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PODCAST

A Few Reasonable Words

Professors Casey Dominguez, Cory Gooding, and Timothy McCarty, University of San Diego

A Few Reasonable Words…A weekly podcast from three professors trying desperately to soothe the frayed nerves of the American public with the comforting balm of political science. With every episode we include a segment called "Civics for Grownups" and some "Recommended Reading." Want more information? https://afrwpodcast.wordpress.com/

news & politics higher education

All Episodes

32:07

Ep. 48: What's Federalism Got to Do with It?

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/09/25

From sanctuary states to repealing Obamacare, How should we think about conflicts between the federal government & state governments? Is there any clear way to determine who has the right to set policy, or is our system built for constant conflict between the states and the federal government? And if so, is that a good thing?

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35:46

Ep. 47: Political Ignorance

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/09/19

How worried should we be about civic ignorance? Most Americans know very little about government, but is that a problem for democracy? And if so, what should we do about it?

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38:43

Ep. 46: On DACA

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/09/12

What is (was) DACA? Who is affected by the program? And how well do the administration's claims about needing to rescind DACA for separation of powers reasons hold up to scrutiny?

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04:55

We're Taking a (short) Vacation

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/07/26

Congress gets a recess and our students get summer break, so we figured we could take a vacation as well.

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33:10

Ep. 45: The Permanent Campaign

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/07/11

Why do politicians seem to never stop campaigning? Has our democracy lost touch with the difference between governing and electioneering? Should we be mad about all this? And if it is a bad thing, how much of it is the media’s fault? (Hint: A lot)

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43:12

Ep. 44: Breaking Down the Declaration of Independence

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/07/03

Everybody knows the Declaration of Independence, but there’s nothing quite like political scientists nerding out on founding documents, so grab a hot dog and check out the fireworks while we break down America’s great Dear John letter to England.

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35:31

Ep. 43: Lawmaking 101 (re-run)

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/06/24

The Senate finally released their super-secret bill for restructuring the American Health Care system, so we’ve decided to re-run our “Lawmaking 101” episode in hopes of getting everybody back up to speed just in time for health care battles anew!

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35:29

Ep. 42: What is Executive Privilege?

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/06/15

What does it mean for the President to invoke executive privilege? Is executive privilege actually in the Constitution? Do Presidents only invoke executive privilege when they have something to hide? And isn’t getting to live in the White House privilege enough?

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34:16

Ep. 41: Should We Care About Presidential Tweets?

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/06/10

Folks wring their hands about our President’s use of social media, but how much do his tweets really matter for politics, policymaking, or the presidency? How does Twitter compare to previous technological innovations like radio and television? Should we care that our president seems addicted to twitter? And how seriously should we take his tweets?

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39:32

Ep. 40: What Makes Special Prosecutors So Special?

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/06/03

We believe in the rule of law. We believe the president is above the law. But how do we hold the executive branch accountable for wrongdoing when it’s the executive branch’s job to investigate and try wrongdoing?

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33:48

Ep. 39: The Rule of Law

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/05/20

What is the rule of law, exactly? Where did the idea of the rule of law come from and why do we care about it so much? Does it just mean following whatever the laws say, or is it something more particular than that? And does every society with laws follow the rule of law, or can you have laws but not follow the rule of law? Can breaking the law ever be a way to respect the rule of law? And what on earth does firing the FBI director have to do with the rule of law?

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37:50

Ep. 38: What is Trumpism?

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/05/13

What is Trumpism? Is it even a thing? How does it relate to American Conservatism? Is it at all distinct from the cult of personality around Trump himself? If in 20 years, we see politicians calling themselves "Trumpists," what might that look like? How will we know if they are really doing Trumpism or something other thing entirely?

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35:38

Ep. 37: What is Conservatism?

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/05/05

What is conservatism? What is its history? Is it a set of ideas or a kind of temperament? What are its core ideas? What are the differences among conservative thinkers? Is it right to call the GOP conservative? And why is it called "the right" anyway?

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28:22

Ep. 36: Trump's First 100 Days

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/04/29

Donald Trump has been President for 100 days! Has it really only been that long? Why do we fixate on a President's first 100 days? How successful has Trump been, and how does he match up with other Presidents? And if this is what 100 days feels like, how will we feel after the next 1360?

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33:15

Ep. 35: Protest on Campus

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/04/23

Why are college students always protesting? What is the history of campus protest? When are campus protests effective? How do ideals like academic freedom and free speech relate to protesting on campus? And how should we feel about protests of controversial speakers? Is 'no-platforming' a good way to prevent the proliferation of false or dangerous ideas, or an unreasonable affront to free speech?

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38:25

Ep. 34: Protests!

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/04/15

Folks seem to be in a protesting mood these days, but how much do we really know about protests? What are the varieties of protests? What are the rights of protesters? How effective are protests in changing public opinion or policy?

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35:06

Ep. 33: Filibusters!

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/04/06

What's the deal with filibusters? How do they really work & why do we have them? Do they only happen in the Senate? And why don't they still have to stand & talk to keep them going?

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32:47

Ep. 32: Ethics of Immigration

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/03/27

What are the ethics of immigration? How can moral philosophy help us think about immigration policy? Is there such a thing as a right to immigrate? Do states have the right to exclude migrants? What about refugees - do they have a privileged moral status?

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31:01

Ep. 31: How to think about Immigration

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/03/22

What do political scientists know about immigration? What is the history of our immigration laws and policies? How does immigration really affect the economy & national security? Do the president’s actions have any basis in these empirical realities?

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34:11

Ep. 30: Lawmaking 101

A Few Reasonable Words ·

2017/03/16

We haven't talked much about lawmaking because Congress hasn’t tried to do anything! Now Congress has a big agenda and the leadership is trying to act quickly on it. So let’s get everyone up to speed on what Congress can and can’t do, and how it does it (whatever it is that it is trying to do).

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