Quote of the Day (William Galston, on Partisanship and Geography)

“[W]ith today’s deep polarization, voters in the minority experience the enactment of one-party programs as an attack on their deepest convictions. As they lose hope of turning the tide, many respond by leaving their states for others where the majority shares their beliefs. This further intensifies the link between partisanship and geography.

“If this trend continues, our nation will become a patchwork in which citizens live under fundamentally different legal regimes.”— American author, academic, political advisor, and Brookings Institution senior fellow William Galston, “Florida Turns Right, Minnesota Turns Left,” The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2023

The accompanying photo of William Galston was taken Jan. 8, 2012, at a Civics Ed panel at the Brookings Institution by Medill DC.

Spiritual Quote of the Day (William Galston, on Religion and the ‘Heat-to-Light Ratio in Politics’)

“It is disconcerting that so many Republicans consider those who aren’t Christians to be less than fully American. But 35% of Democrats—most of them racial and ethnic minorities—feel the same way. While the Constitution imposes no religious test for citizenship and bars it for public office, American society does impose an informal if often tacit test for full membership in the community. Closing the gap between the American civic creed and public social attitudes might lower the heat-to-light ratio in politics.”—William Galston, “Alienated Republicans, Moderate Democrats,” The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 3, 2021

The accompanying photo of William Galston was taken Jan. 8, 2012, at a Civics Ed panel at the Brookings Institution by Medill DC.