Progressive critics charge that democracy is declining in Republican-led states. But a careful analysis of state-level democratic health shows that red and blue states actually score comparably, and that Americans continue to vote red with their feet by moving to Republican-governed states. Indeed, the “backsliding” narrative says more about elite assumptions than about the actual condition of American democracy.

Guest Andrew Taylor joins us to discuss the implications of a widening divide between the public and progressive elites about what democracy is, and the state of its practice.

Andrew J. Taylor is professor of political science at North Carolina State University.

This podcast discusses themes from Andrew’s essay in the Fall 2026 issue of National Affairs: “The Myth of Democratic Backsliding in the States.”

The conservative coalition that brought Donald Trump back to power looks increasingly unstable. But this turbulence may be a sign of vitality rather than decline. Once Trump leaves office, this new coalition can only thrive through compromise and policy innovation. A “new fusionism” that respects entrepreneurial genius while ensuring the gains of growth flow to workers as well as investors should serve as a guide.

Guest Henry Olsen joins us to discuss the policies and ideas that could unite a conservative-populist coalition.

Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the author of The Working-Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism (Broadside Books, 2017).

This podcast discusses themes from Henry’s essay in the Summer 2026 issue of National Affairs: “Fusionism for the 21st Century.”

In this 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, we are rightly celebrating its proclamation of natural rights. But the document’s other core purpose — founding a nation — deserves equal attention. Indeed, the Declaration was in its way a kind of constitution. In its indictment of King George III, it implicitly laid out the structural blueprint for a new government.

Guest John Yoo joins us to discuss how the Declaration constituted a new republican government and sovereign nation, and why America is both an idea and a concrete heritage.

John Yoo is a non-resident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley; and a senior research fellow for the Civitas Institute of the University of Texas at Austin.

This podcast discusses themes from John’s essay in the Summer 2026 issue of National Affairs: “The Declaration as a Constitution.”