In this episode, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Kevin Esterling talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about utilizing technology to bridge the gap between constituents and representatives as well as rifts in the Democratic Party following this election.

About Kevin Esterling:

Kevin Esterling is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and the Director of the Laboratory for Technology, Communication and Democracy (TeCD Lab), at the University of California, Riverside. His current work focuses on deliberative democracy and the design of technology that leads citizens to engage constructively in public discourse. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, The Democracy Fund, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Learn more about Kevin Esterling via https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/kevine

Podcast Highlights:

“We have a problem of scale in our democracy, which is that our country is of such a size that it's hard for individuals to find they have a voice in government.”

-       Kevin Esterling on the topic of why there is a lack of communication between constituents and their representatives.

“What we did for our project is that instead of limiting ourselves, let's think about is there a way to redesign the technology that would maybe enable a more constructive engagement between constituents and members of Congress? So that constituents don't feel like they're just being messaged to, but they were being listened to.”

-       Kevin Esterling on the topic of utilizing technology to bridge the gap between constituents and members of Congress.

“There really is, in principle, a lot of agreement within the Democratic Party. This kind of pace of change, I think, is what's frustrating Democrats...”

-       Kevin Esterling on the topic of the rift between moderates and progressives within the Democratic Party.

Guest:

Kevin Esterling (Professor of Political Science and Public Policy)

Interviewers:

Maddie Bunting (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Daisy Gonzalez (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

2020 Election: Analysis Part 1 (with Francisco Pedraza)

Water Seminar Series: Climate Resiliency and Adaptation Planning

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.