Politics in Question

By: Julia Azari Lee Drutman and James Wallner
  • Summary

  • A podcast about how our political institutions are failing us and ideas for fixing them. Join hosts Lee Drutman, Julia Azari, and James Wallner, three lively experts on American political institutions and reform, as they imagine and argue over what American politics could look like if citizens questioned everything. Politics In Question is a joint venture of New America and the R Street Institute.
    Show More Show Less
Episodes
  • How do voting laws affect turnout?
    Dec 2 2024

    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.

    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
  • Can multiparty presidentialism revitalize U.S. democracy?
    Nov 27 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.

    Show More Show Less
    47 mins
  • What is the role of parties?
    Nov 25 2024

    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.

    Show More Show Less
    48 mins

What listeners say about Politics in Question

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.