Voter turnout rates for voters 18 to 29 have been trending up in recent years, yet younger voters continue to have the lowest turnout of all age groups. Younger voters offer many explanations for not participating in elections--they are rigged, politicians don’t follow through on promises, voting itself is confusing or difficult to assess, and ultimately, their vote doesn’t matter. In this episode, host Katie Dunn Tenpas discusses why and how your vote matters with Keesha Middlemass, a fellow and associate professor of American politics and public policy at Howard University, and how public education can help recenter a culture of democracy with Senior Fellow Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy.

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Since the founding of the United States in 1776, the definition of who gets to participate in politics and in civic life has been contested. What does it mean to be an American? Are some Americans more “American” than others? In this episode, host Katie Dunn Tenpas explores what we mean when we talk about being an “American” with Rashawn Ray, a senior fellow in Governance Studies and a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, and Gabriel Sanchez, also a Brookings senior fellow and a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico.

Episode transcript and show notes.

Democracy in Question is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Each year in late June, we impatiently wait for the Supreme Court to hand down decisions on cases with names like Dobbs, Citizens United, and even Trump v. The United States. The nine members of the nation’s highest court preside at the top of a pyramid that includes hundreds of federal appellate and district courts, with judges appointed for essentially life terms. Their decisions have an impact on nearly everything about modern American life from business to the environment to redefining American institutions themselves. In this episode, host Katie Dunn Tenpas explores the changing role courts and judges play in democracy with experts Russell Wheeler and Benjamin Wittes.

Episode transcript and show notes.

Democracy in Question is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

How do we build trust in elections? There have been widespread election fraud claims after the past two presidential elections despite little to no evidence. In 2022, the Pew Research Center found a party gap in terms of trust in elections. By a significant margin, Democratic voters tended to think that elections “will be administered well,” in the upcoming election. And overall, since 2018, Democrats and Republicans express less trust in elections, a troubling finding, since faith in elections is vital to American democracy. In this episode, host Katie Dunn Tenpas discusses ways to build trust in elections with scholars E.J. Dionne and Elaine Kamarck.

Episode transcript and show notes.

Democracy in Question is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Is democracy in decline? In this first episode of Democracy in Question, host Katie Dunn Tenpas explores an issue that is on the minds of many citizens and scholars alike. We’ve all witnessed numerous assaults on our democracy, Tenpas notes, including mis- and disinformation campaigns, wide ranging skepticism about election outcomes, extreme gerrymandering, and concerns about ballot access. Any one of these issues should cause democracy alarm bells to ring. But taken together, these developments point to actual erosion of democratic norms and values.

Episode transcript and show notes.

Democracy in Question is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.

On Democracy in Question, host Katie Dunn Tenpas—a visiting fellow in Governance Studies and director of the Katzmann Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government—interviews expert guests about American politics and the future of democracy. Each episode poses a different question to better understand the contours of our democratic system and what is at stake.

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Learn more at: Brookings.edu/DemocracyInQuestion