Polarization Past and Present: What’s Changed? What’s Possible?

Marc Hetherington is the Raymond H. Dawson Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Marc is a leading scholar internationally, with his work on what commentators call right-wing populism particularly central to politics in both the U.S. and Europe these days. Having spent the last decade or so identifying the causes and consequences of polarization, he is now working on approaches to public opinion that might bring Republicans and Democrats closer together.  He is the author of three major books: Why Washington Won’t Work: Polarization, Political Trust, and the Governing Crisis (with Thomas J. Rudolph, University of Chicago Press, 2015, winner of the Alexander George Award from the International Society of Political Psychology, 2016); Authoritarianism and Polarization in America (with Jonathan D. Weiler, Cambridge University Press. 2009, winner of the Philip Converse Award from the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior section of the American Political Science Association, 2016); and Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. (Princeton University Press, 2005)

Susan Herbst stepped down as President of the University of Connecticut on July 1, 2019, and returned to the faculty. She teaches at the Stamford campus, where she is a University Professor of Political Science and President Emeritus. Before her appointment to the presidency, Herbst served as Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of the University System of Georgia, where she led 15 university presidents and oversaw the academic missions for all 35 public universities in Georgia.  Before coming to Georgia, Herbst was Provost and Executive Vice President at The University at Albany (SUNY) and also served as Officer in Charge (acting president) of the school from 2006 to 2007.  She previously served as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University.