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PODCAST

Politics in Question

Julia Azari, Lee Drutman, and James Wallner

A podcast about how our political institutions are failing us and ideas for fixing them. Join hosts Lee Drutman and James Wallner 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 Foundation for American Innovation.

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All Episodes

00:29:04

How Do We Stop the Rise of Autocracy? Feat. Stacey...

Politics in Question ·

2025/11/06

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, host Lee Drutman talks with Leader Stacey Abrams about the current state of democracy. Leader Abrams is a strategist, novelist, and host of the podcast Assembly Required.How do we create a sustainable democracy? What’s the difference between autocracy and authoritarianism? What role does civil resistance play in sustaining democracy? These are some of the questions Lee asks in this week's episode of Politics in Question. Hosted by Simplecast, an

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00:38:16

Why Are We in a Shutdown?

Politics in Question ·

2025/10/30

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James talk with Matt Glassman about the state and stakes of the government shutdown. Glassman is a Senior Fellow at The Government Affairs Institute and the author of the Substack Matt’s Five Points.What's the underlying cause of this shutdown? How do you "win" a shutdown? What will be the future political costs for the Democratic Party in trying to make a healthcare policy deal? These are the questions that James and Lee explore in this week’s

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00:43:42

What Can the Data Tell Us?

Politics in Question ·

2025/10/22

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee talks with G. Elliot Morris about all things polling. Morris is a data-driven journalist and author of Strength in Numbers: How Polls Work and Why We Need Them (W. W. Norton & Company, 2022).How should we evaluate the quality of polling data? What can polling data actually tell us about a candidate’s performance in an election? What factors cannot be measured through polling? These are the questions that Lee explores in this week’s episode. Hosted

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00:47:57

How Are Social Movements Built?

Politics in Question ·

2025/10/16

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and Julia talk with Hahrie Han, a recent MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, about the intricacies of local-level political organizing. Han is a Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, the Inaugural Director of the SNF Agora Institute, Faculty Director of the P3 Research Lab, and author of Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church (Knopf, 2024).What are the mechanics of creating collective action? How is

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00:41:13

What is a Pocket Rescission?

Politics in Question ·

2025/09/11

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James discuss the context behind the looming government shutdown. They walk through the history of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and examine whether Congress can still play its constitutional role in checking the executive.What exactly is a rescission, and how does it work? How does a “pocket rescission” differ from the normal process? Should lawmakers amend the Budget Act? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this

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00:33:39

Is American Politics Stuck in a Gerontocracy?

Politics in Question ·

2025/08/28

In this week’s episode of Politics in Question, Lee sits down with Oscar Pocasangre and Dustin Wahl to discuss the representation of young people in politics. Pocasangre is a Senior Data Analyst at New America, and Wahl is the Executive Director of Fix Our House. Together, they co-authored a new report, The Age Divide, published by Protect Democracy (2025).Is gerontocracy a uniquely American problem? How can we bring more young people into politics? And what changes to our electoral system could

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00:33:51

Who Really Controls the Map?

Politics in Question ·

2025/08/06

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James catch up on the state of redistricting in the U.S. They discuss Lee’s latest Substack piece, “Democracy in Pieces: Did the Texas Gerrymander Just Break the Districting Game ?”Who writes the rules? Does the Democrats’ response to redistricting in Texas affirm the idea that political actors ultimately control the electoral process? And does it undermine Democrats’ past claims of supporting independent redistricting? Do the people still have

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00:47:29

What's the Future of Casework?

Politics in Question ·

2025/07/23

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee Drutman discusses with Anne Meeker how case work and constituent services would work under proportional representation. Meeker is Deputy Director of POPVox and co-author of a white paper titled How Would Constituent Services in American Multi-Member Districts Work?

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00:47:18

Do We Need Conflict in American Politics?

Politics in Question ·

2025/06/25

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James discuss the role of conflict in policy making, guided by E.E. Schattschneider's The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America (1960).How can conflict drive change? How do our current views of partisanship and conflict inform decision-making? How does who controls the scope of conflict shape democratic participation? These are some of the questions Lee and James explore in this week's episode.

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00:50:12

Who Has the Power?

Politics in Question ·

2025/06/11

In this week’s special live episode of Politics In Question, James and Lee talk with Soren Dayton about cycles of electoral reform. Dayton is the Director of Governance at the Foundation for American Innovation.What are the boundaries of presidential power? How has power been centralized within the Executive Branch throughout history? What role does partisan politics play in the current conflicts over the separation of powers? These are some of the questions James and Lee explore in this week’s

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00:50:48

What Happened to Our Political Parties?

Politics in Question ·

2025/06/04

In this week’s special live episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Didi Kuo about the evolution of political parties in America. Kuo is a Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and author of The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave and Why They Don't (Oxford University Press, 2025).Why do we need strong political parties? What is the foundation for a “good” political party? And how do we get them? These are some of the

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00:46:02

Where Does Christianity Fit in American Politics?

Politics in Question ·

2025/05/28

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk with Jonathan Rauch about Christian nationalism and its relationship to democracy. Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the author of Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (Yale University Press, 2025).How new and distinct is this version of Christianity in American public life? What has been the historical role of Christianity in American democracy? And what exactly is

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00:50:14

Do We Need to Redefine Democracy?

Politics in Question ·

2025/03/05

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk with Samuel Bagg about participation and democracy. Bagg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina and the author of The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2024).What are the origins of deliberative democracy? What is the role of participation in the 21st century? How should we think about democracy beyond individual

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00:36:39

What Defines a Political Scandal?

Politics in Question ·

2025/02/05

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Charles Hunt and Jaclyn Kettler about political scandals. Hunt is a Professor of Political Science at Boise State University (BSU), and Kettler is a Political Science Associate Professor at BSU. They are the hosts of Scandalized , a podcast where each episode unpacks a political scandal from American history.What's the difference between an honest mistake and a scandal? How does the political landscape contextualize how we think

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01:00:18

Have We Entered a New Constitutional Order?

Politics in Question ·

2025/01/22

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee talks with Paul Pierson and Eric Schickler about the polarization of American politics and the emergence of a new constitutional order. Pierson is the John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Berkeley, and Schickler is the Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science and co-Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at Berkeley. They are the authors of Partisan Nation: The Dangerous New Logic of American

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00:40:24

How Did the Heartland Go Red?

Politics in Question ·

2025/01/15

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee talk with Stephanie Ternullo about the political shift among white working-class Americans. Ternullo is an Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University and author of How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of Nationalized Politics (Princeton University Press, 2024).How do people grow partisan attachments within their social groups? What are the crucial elements of class? How do national party politics

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00:30:16

How Do We Fix Political Dysfunction?

Politics in Question ·

2024/12/25

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, James, Julia, and Lee discuss political dysfunction and how our perceptions of politics influence our views. They discuss Lee’s Substack piece We Need More (and Better) Parties and Julia’s Substack piece The Odds vs. The Stakes: In 2024, They Don't Seem to Be Related.How should media cover elections? In what ways is power being used to shape policy? Should we build political parties through existing social networks? These are some of the questions

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00:52:02

Is Democracy Under Threat?

Politics in Question ·

2024/12/03

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Zack Beauchamp about how we make sense of democratic threats. Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox and author of The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World (PublicAffairs, 2024).What are the risks to American democracy? How do social and economic hierarchies influence the functioning of democracy? Who defines democratic values? These are some of the questions Lee and Julia

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00:48:59

How do voting laws affect turnout?

Politics in Question ·

2024/12/02

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

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00:46:41

Can multiparty presidentialism revitalize U.S....

Politics in Question ·

2024/11/27

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

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170 results

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