Claim OwnershipThe Default of Democracy
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University of Houston Professor and Political Analyst Nancy Sims is launching a new podcast to discuss the Default of Democracy and to encourage citizens to become more involved in their representative government. Nancy will be joined by a former student of hers, Christion Trimiar. Christion brings the fresh perspective of youth and political engagement in diverse environments. The two will encourage people from all walks of life to become more involved in their government and communities.
24 Episodes
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There’s 20 people running for Congress. We have our top 5, and what to look for in the special election. Plus Nancy & Christion discuss Paxton v. Cornyn. Do people really like Trump? Also, a free app you can use to make your voice heard.
We’ve somehow made it through the first 100 days of Trump’s second term and Nancy and Christion worry about inflation. Can Nancy afford to retire in this environment? Christion wonders about his future. The Texas legislature is winding up with school vouchers passed and other bills still on the bubble. Ken Paxton wants to primary John Cornyn, which might open up a state office. The Dems don’t seem to have a consensus on who to run. But 16 people want to run for the late Sylvester Turner’s seat. The mayor calls in a favor from his friends in the lege to raid Harris County’s toll road surplus. It’s all kind of crazy, but we encourage you to not completely tune out from current events. We can’t default on democracy.
The chaos continues in 2025. How are you feeling? How’s your confidence? Also, we discuss what’s going on in Austin in the legislature and we take a moment to remember Sylvester Turner.
Trump takes office and immediately starts trying to break the government. In Texas, the state legislature gets started – the house fighting with itself and the Senate rolling out a school voucher plan.
We don’t take sides here on this podcast, but we do have this request: politicians do questionable things when they think that nobody is looking. The upside to the utter chaos in Washington over the past few weeks is that Congressional offices haven’t heard this much feedback about what’s going on in years. Keep calling. Whether it’s ICE, funding freezes, school vouchers, or whatever moves you, call your local, state, and federal representatives and tell them what you are for or against. And then call them again.
With the new year, we’re adopting a new episode numbering scheme, so welcome to Season 3, Episode 1. We’ve also added a second microphone to the set, so the conversation should flow more freely now. We hope you enjoy season 3. And keep calling your reps, okay?
The election was probably decided more by who didn’t go to the polls, as opposed to who did. Was that a feature or a bug? Turnout in Harris County was historically low. We discuss who came to vote and what comes next.
Nancy and Christion break down what happened on primary night in Texas: an incumbent DA loses in a landslide, but an incumbent Congresswoman cruises to victory. Yet turnout was anemic. How do we turn out the vote?
Introduction – How is your democracy working for you? How will the new Texas legislative session or the upcoming Houston mayoral race affect your life, and more importantly, how can you have an effect on either of those things? Houston Political Analyst Nancy Sims and one of her former students, Christian Trimiar, introduce you to […]
The federal government shuts down because of polarization. The public responds by either blaming both sides or shrugging their shoulders in frustration. Facts: Less than 20 percent of the public votes, so you have politicians trying to appeal to that (very small) base. Nancy & Christion discuss the election coming up here in Houston with city council, constitutional amendments, and CD18 and why that matters even when it seems like there’s nothing we can do. (We can, but it involves raising turnout so those in power answer to more than the fringe!) We also wish Christion well on his new endeavors – he’s about to make a major career change that will mean stepping away from the podcast. But we’ll still be here to discuss the issues and encourage you not to Default on Democracy. Website suggestion from the show: vote411.org for details on the next election!
Trump, sensing he is losing his grip on power, hijacks the Special Session on the Hill Country flooding to create 5 more safe red Congressional seats.
This isn’t normal. But they can do this when we don’t vote and we aren’t engaged and involved.
In this episode, Nancy and Christion discuss why it’s important to stay involved and make your voice heard. The Epstein Files aren’t going away because voters aren’t letting politicians bury it. We can do the same thing on the things that matter to us.
The year that was. We hoped that people would come out and vote, and well… you kinda know how this movie ends, right? We discuss that and what’s to come in 2025 with the Texas Legislature.
Early voting starts in Texas on October 21. Make a plan to vote, and vote all the way down the ballot. In addition to the race for President, Texas has a Senate race that’s going all the way down to the wire, plus there’s lots of judicial races, bond issues, and other important things to vote on.
So, make a plan to vote today. Use Early Voting, so if things don’t work out the first time you want to head to the polls you have another opportunity to vote before it’s too late. And, since it’s a long ballot, review the ballot before you get there. Harris County residents can print out a sample ballot at https://www.harrisvotes.com and find out when and where to vote.
Pro tip: you can print out the sample ballot and bring it with you to the polls, but you can’t use your phone at the voting machine. So if you want to bring something with you to remind you who/what you want to vote for, put it on paper and carry it with you.
We’ll see you at the polls!
Well, we didn’t plan to take the summer off, but Houston is going to be Houston. Nancy and Christion survived the hurricane, derecho, and the subsequent power outages and we’re back for the fall. So, nothing has really changed, right? (ha ha ha) We only have a new presidential ticket that has shaken up the race and gotten people interested in the election again. Are you excited for the presidential debate(s)? Also, we pay tribute to those we lost this summer in Houston politics. As always, stay engaged, and plan to vote this fall; we’ll be with you every step of the way.
Did you know that next month you will be electing board members to the Harris County Appraisal District? Don’t feel bad, we almost missed this one, too. But this is the board that sets your property taxes, so whether you own or rent, you have a stake in this election. Nancy and Christion also talk […]
We’re back after a little COVID hiatus and ready to break down the upcoming election year. How do you get excited about voting when you’re not excited about the top of the ticket? Well, the Texas primary is coming in March, and thanks to gerrymandering this is really the only competitive election in the state. […]
We end the year with a new mayor, a more diverse city council – and yet another election on the horizon. The primary is merely a few months away, and thanks to the gerrymandering in our fair state, these are the only really competitive races. Abbott is out for revenge, setting up candidates to take […]
Forgive us for using a hack phrase, but we have a runoff election on Saturday December 9th, with Sheila Jackson-Lee and John Whitmire squaring off in the mayor’s race and a handful of council districts and at large seats at stake. Meanwhile, this election had some of the lowest turnout in years. How do we […]
From the macro view there’s a lot going on this week: Israel is at war with Hezbollah, the Republican Party is fighting itself both in Congress (Kevin McCarthy) and locally (Ken Paxton). Meanwhile we want to keep our focus on our neighborhood with the mayoral and council elections. Average turnout is 200,000 out of a […]
Nancy and Christion discuss why it’s easy to get discouraged about politics, and why it’s important to tune out the noise and tune into the Houston city election. We’re electing a mayor, 16 city council positions, and two ballot propositions. The deadline to register to vote is October 10th. Are you registered? Learn about how […]
So there was a GOP debate. But aren’t you more concerned with the water coming out of your tap than that? (Did you hear about watering restrictions this week? That’s a thing.) The state successfully outlawed Harris County from having an elections administrator (but other counties can have them because they’re not Harris County, apparently). […]
Pro Tip: If you care about Houston’s roads and schools, pay more attention to the mayor’s race and state government than the presidential horse race.
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