What the 2008 Election Meant: Politics and Governance

Who will decide what the 2008 election really meant? How do election outcomes shape the course of public policy? Do past performance, platforms and campaign rhetoric provide a reliable basis for predicting the winners’ behavior in office?

On November 14, to examine these and related matters, the Governance Studies program at Brookings, in partnership with the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, hosted the last of five roundtable discussions on key questions about American electoral politics in connection with the 2008 campaign.

Moderated by Larry Bartels of Princeton and Thomas Mann of Brookings, the session explored how the election results can shape the new Congress and the first term of a new presidency. The event featured Gary Jacobson of the University of California, San Diego, James Stimson of the University of North Carolina and John Harwood of CNBC and the New York Times.

Listen to the event proceedings » (mp3)