Dialogue Across Difference

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) is the highest ranking Republican in the Minnesota legislature at a time when the state faces the greatest public health crisis of our lifetime. Senator Gazelka has raised questions about the economic and budgetary costs of DFL Governor Tim Walz's response to the Coronavirus. What are the practical alternatives?

This conversation took place via zoom.

April 23, 2020

Members of Congress and state legislators routinely disagree along party lines over the size of government and individual responsibility. But the sharp divide is not only over policy issues; it has snowballed into an emotional hostility toward members of the other party. Democrats and Republicans see each other as members of disliked - even reviled - outgroups. How did the "Hatfield versus McCoy" mindset set in? Will it persist as Americans struggle to survive the shared threat of the novel Coronavirus? What is the place for principled debate in today's toxic political environment?

This event will feature Stanford Professor Shanto Iyengar, National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru, and Humphey Professor Larry Jacobs.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar will join Professor Larry Jacobs to discuss her campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, the Senate's response to the Coronavirus, and her husband's recent successful battle with Covid-19.

The conversation also included former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, and was followed by analysis from University of Virginia Professor Jennifer Lawless

Fresh off large election wins, Boris Johnson and his Conservative Party colleagues are moving forward with Brexit after years of debate over its economic and social consequences. Largely forgotten in the rush for Brexit is the Republic of Ireland which held its own election on February 9. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement introduced twenty years of relative peace after generations grew up with the searing violence and mayhem known as “the troubles.” Will Brexit shatter the peace and reopen the venomous hatreds? The event will be moderated by MPR arts and culture reporter Euan Kerr.

Desmond King is the Andrew W Mellon Professor of American government at Nuffield College at Oxford University. He specializes in the study of racial inequality in the United States, as well as Federal Reserve policy and US immigration policy. King is both a fellow of the British Academy, as well as a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Euan Kerr is an arts and culture reporter for MPR News. He is an editor at American Public Media and was previously the news director at KFAI Radio. He was also a reporter for BBC radio in his native Scotland.

April 1, 2020

Online Event

The Constitutional design of three branches checking each other is broken. Modern presidents have expanded executive power long before Donald Trump's inauguration. But the assumption the Framers made-- that loyalty to one's own institution and its role – no longer applies in an era of tribal loyalties when Republicans in both the House and Senate routinely unify as a block to support President Trump.The result: Trump is asserting new powers or stretching prior precedents to the breaking point. Why has Congress acquiesced and could we witness a resurgence?

This event will feature scholar of Congress Norm Ornstein and longtime political commentator Professor Larry Jacobs to discuss the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic and the response in Washington, D.C.

The rules of the presidential nomination process can seem endlessly complex with primaries versus caucuses, early primaries, delegate counts, and convention rules. But over the years the parties have developed informal rules as well, with norms and expectations about how the presidential nomination process will unfold. Who wins and who loses under the real rules? Join us for a conversation with Professor Julia Azari of Marquette University to discuss how the informal rules changed in 2016, and what it means for 2020? University of Minnesota Professor Kathryn Pearson will moderate.

February 24, 2020

Humphrey School of Public Affairs

Prof. Julia Azari is Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Political Science at Marquette University. She teaches on the American presidency, political parties, and politics, and is a contributor to fivethirtyeight.com. Prof. Azari has PH.D., M.A. and M.Phil degrees in political science from Yale University, and a B.A. in political science for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The media are under attack. Is the so-called mainstream media biased by the liberalism of editors and journalists, as President Trump and conservative critics claim? Has Fox News abandoned journalistic standards to become just the loudest of many right-wing mouthpieces for President Trump and corporate America, as Democrats charge? Are communities of color justified in complaining that their perspectives are marginalized by a media far less diverse than the society it covers? And amid it all, have the economic struggles of media businesses, the rise of the internet and social media, fragmented the media along ideological lines in a way that leaves America no common source of trusted information?

Join us for a discussion of media bias with our panel of journalists and media experts.

Panelists:

Eric Black, columnist, MinnPost

Annette Meeks, founder and CEO, Minnesota Freedom Foundation

Ka Vang, director of Impact and Community Engagement, MPR

Moderated by D.J. Tice, commentary editor and opinion columnist, Star Tribune

Soaring insurance deductibles and medical bills have put growing strains on middle-class Americans. Is single-payer health care the answer? Or will costs just soar higher as millions move to government coverage? Award-winning journalist Noam Levey will discuss healthcare access and affordability in a conversation moderated by Professor Larry Jacobs.

Noam Levey is a national healthcare policy journalist writing for the Los Angeles Times. Based in Washington D.C., his writing has regularly appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, has been published in Health Affairs and the Journal of the American Medical Association, and he is a regular guest on nationally broadcast public radio programs. He has written extensively about the 2010 Affordable Care Act as well as medicare, medicaid, and healthcare affordability. He received his degree in Middle Eastern history from Princeton University.

November 21, 2019

12:00 PM to 1:15 PM

Humphrey Forum, Humphrey School of Public Affairs

A record number of women ran for office - and won - in the 2018 midterm elections and more women than ever are vying for the Democratic Party's nomination to run for President in 2020. Yet, women are still underrepresented at every level of office, comprising only around a quarter of the U.S. Congress. What explains women's gains, and also women's persistent underrepresentation, and what does the future hold for women in politics?

Rutgers University Professor and Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) Scholar Kelly Dittmar will discuss CAWP's latest report, "Unfinished Business: Women Running in 2018 and Beyond," detailing the gender dynamics at work in the 2018 midterms. Relying on research on past elections, Professor Dittmar will also look ahead to the 2020 Elections. University of Minnesota Political Science Professor Kathryn Pearson will moderate.

November 6, 2019

11:45 AM to 1:00 PM

Humphrey Forum, Humphrey School of Public Affairs

Minnesota led the nation in 2018 for youth voter turnout, but even with an over 20% rise from 2014, that turnout was STILL under 45%. What does current research say will happen in 2020? Join us in an exploration of the successes in youth voter turnout and the data that show what has worked, and a look at how a more engaged young electorate may challenge the traditional approach to policy making and require new tactics for political outreach and engagement efforts. The event will feature Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University as well as Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and a student panel.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, Lead MN, and Students United.