Podcast: The science of polarization

Things rarely change unless there is a crisis. The present administration has certainly precipitated unprecedented challenges at all levels of our government. With the likelihood that the crisis will only deepen, the more pertinent question is how far will the destruction go?

A society’s capacity for change is often proportionate to the disaster’s depth. From the ashes of the Civil War, the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments would go on to play such an important role in the American polity that their passage is considered by some to be a “Second Founding” of American democracy. Amidst the backdrop of decades of political decay and voter cynicism due to gerrymandering, inequities in voter representation, and political gridlock, we do not have the luxury of hoping after the current administration that “things will go back to normal.” Depending on the scale of the mounting assaults challenging our Constitutional system—made even more dire with concerns that future elections may be disrupted or manipulated—we must be prepared to harness a potential groundswell to pass reforms that update our democracy in the most concrete and durable ways.