Many Americans are losing faith in elections. Proposed solutions from across the political spectrum to restore faith in the process — early voting, mail-in ballot restrictions and voter ID laws — seem to have the opposite effect.

But lack of trust in elections is a symptom of a broader problem: America is living through an era of democratic dissatisfaction. That’s what the New York University law professor Richard Pildes argues on this episode of “Interesting Times.” He and the guest host, Sarah Isgur, the editor of SCOTUSblog, discuss why Americans are so worried about the midterms and how to fix our electoral system and restore trust.

00:00 Existential Election Anxiety
02:38 Era of Democratic Dissatisfaction
04:21 Were Recent Election Reforms a Mistake?
06:09 Campaign Finance Reform
09:22 SCOTUS and Trump’s Mail-In Ballot Executive Order
13:57 Why Did Trump Target Absentee Ballots?
20:32 Should There Be a National Voter Database?
23:58 Proof Of Citizenship Debate
29:48 What Should SCOTUS Do?
35:47 Partisan Manipulation in Elections
42:24 Can the Midterms Be Stolen?
44:51 Closing Thoughts

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

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How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections?

Interesting Times

How Worried Should We Be About the Midterm Elections?