Dartmouth Events

Can America Govern Itself?

For our final lecture, Nolan McCarty brings us back to our current situation and invites us to work together toward common solutions.

Thursday, August 11, 2022
9:00am – 11:30am
Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Free Food, Lectures & Seminars
Registration required.

Over the past several decades, the United States has faced a growing list of challenges.  In previous challenges that our country has faced, we were helped by the governing capacities of our democratic institutions.  But over the last twenty years, American voters have lost confidence in democratic institutions to provide efficient and equitable governance and to solve social problems.  This loss of democratic confidence has occurred largely in conjunction with increasingly high levels of ideological polarization and partisan animosity.  This lecture will explore the rise of polarized politics, its profound impact on our governing capacities, and what we can do to once again make progress on common challenges.

Nolan McCarty is the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs and Interim Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. His research interests include U.S. politics, democratic political institutions, and political game theory. He has authored or co-authored four books: Political Game Theory, Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches, Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy and Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. In 2010, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He earned his AB from the University of Chicago and his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dartmouth College Faculty, Staff, and Students can receive a complimentary ticket to the lecture. Please show your Dartmouth ID at the door of Spaulding Auditorium or call 603-646-0154 to register for the livestream. 

Single Lecture Ticket: $25

Learn more.

For more information, contact:
Laura Belback
603-646-0154

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.