Is the American election system ready to handle 2016? Has the country done what it can to prevent long lines and election breakdowns? Can the U.S. Election Assistance Commission help Democrats and Republicans to move beyond the Voting Wars?

On Episode 13 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Thomas Hicks, Chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and its Vice-Chair Matthew Masterson.

Has the country moved from a period of deep political dysfunction to something bordering on authoritarianism, with the rise of Donald Trump? Does the rise of Bernie Sanders on the left mean Democrats are moving to the extremes like Republicans? What would a Hillary Clinton presidency with a Republican House look like?

On Episode 12 of the ELB Podcast, we talk with Tom Mann and Norm Ornstein, authors of It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism.

How does a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission skeptical of regulation enforce the law? Is there a sound basis for limiting foreign money in elections? Why does the FEC deadlock along party lines, and what can be done about staff unhappiness at the FEC?

On Episode 11 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Republican FEC Commissioner Lee Goodman.

What has happened to African-American voting rights after the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder? Can the Voting Rights Act still protect minority voting rights in states such as Alabama and Texas? What are the prospects that a new Congress will step in to protect everyone's right to vote?

On Episode 10 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund's Janai Nelson.

Will the Republican presidential nomination fight go beyond the primaries to a contested convention? Are the rules Republicans passed to assign delegates going to lead to chaos? What's different about this election cycle, and are Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders fighting for the same voters?

On Episode 9 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to noted Republican campaign attorney Ben Ginsberg.

What is the state of voting rights in the United States as we approach the 2016 elections? Has the loss of a key portion of the Voting Rights Act thanks to the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision made it harder to register and vote? What tools do voting rights advocates have to fight the latest efforts to restrict access to the ballot?

On Episode 8 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Stanford Law Professor Pam Karlan.

What is the state of campaign financing in the U.S.? How have things changed in the Citizens United era? Is the Federal Election Commission dysfunctional, and if so do personalities or ideology explain the spate of high profile Commission deadlocks?

On Episode 7 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Federal Election Commissioner Ellen Weintraub.

Can the Supreme Court handle social science evidence in election law cases? Will lack of good data determine the outcome of the Supreme Court's upcoming one person, one vote decision in Evenwel v. Abbott? What role will and should evidence play in assessing questions such as the constitutionality of McCain-Feingold's soft money ban or Texas's strict voter identification law.

On Episode 6 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to law professor and political scientist Nate Persily of Stanford Law School, one of the country’s leading redistricting and election law experts.

What is the state of Latino voting rights in the state of Texas and beyond? What's happening with the never-ending redistricting litigation in San Antonio, raising questions about whether Texas discriminated against Latino voters and others? Has the demise of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act thanks to the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder hurt minority voters?

On Episode 5 of the ELB Podcast, we talk to Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and one of the country's leading voting rights lawyers.

Have efforts to reform the American political system backfired? Do changes in rules for campaign financing, redistricting, government transparency and election administration have unintended and undesirable consequences? On this special Episode 4 of the ELB Podcast, we hear from Bruce Cain, author of the terrific new book, Democracy, More or Less, and four scholars offering critiques of Cain's book. Listen to a September 2015 panel on Cain's new book at the American Political Science Association's annual meeting in San Francisco.