The trajectory of each political party in the United States depends on a variety of factors. Some involve factors outside their control, but others involve decisions and strategies made over long periods of time. E.E. Schattschneider offered an important analysis of American politics in 1960 in his classic work The Semi-Sovereign People. Justin Kempf reflects on... Continue Reading →
Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson have explored the evolution of the Republican Party in American politics for two decades. Their new book Let them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality explains the strange alliance between the affluent and working class white Americans into an ideology they describe as plutocratic populism.... Continue Reading →
Lee Drutman joins the Democracy Paradox to make his case for multiparty democracy in the United States. Lee is a Senior Fellow in the Political Reform Program at New America. He discusses his most recent book Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop. Why Multiparty Democracy Madison’s Federalist 10 makes an unusual case. He argued the size... Continue Reading →
William Howell and Terry Moe join the Democracy Paradox to discuss the missed opportunities of the American Presidency. This is the 20th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast. It offers a reflection on the role of the President days before the 2020 Election in the United States. William Howell and Terry Moe... Continue Reading →
John Matsusaki joins the Democracy Paradox to make the case for National Referendums. He is the Charles F. Sexton Chair in American Enterprise at the University of Southern California and the author of Let the People Rule: How Direct Democracy Can Meet the Populist Challenge An Absence of National Referendums The United States has... Continue Reading →
Don Kettl joins the Democracy Paradox to discuss the challenges of American federalism. He is the Sid Richardson Professor at the LBJ School, specializing in public management and public policy and the author of the book The Divided States of America: Why Federalism Doesn't Work. Why Federalism Remains Relevant Federalism has become marginalized in... Continue Reading →
Polarization has become known as the great challenge for American Democracy in the Twenty-First Century. Suzanne Mettler and Robert Lieberman include it among their Four Threats. So long as polarization is portrayed as a problem, the solution remains simple, although difficult to achieve. The solution to polarization is described as compromise and moderation. But what... Continue Reading →
My kids know E.B. White as the author of Charlotte’s Web. Both of my kids were expected to read this classic on their own. Some books are written for children to read rather than their parents to read to them. I held off reading The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham until... Continue Reading →
John Gastil and Katherine Knobloch are the authors of Hope for Democracy: How Citizens Can Bring Reason Back into Politics. Their book explains an experiment in democracy called the Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR). It incorporated the idea of delegative democracy into the initiative referendum process in Oregon. Everyday citizens were brought together to discuss... Continue Reading →
In the seventh episode Joshua (Josh) and Edward (Ted) Lascher join me for a conversation about what they describe as "Direct Democracy's Secondary Effects." Their recent book Initiatives without Engagement focus on the effects of popular initiatives. An initiative is a distinct form of referendum where citizens propose a law or policy change typically through... Continue Reading →
