Over 30 years of senatorial experience gather on stage to discuss the behind the scenes realities of governing amidst the growth of political polarization.
The Challenges to Democracy lecture series’ first event kicked off on September 10th featuring panelists Former Mississippi Senator Cy Rosenblatt, Wyoming Senate Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss, and Senator Eric Barlow.
The panel discussion, put on by the SPPAIS department with co-sponsorship from BridgeUWYO and the Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program, was the first in a series of different events that cover the multitude of challenges democracy is facing in the modern day.
Andrew Garner, professor and moderator, asked a variety of questions covering the spectrum of polarization in both the modern day and in earlier decades. These were also organized in an attempt to “flip the concept of polarization and rather than focussing on something negative, focus on how legislators work together behind the scenes.”
Rosenblatt led off as the first speaker, talking about “building consensus” and working together in order to have cohesive committees and legislative groups.
Barlow expanded that the senate functions best with good leadership. In his time Barlow emphasized “building relationships” and “knowing the process: understand the process, know how to get things done and how to build momentum behind something.”
Barlow also added that, “We don’t always know the best solutions right away, we face issues we have never dreamed of. It is important to know when to lean on experts.” Rosenblatt added that is was often the duty of the committee chairs to keep the legislators informed on important matters back when he was a senator.
Rothfuss spoke in his capacity as the minority leader, “as minority leader you are supposed to be the loyal opposition, and that is an important role, even if it ends in defeat in the vote, it is a critical role.” However he also added from a function standpoint, “you can disagree on policy issues without being disagreeable with your colleagues in the legislature. You can put the institution before the individuals. We are not perfect but we have a tradition of recognizing our differences while at the same time putting together support for solutions on policies where we need to work together.”
Polarization’s solution is not perfect cohesion and agreement in all scenarios. The solution as the three panelists agreed is knowing how to work together when it matters, while also understanding there will always be differences of opinion. This extends to knowing that “you will sometimes be on the losing side of an issue,” as Barlow iterates.
This fed into the next line of questions about partisanship and its role in legislating. Mississippi, as all other states, has cultural and regional differences, particularly amongst rural vs. urban based senators. These differences in Rosenblatt’s time evolved into the hard party lines that Rothfuss and Barlow now face in their legislating careers.
Rothfuss and Barlow spoke on partisan politics in Wyoming today, covering nuances and ideas about legislating across party lines. “Not a lot of work gets done when we’re echoing national points” as Rothfuss iterates, further adding, “our best work gets done when we come down and try to ease those tensions between urban and rural. We want to compromise and get work done on issues that affect all of our constituents. The partisan divide has the most impact when we start echoing those national talking points and focusing away from local issues. But, 90% of what we do is those important local issues.”
Barlow adds, “if you are in a small town running a volunteer fire department, you think about issues a lot differently than a bigger town like Gillette.” The same can be said about politics. Politicians focus on issues very differently depending on where they are from and who they represent. Wyoming has a wide range of regional interests and community focuses.
Barlow was an advocate in his early years, taking on problems head on. He emphasized that it is important to be an activist, to get involved, and make a difference. Rothfuss added that the beauty of being an activist is your only goal is to solve big problems, whereas legislators have to operate significantly more within the realm of nuance.
These ideas are long-standing and were still seen in Rosenblatt’s time. He spoke on the importance of legislation, “Often times people do not realize how important different pieces of legislation are to their lives.”
Garner finished off his questions in asking, “Is there anything that I should have asked you all that I didn’t?”
Rothfuss responded, “in terms of polarization, what I would emphasize is that the partisanship and what we see is a reflection of the public. We see the legislature trying to resist that polarization that is becoming so passionate in the public and on the media.” He also added, “something that has sort of been lost is that personal touch. The misleading and polarization on the media has led to a sort of dehumanization.” he finished by explaining that, “as legislators we are not just leaders, we are meant to act in service to the public. And I would finish off by encouraging you all to be a voice against that polarization.”
Barlow agreed in stating, “it is easy to live in an echo chamber these days. If I want to understand an issue I’m gonna call Chris [Rothfuss], I’m gonna call a lobbyist or an expert in the field. I’m not gonna go on social media to find my answers. We need to learn about each other and learn how to respect each other.”
Ultimately that is the message the panelists hoped to impose on those watching. People in the public- constituents, politicians, faculty, students, and other community members- need to learn how to work together despite disagreements. People need to learn how to be ok with having different opinions and still have those relationships with each other. Polarization and partisanship can only be combatted by having conversations and collaborating in appreciation of each other’s strengths and their beliefs. People may not always agree on different topics, but they can work together.
