The Republican Revolution a Decade Later

October 21, 2005, 2:30pm – 4:00pm

About This Event

The Republican Party has ruled Congress with impressive unity for more than a decade, and for half that time, it has held the White House as well. Yet, today, some observers are predicting the end of the Grand Old Party. At this event, political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson -- authors of the new book, Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy -- explain how the Republican Party gained so much might in American politics, despite slim electoral margins and popular skepticism about many of its key goals. They then consider the future of the party as the consequences of these practices become clear. Please join us for a dicussion of the implications of these dynamics for American Democracy and the system of checks and balances established by our Constitution.

Featuring:
Jacob Hacker, Fellow, New America Foundation; Peter Strauss Family Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University
Paul Pierson, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley
Mark Schmitt, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Neera Tanden, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Center for American Progress

Moderated by:
E.J. Dionne, Columnist, Washington Post

Location

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW
Washington, DC 20005

Resources

Learn more about the book. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

Biographies

Jacob S. Hacker is a Fellow at the New America Foundation as well as Peter Strauss Family Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University, among other affiliations. A political scientist who studies health and social policy, Hacker is the author of two books: The Road to Nowhere: The Genesis of President Clinton's Plan for Health Security, which was co-winner of the 1997 Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration, and The Divided Welfare State: The Battle over Public and Private Social Benefits in the United States. Before coming to Yale, he was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. A frequent commentator on NPR, PBS, CNN, and CNBC, Hacker has written for the New Republic, The Nation, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post , among other publications. He will appear in a documentary, "Divided States," scheduled to air in November on ABC. Hacker is currently at work on a book about growing economic insecurity and an edited volume on the politics of inequality and poverty in the U.S. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

Paul Pierson is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the Avice Saint Chair in Public Policy. Before taking this position in 2004, he was Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he taught from 1988 to 2004. Pierson's first book, Dismantling the Welfare State? won the American Political Science Association's Kammerer Prize for the best book published on American national politics and policy in 1994. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious fellowships, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Jean Monnet Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence, and a Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship. Pierson is currently working on two books on long-term changes in the American political system. He lives in Berkeley, California.

Mark Schmitt is a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. He is a noted voice on reform of the political process and an expert on campaign finance reform. He has written extensively on budget and tax policy and on the role of ideas in politics. Mr. Schmitt is a regular contributor to The American Prospect online, writing a column on historical parallels to current debates. Mr. Schmitt has also written for The New Republic, The Financial Times and other publications. In 2003, he launched The Decembrist named by Forbes as one of the five best political weblogs. Prior to joining the New America Foundation, Mr. Schmitt was Director of Policy and Research at the Open Society Institute. Before joining OSI, Mr. Schmitt worked for seven years in the United States Senate, as Speechwriter and later as Policy Director for Senator Bill Bradley. As a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, Mr. Schmitt will work to develop a new approach to political reform. This approach will focus more on government’s ability to solve real problems than on the process itself or on single solutions such as campaign finance reform or electoral reform.

Neera Tanden is the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joing the Center, she was Legislative Director for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). Before that Neera was the Senior Vice President for Domestic Policy for the Center for American Progress. Neera was the Issues Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and has also served as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Chancellor of the New York City Schools, Harold Levy. Prior to that she was the Deputy Campaign Manager and Policy Director for the Senate campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Neera also served in the White House under President Clinton as the Senior Policy Advisor to the First Lady and Associate Director in the Domestic Policy Council. She graduated from UCLA and received her law degree from Yale Law School.

E.J. Dionne, Jr. defines for Washington Post readers the strengths and weaknesses of competing political philosophies. His analysis of American politics and trends of public sentiments is recognized as among the best in the business. Dionne spent 14 years writing for the New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics, and from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome and Beirut. After joining the Washington Post staff in 1990, Dionne’s best-selling book, Why Americans Hate Politics, was published in 1991. The book won the Los Angeles Times book prize and has been called “a classic in American political history.” Dionne’s op-ed column in the Post is syndicated to more than 90 other newspapers and he has been a regular commentator on politics on television and radio, including National Public Radio. Dionne graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University in 1973 and received his doctorate from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In 1994–95, he was a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. In May 1996, Dionne joined the Brookings Institution as a Senior Fellow in the governmental studies program.