The Breakdown in American Public Life

Abstract

There is a breakdown in American public life. Our divisions today go well beyond usual partisan differences. Despite the many aspects of American life that are going quite well, including finally reckoning with our national heritage of racial oppression, we are filled with frustration and distrust. Americans suffer from destructive partisanship amounting to political deadlock. Our system cannot work when the political parties refuse to work together. Both sides believe their political opponents want to destroy them. We cannot even agree on the simplest and most obvious facts or turn to common sources of information. We call this the death of truth. These overlapping conditions contribute to widespread anger and despair.