While political actors are often accused of catering to “identity groups” and “special interests”, this panel will examine how parties, politicians, and policymakers operate in practice and what is required to confront deep social and economic divisions on the one hand and represent broad, popular interests on the other. Panelists will discuss these topics from the perspective of their own work on: the Democratic Party’s historic failure to represent Black Americans (Paul Frymer); the complicated role of the Obama Presidency in forging a more representative democracy (Andra Gillespie); the relationships within and among racial, ethnic, and immigrant groups in urban political coalitions, for instance, around issues of housing, jobs, and green space (Carlos Menchaca, John Mollenkopf); the LGBTQ+ community’s participation in political coalitions (Carlos Menchaca); and the imperative for new political parties and shifting demographics to provoke change from outside the two-party system (Nelini Stamp).
Moderator:
John Mollenkopf
Professor, Department of Political Science
Director, Center for Urban Research
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Panelists:
Paul Frymer
Professor, Department of Politics
Director, Program in Law and Public Affairs
Princeton University
Andra Gillespie
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Director, James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference
Emory University
Carlos Menchaca
New York City Council Member
Nelini Stamp
National Director of Strategy and Partnership
Working Families Party
Resources from the conference and conference participants are available on the Coalitional Democracy Conference page, including links to the videos for each panel and short highlights of each participant’s remarks, and links to the participants’ websites.
Presented with The Graduate Center/CUNY and as part of The Promise and Perils of Democracy series supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.