The 2020 Elections: Where do we go From Here?
Panel Discussion with
Dr. Tom Volgy, Dr. Norman Ornstein & Dr. Samara Klar
ONLINE CONFERENCE EVENT
12 November, 2020 Zoom Online Service
Registration Closed
No election has taken place under more difficult circumstances or greater controversy. At the writing of this invitation it is not clear that final results will be tabulated or agreed on. Nevertheless, the road ahead can be assessed with greater clarity offered by our panel of distinguished experts who will discuss the outcomes and significance of the congressional races, the difficult path to the presidency, and the vital role played by independent voters.
Norman Ornstein is a resident scholar at the America Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies politics, elections, and the US Congress. He is a cohost of AEI’s Election Watch series, a contributing editor and columnist for National Journal and The Atlantic, a BBC News election analyst, and the chairman of the Campaign Legal Center.
He has been involved in political reform for decades, particularly campaign finance reform and the reform of Senate committees. He has also played a part in creating the Congressional Office of Compliance and the House Office of Congressional Ethics.
His many interviews have been aired on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” CBS, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, NPR, and “PBS NewsHour,” among others. His articles and opinion pieces have been published widely.
Dr. Ornstein’s books include the bestsellers “One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported,” with E. J. Dionne and Thomas E. Mann (St. Martin’s Press, 2017); and “It’s Even
Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism;” “The Broken
Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track,” with Thomas E. Mann (Oxford University
Press, 2006); and “The Permanent Campaign and Its Future”. Dr. Ornstein has a Ph.D. and a master’s in political science from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota.
Samara Klar is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona School of Government and Public Policy. She studies
how individuals’ personal identities and social surroundings influence their political attitudes and behavior. Most often, she
uses experimental methods (in and outside the lab), surveys, and other statistical tools. Dr. Klar received her PhD in Political
Science from Northwestern University and hold degrees in political science from Columbia University and McGill University.
Her book, Independent Politics, (co-authored with Yanna Krupnikov) was published by Cambridge University Press
in 2016 and her research appears in lots of different journals in political science, including the American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, Political Psychology, Public Opinion Quarterly, and many others. This work has received several different awards from the American Political Science Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, and the
American Association for Public Opinion Research. Dr. Klar’s research is supported by awards and grants from
the National Science Foundation, Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences, the Social Science Research Council and other institutions.
Thomas J. Volgy was born in Budapest, Hungary. His parents escaped during the Hungarian revolution and emigrated to the United States. He received his BA from Oakland University, and his Master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Minnesota in Political Science. He moved to Tucson to take a position at the University of Arizona, where he is a professor of political science, specializing in international politics, democratic processes, and domestic public policy. He is also the executive director of the International Studies Association, the largest association of its kind focusing on international politics, with a membership of over 5,000 scholars from 80 countries.
He has published dozens of articles in professional journals, and is the author and/or co-author of several books, including Major Powers and the Quest for Status in International Politics (2011), Mapping the New World Order (2009), International Politics and State Strength (2003), Politics in the Trenches: Experimenting with Democracy in America (2001), and The
Forgotten Americans (1992).
He has also been honored by the University of Arizona with awards for teaching and distinguished public service.
Volgy ran successfully for local office, both on the Tucson City Council and as Mayor of Tucson, and served for fourteen years in elected office.
After leaving public office, Volgy has been actively involved through the U.S. government with the training of government officials overseas in the areas of democratic political development and public policy. He has conducted such training in Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, and Guyana. In addition, he was part of the international team that monitored Hungary's first democratic elections in the post-Cold War environment. He also served as a member of the U.S. State Department delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference in Prague, and has lectured on international politics and transatlantic relations for the State Department in Europe.
Zoom Event
Online conference details will be shared with registered participants shortly before the event.