Town Hall

The State of Partisanship: Confronting the Challenges of a Divided Nation

March 03, 2025

Jonathan Rauch, author of Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy, and Julian Zelizer, author of In Defense of Partisanship, join for a wide-ranging discussion on their new books and the rise of partisanship in America. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.

Video

 

Participants

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He is the author of numerous books, including The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, The Happiness Curve, and Gay Marriage. His newest book is Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy.

Julian Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, a CNN political analyst, and a contributor to NPR’s Here & Now. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including Myth America, Burning Down the House, and Fault Lines. His newest book is In Defense of Partisanship.

Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.

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