Can Non-Partisan Primaries Unite America?

with Dr Richard Barton

Dr. Richard Barton is a Democracy Fellow at Unite America and a professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He has a PhD in Government from Cornell University, and his research examines how electoral and legislative institutions shape lawmaking in Congress and the American Political Economy. 

Partisan primaries are one of the main causes of government dysfunction as the recent GOP House Speaker race, aka clown show attests. Richard Barton, a Democracy Fellow at Unite America and a professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs join us to discuss how Unite America is working in states such as Alaska and Louisiana to combat political polarization through non-partisan primaries and rank choice voting.