American National Government

Howdy all, and welcome to the second of our two podcast episodes on the judiciary! In this episode, we do a deep dive into the Supreme Court, one of the least well-known entities we have (be honest, can you name the justices?). Our discussion today will cover the members of the court, how they are nominated and confirmed, processes they use for case selection and decision-making, and a whole lot of public opinion about the court. This is a bit of a lengthy episode as I tend to love all things Supreme Court... heck I teach two separate classes on constitutional law! That said, I hope you enjoy this discussion and as always email me with any questions on all that's covered!

Hiya folks, and welcome to our first episode on the judiciary! The judiciary, aka the courts/court system, is easily the shortest entry in the Constitution as far as the three branches goes, but it still has and maintains a lot of power. Our conversation today is going to start with thinking about the structure and hierarchy of the courts, followed by an explanation of jurisdiction (original and appellate), an introduction to judicial review, and finally a description of the adversarial system and the steps in the civil and criminal process. Warning: courts are not the crazy places you see on movies and TV... so expect this episode to be nothing like those portrayals!

Hey y'all, and welcome to our second podcast episode on the executive branch! Our discussion today is about the bureaucracy (aka, the administration or administrative state). We're often not too familiar with this term or how it applies to our lives, but really the bureaucracy is the biggest portion of our government with over 4 million people working in this area to support the executive branch. That includes independent regulatory agencies (like the CIA or EPA) and government corporations (like the Postal Service or Amtrak). Bureaucracies are often slow-moving and hard to change, but at the end of the day it's the biggest part of government that puts into action all the tasks that Congress gives to the executive. As you listen to this episode, focus on how we can have accountability, qualified persons working in these jobs, and just how these entities tend to work (or not because of bureaucratic culture).

Hi folks, and welcome back to our podcast with this week's focus on the executive branch! This episode launches into Article II with a full discussion of the presidency, including the qualifications, powers, and amendments that have centered on that position. The episode will also cover issues like what happens when there is a transition following presidential death, the unlisted (unenumerated) powers that presidents use (like executive orders, privilege, and more), and finally what impeachment is and how issues like presidential immunity can make holding presidents accountable hard. This is a long one, clocking in at almost an hour... pace yourself!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our discussion on Congress. In this episode, we are going to move past the formal structure of the House and Senate (or their basic job duties) to talk about the more controversial issues: redistricting/gerrymandering, the age of Congress members, and polarization. There's a lot changing as of 2026 on districts and we continue to face an older and more divided Congress... so how can we assess them? This big question is one we need to consider with all of these challenges along with the issue of representation, including whether we want descriptive or substantive representation from people we elect to the House. Make sure to take a few minutes at the end to work on the Types of Representation handout on this week's roadmap page!

Hiya folks, and welcome to our first episode on Congress! I know, I know... it's so terribly exciting that you just couldn't wait to listen to this! While Congress is not the sexiest topic, this is the branch of government that the Founders said the most about, so it's good for us to at least walk through the high points. What this episode will focus on is the structure, leadership, and duties that Congress has, particularly with respect to law-making and budget. As you work through the episode, please think about how you would assess Congress... does the data say that this entity is doing its job well, poorly, or not at all?

Hello friends, and welcome to episode 14 on interest groups! We are again returning to the realm of collective action with a focus on groups that exist outside of government but that work to affect public policy. Whether those groups are economic, ideological, or focused on foreign/international policy, they will all work to inform, lobby, and affect campaigns. This episode will explain more about these groups, political action committees (PACs and Super PACs), and address concerns like power and access including zero-sum games. The last 5 minutes are devoted to the challenges we all see with public goods and group projects: free riders and the challenge of collective action. There's just so much that goes with (and frustrates us) about working in groups!

Hi everyone, and welcome back from the midterm and either fall or spring break! We're returning to our discussion of national politics after that test and a few days off, and we begin discussing what are known as collective action politics. Collective action is really thinking about group actions rather than how we behave as political individuals. Our initial topic is political parties: we'll cover the different parties we have (with a focus on the Democratic and Republican parties but we'll also talk about third parties), what is included in party platforms, how parties exist in the electorate and in government, and all about the groups and subgroups associated with certain party identification. This episode is a longer one as I cover all the slides in a single podcast, but you can easily stop around 30 minutes and pick up where you left off!

Hello everyone, welcome to our final podcast episode before the midterm exam! We are continuing our discussion on news and social media with a focus on fake news, media bias, echo chambers, and the levels of trust we have in resources like national news, local news, and social media. This episode is heavy on definitions and examples, so there's a lot of explaining but I also offer suggestions for resources you can use to identify problems like media bias to know what you can trust. Let me know what questions or concerns you have regarding any of these topics and I'll follow up with you as soon as I can!

Hello all, and welcome to the first of our two episodes on news and social media! In today's episode, we're going to talk about the basics: concepts like mass media, news media, and social media as well as investigate our use of different news sources like newspapers, radio, television, and the internet/social media. Unsurprisingly, social media is more and more where we get our news... at least for younger generations. As you work through this episode, please think about how we get our news affects our understanding of what's going on--do people getting news from social media see the world differently from those who watch TV news? Or not?