PROGRAM
In a continuing series of events at Roosevelt House, the Social Science Research Council presented the next program on the “Anxieties of Democracy.” The SSRC convened a group of experts on this subject to explore how representative democracy can be strengthened at a time when there is great concern about whether the country’s core institutions – elections, political parties, legislatures, interest groups, social movements, and mass media – are capable of addressing the great questions of our time. The evening was devoted to the question of why Congress is finding it so difficult to contribute effectively to government and will provide insights as to how it can legislate more productively and creatively in the public interest. The program was introduced by Andrew Polsky, Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. The conversation was moderated by Ira Katznelson, President of the Social Science Research Council and Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University and featured two leading experts on Congress, Sarah Binder, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and Professor of Political Science at George Washington University and Frances Lee, Professor of American Politics at the University of Maryland and noted co-author of a comprehensive textbook on the U.S. Congress, Congress and Its Members (CQ Press).