The Local Voices Network: Community-Driven Listening to Strengthen Democracy
Watch the lecture here.
“Our democracy suffers from a lack of listening and an overabundance of people not feeling heard. In my talk, I will describe a novel way to address these problems called the Local Voices Network, and what my collaborators and I have learned so far from our chapters in Madison, Waupaca County, and Appleton, and other locations in the country.”
Katherine “Kathy” Cramer is the Natalie C. Holton Chair of Letters & Science and a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work focuses on the way people in the United States make sense of politics and their place in it. She is known for her innovative approach to the study of public opinion, in which she uses methods like inviting herself into the conversations of groups of people to listen to the way they understand public affairs. She is the author of 3 books, including most recently The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness and the Rise of Scott Walker. Her work has appeared in many venues including the Washington Post, The New York Times, Vox.com, USA Today, and The Guardian. She has spoken with audiences around the globe to share her insights on public opinion and the need for listening in democratic life. In 2019, she was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is currently a senior consultant with the nonprofit Cortico, working to create a Local Voices Network across the United States.
Check out the Facebook event for the lecture here.
Stream live here on November 5, 2020 at 6pm.