Bolivia. Ellison’s engaging ethnography takes readers into the streets, homes, and workplaces of Alteños who use ADR to avoid state bureaucracies and juridical procedures as well as the conflictólogos who make a living practicing ADR. Ellison captures the nuances of both groups’ relationships to ADR while still noting the disciplinary effects of programs aimed to create stable market conditions. Domesticating Democracy suggests that ADR programs foster a kind of counterinsurgent citizenship, encouraging residents of Bolivia’s most famously rebellious city to be less contentious in their dispute resolution and to resolve conflicts at an interpersonal rather than systemic level. Domesticating Democracy earned an Honorable Mention for the 2018 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing and won the Latin American Studies Association’s Bryce Wood Book Award for outstanding work in the humanities and social sciences. Ellison is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wellesley College with extensive experience working in Bolivia. Elena McGrath is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College. She is a historian of race, revolution, and natural resources in the Andes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Susan Ellison’s Domesticating Democracy: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia (Duke University Press, 2018) explores the world of foreign-funded alternate dispute resolution (ADR) organizations working in El Alto, Bolivia. Ellison’s engaging ethnography takes readers into the streets, homes, and workplaces of Alteños who use ADR to avoid state bureaucracies and juridical procedures as well as the conflictólogos who make a living practicing ADR. Ellison captures the nuances of both groups’ relationships to ADR while still noting the disciplinary effects of programs aimed to create stable market conditions. Domesticating Democracy suggests that ADR programs foster a kind of counterinsurgent citizenship, encouraging residents of Bolivia’s most famously rebellious city to be less contentious in their dispute resolution and to resolve conflicts at an interpersonal rather than systemic level. Domesticating Democracy earned an Honorable Mention for the 2018 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing and won the Latin American Studies Association’s Bryce Wood Book Award for outstanding work in the humanities and social sciences. Ellison is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wellesley College with extensive experience working in Bolivia. Elena McGrath is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College. She is a historian of race, revolution, and natural resources in the Andes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kevin M. Kruse, historian at Princeton University is my guest on this episode. He’s the author of White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism, published in 2005, and One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, published in 2015. He and his colleague at Princeton, Julian Zelizer, have a new book coming out January 9th titled Fault Lines: A History of the U.S. Since 1974. It evolved from a course taught by Kruse and Zelizer at Princeton. We talk about Fault Lines in today’s episode. 0:00 What intrigues students about this period 9:00 Network, Nashville, Wall Street, Wargames 15:20 Revisiting White Flight 20:00 Abortion politics and evangelicals 28:20 Books by Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann; and E. J. Dionne 35:30 Scorched earth politics, Obama's naive hope of bipartisanship 42:00 Preparing students for misinformation 45:00 Kevin recommends books on racism in America 51:30 Kevin's next book Links Fault Lines: A History of the U.S. Since 1974 by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer Syllabus for the Princeton course on U.S. history since 1974 Kevin M. Kruse on Twitter Other Books by Kevin M. Kruse Other Books by Julian Zelizer's Books Books That We Discussed Neil J. Young - We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics Thomas E. Mann & Norm Ornstein - It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Political Extremism E. J. Dionne - Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism—From Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond Julian Zelizer - Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security: From World War II to the War on Terrorism George Fredrickson - Racism: A Short History John Higham - Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925 Linda Gordon - The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition Donald Critchlow- Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade Books by Geoffrey Kabaservice
Historians are by their nature public intellectuals because they are intellectuals who write about, well, the public. Alas, many historians seem to forget the “public” part and concentrate on the “intellectual” part. Our guest today–sponsored by the National History Center–is not among them. Julian Zelizer has used his historical research and writing to inform the public and public debate in a great variety of fora: magazines, newspapers, online outlets, radio, TV–and now New Books in History. Today we'll be talking about his efforts to bring the historian's voice to the public and his most recent book Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism (Basic Books, 2010) (which itself is a contribution to that effort). The book proves that in the U.S. politics does not “stop at the water's edge”–not now, not ever. From the very beginning of the Republic, American foreign policy has been informed by a subtle mix of electoral politics, ideology, and institutional infighting. Julian's book focuses on the most recent episode in this long story–the period from the Second World War to the present. He shows that politics plain and simple had a powerful effect on the major foreign policy decisions of the era: Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Reagan's volte-face on disarmament, the First Gulf War, and the Second. It is, Julian says, in the nature of our political culture to cross swords and break lances over issues of foreign policy. Never truer words… We also discuss the History News Network and the History News Service. Their webpages can be found here and here. Please become a fan of “New Books in History” on Facebook if you haven't already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Historians are by their nature public intellectuals because they are intellectuals who write about, well, the public. Alas, many historians seem to forget the “public” part and concentrate on the “intellectual” part. Our guest today–sponsored by the National History Center–is not among them. Julian Zelizer has used his historical research and writing to inform the public and public debate in a great variety of fora: magazines, newspapers, online outlets, radio, TV–and now New Books in History. Today we’ll be talking about his efforts to bring the historian’s voice to the public and his most recent book Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism (Basic Books, 2010) (which itself is a contribution to that effort). The book proves that in the U.S. politics does not “stop at the water’s edge”–not now, not ever. From the very beginning of the Republic, American foreign policy has been informed by a subtle mix of electoral politics, ideology, and institutional infighting. Julian’s book focuses on the most recent episode in this long story–the period from the Second World War to the present. He shows that politics plain and simple had a powerful effect on the major foreign policy decisions of the era: Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Reagan’s volte-face on disarmament, the First Gulf War, and the Second. It is, Julian says, in the nature of our political culture to cross swords and break lances over issues of foreign policy. Never truer words… We also discuss the History News Network and the History News Service. Their webpages can be found here and here. Please become a fan of “New Books in History” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Historians are by their nature public intellectuals because they are intellectuals who write about, well, the public. Alas, many historians seem to forget the “public” part and concentrate on the “intellectual” part. Our guest today–sponsored by the National History Center–is not among them. Julian Zelizer has used his historical research and writing to inform the public and public debate in a great variety of fora: magazines, newspapers, online outlets, radio, TV–and now New Books in History. Today we’ll be talking about his efforts to bring the historian’s voice to the public and his most recent book Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism (Basic Books, 2010) (which itself is a contribution to that effort). The book proves that in the U.S. politics does not “stop at the water’s edge”–not now, not ever. From the very beginning of the Republic, American foreign policy has been informed by a subtle mix of electoral politics, ideology, and institutional infighting. Julian’s book focuses on the most recent episode in this long story–the period from the Second World War to the present. He shows that politics plain and simple had a powerful effect on the major foreign policy decisions of the era: Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Reagan’s volte-face on disarmament, the First Gulf War, and the Second. It is, Julian says, in the nature of our political culture to cross swords and break lances over issues of foreign policy. Never truer words… We also discuss the History News Network and the History News Service. Their webpages can be found here and here. Please become a fan of “New Books in History” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Historians are by their nature public intellectuals because they are intellectuals who write about, well, the public. Alas, many historians seem to forget the “public” part and concentrate on the “intellectual” part. Our guest today–sponsored by the National History Center–is not among them. Julian Zelizer has used his historical research and writing to inform the public and public debate in a great variety of fora: magazines, newspapers, online outlets, radio, TV–and now New Books in History. Today we’ll be talking about his efforts to bring the historian’s voice to the public and his most recent book Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism (Basic Books, 2010) (which itself is a contribution to that effort). The book proves that in the U.S. politics does not “stop at the water’s edge”–not now, not ever. From the very beginning of the Republic, American foreign policy has been informed by a subtle mix of electoral politics, ideology, and institutional infighting. Julian’s book focuses on the most recent episode in this long story–the period from the Second World War to the present. He shows that politics plain and simple had a powerful effect on the major foreign policy decisions of the era: Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Reagan’s volte-face on disarmament, the First Gulf War, and the Second. It is, Julian says, in the nature of our political culture to cross swords and break lances over issues of foreign policy. Never truer words… We also discuss the History News Network and the History News Service. Their webpages can be found here and here. Please become a fan of “New Books in History” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Historians are by their nature public intellectuals because they are intellectuals who write about, well, the public. Alas, many historians seem to forget the “public” part and concentrate on the “intellectual” part. Our guest today–sponsored by the National History Center–is not among them. Julian Zelizer has used his historical research and writing to inform the public and public debate in a great variety of fora: magazines, newspapers, online outlets, radio, TV–and now New Books in History. Today we’ll be talking about his efforts to bring the historian’s voice to the public and his most recent book Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism (Basic Books, 2010) (which itself is a contribution to that effort). The book proves that in the U.S. politics does not “stop at the water’s edge”–not now, not ever. From the very beginning of the Republic, American foreign policy has been informed by a subtle mix of electoral politics, ideology, and institutional infighting. Julian’s book focuses on the most recent episode in this long story–the period from the Second World War to the present. He shows that politics plain and simple had a powerful effect on the major foreign policy decisions of the era: Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Reagan’s volte-face on disarmament, the First Gulf War, and the Second. It is, Julian says, in the nature of our political culture to cross swords and break lances over issues of foreign policy. Never truer words… We also discuss the History News Network and the History News Service. Their webpages can be found here and here. Please become a fan of “New Books in History” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Historians are by their nature public intellectuals because they are intellectuals who write about, well, the public. Alas, many historians seem to forget the “public” part and concentrate on the “intellectual” part. Our guest today–sponsored by the National History Center–is not among them. Julian Zelizer has used his historical research and writing to inform the public and public debate in a great variety of fora: magazines, newspapers, online outlets, radio, TV–and now New Books in History. Today we’ll be talking about his efforts to bring the historian’s voice to the public and his most recent book Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security From WWII to the War on Terrorism (Basic Books, 2010) (which itself is a contribution to that effort). The book proves that in the U.S. politics does not “stop at the water’s edge”–not now, not ever. From the very beginning of the Republic, American foreign policy has been informed by a subtle mix of electoral politics, ideology, and institutional infighting. Julian’s book focuses on the most recent episode in this long story–the period from the Second World War to the present. He shows that politics plain and simple had a powerful effect on the major foreign policy decisions of the era: Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Reagan’s volte-face on disarmament, the First Gulf War, and the Second. It is, Julian says, in the nature of our political culture to cross swords and break lances over issues of foreign policy. Never truer words… We also discuss the History News Network and the History News Service. Their webpages can be found here and here. Please become a fan of “New Books in History” on Facebook if you haven’t already. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices