We tend to think about congressional oversight in very academic terms — checks and balances, the Framers, etc. But what does it actually look like on the ground in Congress? To find out, we’re talking this week with Charlie Dent.
Jenna Spinelle articles
Jenna Spinelle is the communications specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State and host of the podcasts When the People Decide and Democracy Works.
Podcast: Will Artificial Intelligence Destroy Democracy?
Some political scientists and democracy scholars think that it might. Inequality will rise as jobs continue to be automated, which will cause distrust in the government and create fertile ground for authoritarianism.
Podcast: Democracy in America, 2019 Edition
Lindsay Lloyd, director George W. Bush Center’s Human Freedom Initiative and part of The Democracy Project, joins the Democracy Works podcast this week to discuss The Democracy Project’s report and what its findings mean for citizens across the United States.
Podcast: A Playbook for Organizing in Turbulent Times
20 years ago, Srdja Popovic was part of a revolution — literally. He was a founding member of the Otpor! movement that ousted Serbia Slobodan Milsovic from power in 1999.
Podcast: What does the Mueller report mean for democracy?
Listen to the interview with Laura Rosenberger By now, you’ve no doubt head all about the report issued by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the drama in Washington that’s ensued in the time since its release. But, if you only focus on the information about collusion and obstruction in the Trump administration, you are missing […]
Podcast: Facebook Is Not A Democracy
Facebook bills itself as an organization designed to serve democracy, but Penn State’s Matt Jordan argues that the company’s motivations really much different. Hear more on the Democracy Works podcast.
Podcast: A Brief History of “People Power”
In his book, “Can Democracy Work? A Short History of a Radical Idea from Ancient Athens to Our World,” James Miller encapsulates 2500 years of democracy history into about 250 pages.
Podcast: Former FEC Chair On Campaign Finance And Democracy
Before the end of her term as FEC Chair, Caroline Hunter joined the Democracy Works podcast to explore the relationship between campaign finance and democracy.
Podcast: Is It Time to Revive Civility?
Timothy Shaffer of National Institute for Civil Discourse joins the Democracy Works podcast to talk about work being done to create a new definition of civility and a playbook to put that definition into practice.
Podcast: E.J. Dionne on Making America Empathetic Again
E.J. Dionne has the unique perspective of studying the horse race and the big picture of American politics. I talked with him about the relationship between partisan politics and democracy.