Matters of Policy & Politics

If you think America’s schools fell into decline solely as a consequence of 2020’s pandemic and a year of alternate instruction models, guess again. Eric Hanushek, the Hoover Institution’s Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow and a leading scholar on the economics of education, discusses misperceptions in the Covid-education debate (learning and achievement were in decline years before the pandemic s...

After a lopsided victory earlier this month, can California’s redistricting Proposition 50 survive a legal challenge? And why do last January’s devastating fires in Los Angeles continue to raise unsettling questions? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jon...

If you’re confused about the differences between Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Armed Forces Day here in America, you’re not alone. Decades of government meddling and mixed messages have blurred the lines between honoring those who once served their country, those still on active or reserve duty, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom’s cause. Admiral James Ellis, the Hoover Instit...

How does one man whose formative years are largely defined by five “s’s” – sex, satanism, suicide, secret agents, and Stalinism – somehow wind up as a defining intellectual behind the rise of America’s conservative movement? Daniel Flynn, a Hoover visiting fellow and author of The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer , takes us through an improbable journey that invol...

As California enters the final phase leading up to its Nov. 4 special election and a vote on Proposition 50, plenty of unknowns surround the fate of the controversial ballot measure that would redraw California’s congressional districts to offset a Republican-led gerrymander in Texas. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s Califo...

For the past dozen years, Hoover’s online publication Strategika has examined contemporary conflicts and national security challenges by assembling academics of varied thought to re-examine past struggles. On the occasion of its 100th issue, historian Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover’s Martin and Ilie Anderson senior fellow and the man tasked with bringing the publication to life, discusses the institu...

The big political news in California: its state legislature agreeing to a Nov. 4 special election to decide whether to temporarily return congressional redistricting to lawmakers – by doing so, California is adding more Democratic House seats and offsetting Republican gains in Texas via that state’s mid-decade redistricting efforts. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow...

Three times in ancient history, the Jewish people revolted against the Roman Empire – the end result being genocide, enslavement, exile, and religious oppression. Barry Strauss, the Hoover Institution’s Corliss Page Dean senior fellow and author of the newly released book Jews Vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World’s Mightiest People , discusses what triggered the various uprisings...

One way to examine the thinking and ruling style of Chinese President Xi Jinping: his father’s role in the rise and evolution of Chinese-brand communism. Hoover research fellow Joseph Torigian, author of the recently released The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping , discusses how the elder Xi’s involvement in the Red Army, economic political reform, working...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent visit to early-primary South Carolina, followed by his return home and hinting at a special election to re-politicize California’s redistricting process in order to add more Democratic seats in Congress (as a counter to Texas’ legislature doing the same to pad the present House GOP majority), seems further evidence of the term-limited governor’s president ambi...

While last year’s US presidential election didn’t lack for historical quirks – an incumbent president dropping out of the race soon before his party’s convention; for only the second time, a former president returned to office – opinions differ as to the campaign’s long-term effect on America’s political landscape.  In a special edition of Matters of Policy & Politics hosted by Hoover distingu...

What’s the most likely outcome for President Trump’s tariff strategy – trading partners capitulating, America’s economy and exceptionalism crumbling, or something in the middle?  Hoover fellows and economists Michael Bordo and Mickey Levy discuss a recent paper they’ve published on the history of tariff impositions and four possible outcomes (none of them are good). Their conclusion: the odds favo...

What do an electric-vehicle mandate, a structural budget deficit, and chronic homelessness and affordable housing woes have in common? The answer: they are policy headaches likely awaiting California’s next governor.  Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jo...

New data points to California as the world’s fourth-largest economy, supplanting Japan (with India likely soon surpassing the Golden State). What does that say about California as an economic powerhouse and a nation-state plagued by a dark economic underside (inflation, high cost of living, middle-class squeeze)? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both co...

Donald Trump’s first 100 days since returning to office have been prolific – the most executive orders issued in the early days of a presidency – and seemingly in a constant state of political turbulence.  What do the polls indicate about Trump’s performance to date? David Brady and Douglas Rivers, Hoover Institution senior fellows, and Stanford University political scientists, discuss how various...

Once a policy lightning rod that ended political careers, the Affordable Care Act (aka, “Obamacare”) has proven to be remarkably resilient with last month marking the 15th anniversary of its being signed into law. Lanhee Chen, the Hoover Institution’s David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies and co-chair of Hoover’s Healthcare Policy Working Group, explains how the ACA manag...

The good news for California governor Gavin Newsom is that his new podcast has the left and the right buzzing. The bad news is that neither side likes what is covered in his podcasts, as the governor makes nice with conservative and liberal provocateurs and thought leaders. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on You...

President Trump’s signing of an executive order calling for the downsizing of the US Department of Education (DOE) raises concerns related to the federal versus state balance in K-12 policy. Michael Hartney, the Hoover Institution’s Bruni Family fellow, discusses the book he is currently writing on the 2020 pandemic’s lasting impact on schools, and then he examines Trump’s executive order on downs...

Curtailing strife and safeguarding America’s global standing requires military strength, diplomatic reach, a gravitational pull to the concepts of liberty and opportunity, and a strategy for economic growth beyond America’s shores. Andrew Grotto, a Hoover visiting fellow and veteran of two past White House national security teams, discusses the white paper he co-authored with Hoover’s H.R. McMaste...

Ukraine’s acceptance of a 30-day ceasefire, since rejected by Russia, shows the challenge in bringing an end to Eastern Europe’s three-year war of attrition. Meanwhile, Germany’s national election delivers a new chancellor (once a coalition government is brokered) who’s both a “transatlanticist” and a believer in a more independent Europe ramping up its self-defense. Russell Berman, a Hoover Insti...

In an Information Age during which decentralized news and information have contributed to a greater lack of trust in government and traditional media outlets, is it possible to restore confidence in both institutions? Nick Mastronardi, a Hoover Institution veteran fellow and software innovator in the field of public-sector communications, discusses advances in data collection and artificial intell...

Does a Stanford University initiative reinstating a century-old tradition of American civics learning offer a roadmap for the future of higher education? In this installment, Josiah Ober, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and a Stanford professor taking part in the Stanford Civics Initiative, discusses the path forward in citizenship education with Volker Senior Fellow (adjunct) “Checker” Finn, o...

Los Angeles confronts the grim reality of a multi-year effort to clean up and rebuild after its devastating wildfires; Governor Gavin Newsom makes a big disaster-relief ask in Washington; and intrigue abounds in next year’s gubernatorial race. Hoover Institution senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel,...

Can colleges and secondary schools teach American civics (i.e., an examination of the republic’s good and bad experiences) without being jingoistic? Peter Berkowitz, the Hoover Institution’s Tad and Dianne Taube senior fellow and teacher of a course in American conservatism that’s part of the Stanford Civics Initiative, contends that  “patriotism” isn’t necessarily indoctrination. Still, reformers...

The following episode was recorded on December 10, 2024. An adventurous year in California politics and policy ends with a special legislative session to “Trump-proof” the Golden State. Will a pair of would-be reformers – a newly elected mayor of San Francisco and a Los Angeles district attorney, both of whom ran against the status quo, be able to deliver the goods? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohania...