Many cite Watergate as an example of a properly functioning government, where Congress and the Press held a president accountable for his crimes. Others believe it illustrates a fundamental failure, where American institutions allowed a dangerously imperial president to steamroll the constitution. How has the system of checks and balances established by the Framers evolved in an age of nuclear weapons, terrorism, social media and the 24-hour news cycle? Where’s the pivot point between democratic resilience and decay? When government is broken, how can we fix it?
Guests: Julia Azari, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Marquette University; E. J. Dionne, author, Why Americans Hate Politics; David Frum, author, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic; Beverly Gage (invited) Professor of American Studies at Yale.