Henry Brady: Elections & Governing in an Age of Political Polarization

A lecture by Dr. Henry Brady on the 2012 presidential election, poltical polarization, the "fiscal cliff" and CA Proposition 30, delivered at the International House at UC Berkeley on November 1, 2012. This lecture, given just five days before the election, offered an analysis of statisical data that helps explain current trends and possible outcomes.

Brady touched on the following questions: How polarized is American politics and how has political polarization affected the 2012 electoral landscape? What will American politics look like when the dust clears on November 6th? Will the President and the new Congress be able to deal with the fiscal cliff of expiring Bush tax cuts, large scheduled cuts in spending, and the need to increase the debt ceiling?

Professor Henry Brady is Dean of the graduate school of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also faculty director of Berkeley's Survey Research Center and the University of California Data Archive and Technical Assistance (UC DATA) program. Brady's scholarly work includes publications on political methodology, political behavior, and public policy. His work examines the interaction between the mass public and elites in both democratic and transitional societies.