Postscript: Biden's First 100 Days
Much has long been made of the bold legislative action that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt marshalled forward in his first 100 days in office in the midst of the Great Depression. To take stock of the Biden presidency, Lilly and Susan asked three thoughtful political scientists\u2014Dr.\xa0Jonathan Bernstein\xa0(Bloomberg Media), Dr.\xa0Nadia E. Brown\xa0(Purdue University), and Dr.\xa0Jane Junn\xa0(University of Southern California) to interrogate the early days of the Biden Administration. They not only provided keen observations about the Executive Branch, but also about Congress and state governments. The lively discussion shifted quickly from the arbitrary marker of the first 100 days to what is necessary to move policy forward in the closely divided U.S. House and Senate, and what the legislative agenda may look like going forward. We chat about the apparent pause in the swift swirling of our politics\u2014though we debate whether the new administration is a return to normalcy and if it is possible, post Trump, to return to normalcy. In this context, there was a discussion of competence, expertise, intelligence, rationality,\npreparation, and integrity. We pay close attention to the political parties, with specific focus on the internal tensions in both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Our guests also spend time framing the political landscape with an understanding of the role and place of news media and social media.\nLilly J. Goren\xa0is professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-editor of the award winning book,\xa0Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics\xa0(University Press of Kentucky, 2012), as well as co-editor of\xa0Mad Men and Politics: Nostalgia and the Remaking of Modern America\xa0(Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). Email her comments at\xa0lgoren@carrollu.edu\xa0or tweet to\xa0@gorenlj.\nSusan Liebell\xa0is an associate professor of political science at Saint Joseph\u2019s University in Philadelphia.\xa0Why Diehard Originalists Aren\u2019t Really Originalists\xa0recently appeared in the Washington Post\u2019s Monkey Cage and\xa0\u201cRetreat from the Rule of Law: Locke and the Perils of Stand Your Ground\u201d\xa0was published in the Journal of Politics (July 2020). Email her comments\xa0at sliebell@sju.edu\xa0or tweet to\xa0@SusanLiebell.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law