What Now? What’s Next? The 2022 Midterms and the Future of Democracy

Which way are America’s political winds blowing in the November 8 election and beyond? This virtual panel on Nov. 7 at 5:00 p.m. PST will bring faculty experts from across the UC system together with student voices to discuss how political, economic, and legal dynamics have set the stage for this year’s national election, putting it into the historical context of past midterm elections to help predict what might happen when this year’s votes are counted. As votes are counted, will Americans trust the integrity of the election system or are we likely to see continued claims of fraud? Bringing in data from surveys in the United States since the 2020 election as well as the experiences of “democratic backsliding” across the globe, this panel will provide evidence and perspective to help make sense of this year’s election and what may come next in American politics.

Panelists

• Prof. Pamela Ban, UC San Diego
• Prof. Cesi Cruz, The Future of Democracy Initiative and UCLA
• Prof. Thad Kousser, The Yankelovich Center and UC San Diego
• Prof. Jennifer Merolla, Chair of the Department of Political Science, UC Riverside

Brought to you by UCOP’s Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Equity Affairs, the Future of Democracy Initiative (part of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation), and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego.