We all want innovative policies that propel our nation forward. But getting things done in DC isn’t always easy. This week, Thomas Kalil joins us to share some of the practical lessons he learned during his years working in the White House—have a concrete plan of action, make it easy, and don’t worry about who gets the credit.

For more on this Topic:

• Read Kalil’s essay, Policy Entrepreneurship at the White House
• Check out his TEDx talk on 21st Century Moonshots

Further Reading:

• Episode 96: Informing Policy, Jenni W. Owen, Duke University
• Regulation, Participation, and Policy Design, K. Sabeel Rahman, Brooklyn Law School

In 1965, the passage of the Voting Rights Act helped secure equal access to the ballot, and it has enjoyed bipartisan support ever since. Right? Professor Rhodes shows how, over the years, politicians who publicly supported this law worked behind the scenes to dismantle it.

For More on this Topic:

• Read Rhodes’ book, Ballot Blocked
• Check out his opinion piece in The Washington Post

Further Reading:

• The Dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, Dewey M. Clayton, University of Louisville
• Episode 97: Who Has the Right to Vote?, Douglas Spencer, University of Connecticut

The 2018 midterms are rapidly approaching and voters want to believe they’re going to make rational choices at the polls. But as Professor Casey Klofstad explains, there is an unexpected factor influencing voter behavior and affecting our elections—the tone of a candidate’s voice.

For More on this Topic:

• Read Klofstad’s article in The Scientific American, How Voice Pitch Influences Our Choice of Leaders
• Check out his book, Civic Talk: Peers, Politics, and the Future of Democracy
• Find his brief, Talking about Politics Boosts Civic Participation

Further Reading:

• Why Beards and Mustaches are Rare for Modern American Politicians, Rebekah Herrick, Oklahoma State University
• To Win Elections, Do Women Candidates Have to be Better Qualified than Men?, Sarah Andrea Fulton, Texas A&M University

A $50 citation, $100 in court costs—for many Americans navigating the criminal justice system, fines and fees like these add up quickly. Professor Alexes Harris reveals why local governments charge convicts to pay for the justice system and how this disproportionately burdens marginalized people and communities.

For More on this Topic:

• Read Harris’s  OpEd in the New York Times, Justice Shouldn’t Come With a $250 Fine
• Check out her book, A Pound of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions as a Permanent Punishment for Poor People.
• Find her two-page brief, How Reliance on Fees and Charges to Fund U.S. Criminal Justice Weakens Public Faith in Poor Communities

Further Reading:

• Episode 39: Change from the Inside, David Dagan, Johns Hopkins University
• Using Fines to Fund Municipal Government Hurts Low-Income Minorities, Just as Sharecropping Did a Century Ago, Brandi Blessett, Rutgers University-Camden