Subscribe: iTunes | PocketCasts | Overcast | Stitcher | RSS
Mike & Will kick off their ‘reforming democracy’ book project with an overview of the book, topics they’ll be covering, and a discussion of Mike’s first proposed reform: changing the Supreme Court nomination process so that every president gets at least one nomination that the Senate has to vote on within six months.
Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support.
I read an opinion piece by Thomas Edsall in the New York Times this morning which may be of interest to your listeners. Mr. Edsall discusses a paper written by Michael Peterson, Mathias Osmondsen, and Kevin Arceneaux titled “A ‘Need for Chaos’ and the Sharing of Hostile Political Rumours in Advanced Democracies.” It was the winner of the best paper award in the Political Psychology division at the annual meeting of the Americal Political Science Association.
I would appreciate hearing your hosts’ take on the paper, and the implications for our collective failure to address the spread of nihilism, especially with regards to the role of social media in giving a platform to those who wish to destroy society. I would like the hosts to consider the question, at what point do we begin to treat those who are trying to destroy our social institutions as a threat to our existence, and begin to consider limiting speech in this arena? Or at least exploring ways to counteract the influence of those who want to harm us? Surely the old example of yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater, or in other words, using speech to actively promote harm, at least deserves consideration.
Thanks for the tip – we’ll give it a look and maybe even try to get one of the authors on for an interview.