华体会

Examining Politics at the Extreme

While slinging mud has always been part of American politics, CI faculty members Scott Frisch and Sean Kelly can鈥檛 remember when the tone was as partisan and strident as it is today. 鈥淲e both have studied American government, and have seen and interviewed dozens of politicians over the years,鈥� said Frisch, who is Professor and Chair of Political Science. 鈥淎nd we remember how much better it used to be.鈥�

Frisch and Kelly are not alone. In their new book, It鈥檚 Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism, co-authors Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein sound the alarm of a growing dysfunction in American politics. Both served on the keynote panel of a two-day conference, 鈥淧olitics to the Extreme: American Political Institutions in the 21st Century,鈥� held at CI on October 15 and 16.

鈥淲e always have had difficulties because we鈥檙e a big, diverse country with contrary and conflicting interests,鈥� observed Mann, who serves as a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution. 鈥淒emocracy is learning to live with one another and our differences without resorting to violence and coming to arms.鈥�

However, something has gone awry. 聽

While hardball politics has been around for a long time observed Ornstein, who is a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, there was still a time when differing political parties could collaborate. 鈥淒emocrats could work with (President) Reagan. But now it鈥檚 a different Republican party,鈥� he said. Parties are now more interested in being oppositional, according to the authors, rather than collaborating to solve problems.

The purpose of the event, which was the brainchild of President Richard Rush, is to bring political scientists and practitioners together to explore various factors of polarization. In the end, Frisch and Kelly hope to identify the causes of polarization, the potential consequences to our political institutions, and most importantly, potential solutions in bridging this growing partisan divide.

In addition to the keynote panel, moderated by former Washington Post senior White House correspondent Lou Cannon, conference participants included faculty from the University of Texas, Trinity College, University of Southern California as well as practitioners from organizations such as the Aspen Institute and the Washington Media Group.

鈥淗opefully the next generation of students can think about this and move beyond where we are now,鈥� said Frisch.