KINGSTON, R.I.—Oct. 13, 2023—The U.S. House of Representatives is currently at a standstill. Hundreds of military promotions and dozens of diplomatic appointments are being held up in the U.S. Senate. And battles over the debt ceiling and a potential government shutdown are still fresh in the minds of many. These and other rancorous episodes in U.S. politics have pushed Americans’ opinions of governmental and political institutions to historic lows.
Just last month, the Pew Research Center released a study that found almost two-thirds (65%) of Americans say they are often or always exhausted when thinking about politics and more than half (55%) feel angry. Worse, more than eight-in-ten (86%) Americans believe that Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting one another than solving problems.
While the nation’s political divide may feel insurmountable, American voters may be less far apart than it seems. A recent Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report found that while American politicians are highly ideologically polarized, among voters there is quite a bit of overlap on hot-button issues—including guns, abortion and how to teach American history.
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, experts will convene at the University of Rhode Island to discuss these issues and more in the second installment of the University’s James R. Langevin Symposium Series. “Polarization of Politics in America: Finding the Center” will bring together political professionals from both sides of the aisle to discuss political polarization and ongoing attempts at bipartisanship. Among those on the panel are former U.S. Congressmen James R. Langevin and Steve Israel, and Reince Priebus, former White House Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump.
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Former U.S. Rep. James Langevin -
Former U.S. Rep. Steve Israel -
Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
Langevin, a Democrat who represented Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. Congress from 2001 to 2023, is a visiting scholar in the URI College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Political Science.
Israel, a Democrat who represented New York’s 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts between 2001 and 2017 and was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015, is now director of the Cornell University Institute of Politics and Global Affairs.
Priebus served as former President Trump’s first White House Chief of Staff in 2017. Prior to that he was a three-term chair of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017. He now serves as president and chief strategist with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP and as chair of 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee’s host committee.
The “Polarization of Politics in America: Finding the Center,” which is free and open to the public, will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Edwards Hall at 64 Upper College Road on the Kingston Campus.
The event will be preceded at 2:30 p.m. by a panel on Rhode Island politics in the Higgins Welcome Center, 45 Upper College Road. Hosted by the University’s Department of Political Science, the state politics panel is open to URI students. The panel will be moderated by Emily Lynch, URI associate professor of political science, and undergraduate research assistant David Rudolph, with panelists including Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Joseph McNamara; Rhode Island Republic Party Chair Joseph Powers; Rhode Island House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale (R-40); and Rhode Island Rep. Kathleen Fogarty (D-35).
Registration for the “Polarization of Politics in America: Finding the Center” is recommended. The event will also be livestreamed.
