As part of a Cornell Institute of Politics and Global Affairs webinar in March 2021, former President Bill Clinton spoke about the state of democracy, noting that the U.S. was at a 鈥渇airly perilous point in our democratic journey鈥攚e鈥檙e in a dogfight.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been divided, and we鈥檒l always have differences of opinion,鈥 Clinton said. 鈥淏ut we need to find a way to get enough of each other together to work together.鈥
The event鈥攁t which Clinton took questions submitted by an online audience and stayed on to hear a panel of Cornell faculty experts discuss the challenges of inclusive politics鈥攚as part of the institute鈥檚 ambitious first two years of programming.
Launched in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic began, (known as IOPGA for short) aims to help develop and nurture the next generation of public servants. It offers programs鈥攚hich are free and open to all鈥攖hat delve deeply into complex issues and events, stress bipartisanship, and raise understanding of domestic and international affairs.
In addition to supporting an undergraduate scholars program, it has hosted dozens of discussions with current and former politicians and policymakers and brought Congresspeople from both sides of the aisle together to work on crisis simulations and cybersecurity.
鈥淥ur sweet spot is giving members of Congress, policymakers, and the Cornell community an opportunity to deepen discourse, raise understanding, and find common ground in an exceedingly polarized and tribalized environment,鈥 says IOPGA鈥檚 director, , who served as a Democratic U.S. Representative from New York from 2001鈥17 and calls the institute 鈥渁n oasis of bipartisanship and common ground.鈥
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