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Podcast: Do ideas or interests drive our politics?
Listen in. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, joins Julia Azari, Lee Drutman, and James Wallner to discuss the role that ideas and interests play in our politics. Do ideas… Read More
Broad coalition endorses principles for transparency and oversight of coronavirus stimulus spending
Download the letter April 6, 2020 The Honorable Nancy PelosiSpeaker of the HouseU.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20514The Honorable Kevin McCarthyMinority Leader… Read More
Diverse groups thank Congress for its modernization efforts
Download the letter. Read More
Bipartisan reform in a fitful Senate?
Back in the antediluvian era of late February 2020, a group of 70 former U.S. Senators took to the opinion page of the Washington Post to lament the sorry state of America’s… Read More
Every congressional office should pivot to constituent service during COVID-19
Consider: The recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) is 247 pages long and quite complex.The threat of coronavirus has led legislators in both the House… Read More
Podcast: Filibuster or filibusted?
Listen here. This week, Julia Azari, Lee Drutman, and James Wallner consider the filibuster. What purpose does it serve? Have its consequences gotten worse as the Senate has… Read More
Governance poll: What does the public think?
In early February, 2020, George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, Department of Political Science, and Graduate School of Political Management sponsored a nationwide poll of 1,200… Read More
How do we measure what Congress has accomplished?
With approval ratings somewhere below Nickelback and root canals, Congress is hardly America’s favorite institution. The American public certainly seems to view gridlock and shutdowns dimly, and there’s a popular … Read More
The exasperating politics of pensions and trust funds
Across the United States, myriad pension and trust funds are in trouble. Serious trouble. The U.S Postal Service’s retiree health benefits fund is underfunded by $70 billion, and will… Read More
Podcast: What are the politics of the coronavirus pandemic?
Listen here. This week, Julia, Lee, and James ask special guest Philip Rocco about the politics of public health emergencies. Philip is an Assistant… Read More