In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ethan Porter joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss the relationship between Americans’ trust in government and their willingness to pay for the things that government does. Porter is assistant professor at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. He is the author of The Consumer Citizen (Oxford University Press, 2021).

What is a consumer citizen? How does it differ from the traditional understanding of citizenship? Does a consumer mindset alleviate the team mentality that is pervasive in American politics today? And what role has presidential rhetoric played in creating the consumer citizen? These are some of the questions Ethan, Julia, Lee, and James discuss in this week’s episode.