Democracy 20/20 series to close with post-election debrief

The 2020 presidential election tested the political system and pushed U.S. democracy close to the brink.

Now, in the aftermath of the election – and the unprecedented effort of an incumbent president to overturn its results – the final installment of the Democracy 20/20 webinar series will assess the prognosis for American democracy.

The webinar, “Post-Election Debriefing: The Future of American Democracy,” is Dec. 4 from 2-3:15 p.m. The virtual event is open to the public; registration is required.

The legally mandated transition to President-elect Joe Biden’s administration began on Nov. 23, but Americans remain divided.

“The unwillingness of the Trump administration and much of the Republican Party to recognize the electoral outcome indicates that polarized conflict is likely to continue under a Biden administration,” said Kenneth Roberts, the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Binenkorb Director of the Latin American Studies Program, and one of the series’ organizers.

“The standoff poses novel challenges to democratic norms and the rules of the game that have traditionally managed partisan competition in the U.S.,” Roberts said.

The session’s panelists include:

• Frances Lee, professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University and co-author of “The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era” (2020);
• Christopher S. Parker, the Stuart A. Scheingold Professor of Social Justice and Political Science at the University of Washington and co-author of “Change They Can’t Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America” (2013); and
• Paul Pierson, the John Gross Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-author of “Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality” (2020).

Robert Lieberman, the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and one of the series’ organizers, will serve as moderator.

The post-election event is the sixth and final event in the Democracy 20/20 series, sponsored by the American Democracy Collaborative, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs. Past events in the series are available on video.

Read the story in the Cornell Chronicle.