Denver Dialogues

The current 118th Congress is on track to become one of the least productive in U.S. history in terms of the number of bills passed and one of the most rancorous by any measure. While major policy challenges and social turmoil mount in the country and abroad, the legislative branch is beset by hyper partisanship, instability in the House speakership, and serious ethics breaches. This installment focused on the state of the U.S. Congress, with our panelists discussing whether its lack of effectiveness and dwindling legitimacy can be addressed by institutional reforms or require a more dramatic overhaul in our political system.

Featuring:

• Brandice Canes-Wrone, Senior Fellow & Director of the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions, Hoover Institution
• Charlie Dent, Executive Director & Vice President, Congressional Program, Aspen Institute
• Lee Drutman, Senior Fellow, Political Reform Program, New America
• Philip Wallach, Senior Fellow, AEI

This special edition dialogue was convened as part of the Korbel School's Denver Democracy Summit, a forum to evaluate ongoing efforts to strengthen democratic norms, values, and institutions.

This session of the Denver Dialogues examined the future of democracy and how to navigate the current and foreseen challenges and threats to the world democratic order. Panelists reflected on the democratic challenges we face, as explored in other sessions at the Summit, and potential paths forward to revitalize democracy.

Panelists:

• Elmira Bayrasli, Future Security Fellow, New America
• Enrique Berruga, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Mexico
• Dalibor Rohac, Senior Fellow, AEI

This special edition dialogue was convened in partnership with and as part of the Aspen Security Forum, the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States.

Our expert panelists discussed the global democracy agenda, providing unique perspectives on the state of democracy around the world. Is the global democracy picture moving in the right direction? What are the underlying forces driving democratic erosion? What is the U.S. best placed to do about it? How critical is fixing our own house to any potential foreign policy strategies? We interrogated these questions and more in this special session.

Panelists:

• María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, El Salvador
• Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Stanford University
• Jane Harman, Former Congresswoman, Chair of Freedom House and Commission on the National Defense Strategy
• Mariano-Florentino 'Cuéllar, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Matthew Kaminski, Editor-in-Chief, POLITICO

This dialogue focused on immigration policy in the United States. Although there is broad agreement across party lines in the U.S. that our immigration system is not working, a bipartisan approach has eluded us in a broader context of political polarization. Our panelists shared their thoughts on the nature of the challenges associated with immigration policy and potential pathways forward.

Panelists:

• Theresa Cardinal Brown, Senior Advisor, Immigration and Border Policy, Bipartisan Policy Center

• Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director, The Immigration Hub

• Timothy Kane, Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution

The Korbel School and the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy convened the first Denver Dialogues event on October 4th. The event brought together the leaders of our four partner organizations - Condoleezza Rice (Hoover), Anne-Marie Slaughter (New America), Dan Porterfield (Aspen), and Robert Doar (AEI) - to discuss the importance of civil discourse for a healthy democracy and the role of think tanks and universities in fostering robust and evidence-based civic dialogue on issues that divide us as a society.