22 episodes

How well does the American presidency serve the principles of American democracy? Is our democracy a beacon of hope, or a candle in the wind? For Season 2 we go ‘Behind the Vote’, looking in detail at presidential elections, big money in politics, the electoral college, third parties and polling among other important topics. Launching exactly one year ahead of election day 2024. Lawyers, politicians, pollsters and government officials join Professor Peter Shane of Ohio State and NYU and co-host, veteran Washington Post journalist and best selling writer Dale Russakoff.

Democracy's Chief Executive Peter M. Shane

    • Government
    • 5.0 • 9 Ratings

How well does the American presidency serve the principles of American democracy? Is our democracy a beacon of hope, or a candle in the wind? For Season 2 we go ‘Behind the Vote’, looking in detail at presidential elections, big money in politics, the electoral college, third parties and polling among other important topics. Launching exactly one year ahead of election day 2024. Lawyers, politicians, pollsters and government officials join Professor Peter Shane of Ohio State and NYU and co-host, veteran Washington Post journalist and best selling writer Dale Russakoff.

    Behind the Vote - Connecting the Dots: The Fourteenth Amendment Disqualification Argument

    Behind the Vote - Connecting the Dots: The Fourteenth Amendment Disqualification Argument

    On this special "Connect the Dots" episode, co-hosts Peter Shane and Dale Russakoff discuss how Season 2 episodes on "Disqualifying an Insurrectionist President," "The Electoral Count Act and the Rule of Law," and "The Electoral College" affected their reactions to the Supreme Court argument on the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court to exclude Donald Trump from a primary ballot.



    All Democracy's Chief Executive Behind the Vote episodes.

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    • 21 min
    Behind the Vote: Disqualifying an Insurrectionist President?

    Behind the Vote: Disqualifying an Insurrectionist President?

    In a bonus episode, Peter and Dale explore with two constitutional scholars whether the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 Disqualification Clause bars Donald J. Trump from again serving as president. Gerard Magliocca, whose 2020 academic research helped to spark interest in the question, and Garrett Epps, author of Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America, discuss whether the Disqualification Clause covers presidents, whether Donald Trump’s documented actions amount to “insurrection,” and whether Congress needs to enact enabling legislation before the Disqualification Clause becomes operative. They survey the Supreme Court’s options in reviewing the Colorado Supreme Court decision barring Trump from a presidential primary ballot in that state–and the legal and political implications of the different possibilities.

    • 1 hr 1 min
    Behind the Vote: How Well Does the 21st Century Presidency Serve Democracy?

    Behind the Vote: How Well Does the 21st Century Presidency Serve Democracy?

    This last regular episode of the season asks whether American democracy is well-served by the institution of the presidency in its current form. Is there an irreconcilable tension between the president as the nation’s foremost mobilizer of party politics and the president as a faithful, steady, law-bound manager of government? Are there aspects of our system for choosing presidents that expand the prospects for effective democracy, or does the system actually increase the risk of democratic failure? Do popular frustrations with our constitutional separation of powers help lay the groundwork for authoritarianism?

    Peter and Dale explore these fundamental issues with Yale political scientist Stephen Skowronek, one of the nation’s foremost presidential scholars, and Bertrall Ross, the Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law and director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the University of Virginia.

    • 1 hr 5 min
    Behind the Vote: January 6 in Historic Perspective

    Behind the Vote: January 6 in Historic Perspective

    The story of January 6, 2021 is, of course, a story of particular individuals who showed up to storm the Capitol or to incite them to do so. But the attack on the Capitol also seems to be part of two larger, overlapping stories.

    One is a story about what has happened in recent decades in the evolution of one of our two major political parties. The other is a story about how political violence has been a tool to thwart inclusive democracy in the United States—a history of violence extending to before the Civil War.

    Peter and Dale discuss these larger frames with three of the nation’s leading scholars, historians Peniel E. Joseph and Kate Masur, and sociologist and political scientist Theda Skocpol.

    • 1 hr 14 min
    Behind the Vote: The Electoral Count Act and the Rule of Law

    Behind the Vote: The Electoral Count Act and the Rule of Law

    This special super-sized episode explores, first, the process of certifying a new president-elect on the sixth day of January as that process is supposed to unfold and, second, the implications of prosecuting a former president for allegedly conspiring to disrupt that process. In the first part, Peter gets a briefing on the Electoral Count Act and its reform from Protect Democracy counsel, Genevieve Nadeau. He and Dale then explore decision making around the Trump indictment with former U.S. Attorney General and current Belmont University law school dean Alberto Gonzalez and former career prosecutor and Justice Department official Mary McCord, now Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center.

    • 1 hr 14 min
    Behind the Vote: Lawyering Elections

    Behind the Vote: Lawyering Elections

    What is it like to be the chief lawyer for a major party’s presidential candidate in a national campaign? NYU law professor Bob Bauer, general counsel to Obama for America, the president’s campaign organization, in 2008 and 2012, and Ben Ginsberg, national counsel to the 2000 and 2004 Bush-Cheney presidential campaigns, as well as Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, explore with Peter and Dale the roles and challenges of presidential campaign lawyering. They also discuss their roles in co-chairing the Obama Presidential Commission on Election Administration, as well as their co-founding of the Election Official Legal Defense Network.

    • 51 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
9 Ratings

9 Ratings

Crista Manning ,

Fascinating!

I have found each episode to be thoughtful and so interesting! I really appreciate the absence of rancor and your clear commitment to providing information rather than forwarding a specific agenda. Given the current climate, I am certain that has been a challenge! Thank you!

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