Polarization in politics is a topic that has become the center of discussion and controversy, especially on modern campuses.
The ‘Challenges to Democracy’ lecture series, hosted by the UW School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International Studies, kicks off on Tuesday, September 10th, with a panel featuring former Mississippi Representative Cy Rosenblatt, State Senator Chris Rothfuss, and State Senator Eric Barlow.
These individuals have a wide range of political backgrounds and histories as well as different partisan origins. This will hopefully lead to a rich discussion featuring many different topics within the realm of polarization.
Moderated by Professor Andrew Garner, the panel will focus on polarization in politics and how it has changed from Rosenblatt’s time serving, to the now modern day world of politics that Rothfuss and Barlow find themselves in.
Polarization as a topic has been covered in a wide range of ways as of late on campus. The ideas surrounding political division have been featured in freedom of expression events, various political panels, discussions on campus, and by organizations like Heterodox Academy and BridgeUWYO.
Garner, an expert in polarization, is teaching a class on the topic this semester and this class will be attending the panel event, at 2:45pm in the Skylight Lounge. He hopes to educate students as well as help to reduce polarization on campuses.
The panel itself will be part of a larger series that will travel around the state, featuring a multitude of faculty and field experts all dedicated to covering the challenges that crop up in democracies. One of these forums will in turn partner with a new book co-edited by Jean Garrison, Stephanie Anderson, Tanja Borzel and Thomas Risse, Polarization and Deep Contestations: The Liberal Script in the United States (Oxford University Press, July 2024).
The series describes itself as tackling large problems as, “Democracies across the world are being challenged and undermined from a range of threats. This series of events explores the many and varied challenges that democracies face, including polarization, foreign actors and authoritarian regimes, populism from both the right and left, and various other forces undermining democratic systems.”
The opening panel event is sponsored by the UW Malcolm Wallop Civic Engagement Program, The UW College of A&S, SPPAIS, and BridgeUWYO.
