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May

09
2012

2:30 pm EDT - 4:00 pm EDT

Past Event

America’s Dysfunctional Politics: Why Now? What Can We Do About It?

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

2:30 pm - 4:00 pm EDT

The Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium

1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC

Acrimony and hyper-partisanship have seeped into every part of the political process. Congress is deadlocked and its approval ratings are at record lows. America’s deeply polarized political parties appear unable to function constructively in a governing system that makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act. And the Republican Party has taken on the role of insurgent outlier – ideologically extreme, scornful of compromise, and ardently opposed to the established social and economic policy regime.

On May 9, Brookings hosted a conversation with Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein on their new book, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism (Basic Books, 2012). Brookings Senior Fellow E.J. Dionne moderated the session; former Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards and USA Today’s Susan Page offered their reactions.

After the panel, participants took audience questions.

America’s Dysfunctional Politics: Why Now? What Can We Do About It? Full Audio

Agenda