News: Politics

The La Follette School of Public Affairs welcomes Katherine Gehl on Thursday, February 21 for Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America: A Strategy to Reinvigorate Democracy. With extensive public and private leadership experience, she will share her unique perspective on the non-partisan systemic changes needed to reform the country’s political system.

On one of my first days in the program, a faculty member told our cohort, “If you’re interested in making money, you’re in the wrong program. We’re in the business of making the world a better place.” From that moment, I knew I made the right choice.

David Axelrod shared his deeply personal connection with health care reform during a 90-minute conversation with La Follette School students September 28. As a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, Axelrod understood the political risks of the issue and was deeply conflicted about it.

The La Follette School of Public Affairs and Department of Political Science at UW–Madison along with the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) are hosting a series of Real Town Hall events in preparation for the 2018 midterm elections.  

La Follette School Professor Susan Yackee and Harvard University’s Daniel Carpenter received a $142,388 grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to support their project on inequality in the political process and the resulting public policies – specifically, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act of 2010.

Cody Keenan, a speechwriter for President Barack Obama for more than a decade, will discuss Bending the Arc: A Career of Purpose and Life in the White House on Friday, September 29. Keenan also serves as Obama’s collaborator on the former president’s upcoming book.

A paper about the corporate tax base co-authored by Austin Frerick (MPA ’14) inspired the Iowa native to delve deeper into the issue of economic concentration in the United States. Further research prompted a return to his home state, where he launched a campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives this summer.

Former radio talk show host Charlie Sykes will discuss his upcoming book and much more during Conservatism in the Age of Trump on Monday, September 18 at UW-Madison's Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard Street.

Keynote speakers Peter Hall of Harvard University and Gillian Tett of the Financial Times offered insights into the future of European integration and the political climate in the United States and abroad at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on April 6.

Two La Follette School alumni – Carolyn Clow and Bradley Campbell – are seeking election in their local communities. Clow is running for the McFarland Village Board, and Campbell hopes to join La Follette alumna Sara Eskrich on the Madison City Council.