John Lawrence

John Lawrence is uniquely experienced to provide both a thorough historical analysis of the roots of polarization and the practical means for restoring civility and collaboration to our political debate. A veteran of nearly four decades as a high-ranking staff member in the House of Representatives – the last 8 as chief of staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi – Dr. Lawrence has been teaching courses on American politics and the Congress at the University of California Washington Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School over the past four years. He is the author of the forthcoming book, The Class: Rebels, Reformers and the Rise of Congressional Partisanship in the Post-Watergate Congress (Johns Hopkins University Press, December, 2017), as well as numerous articles and columns on recent politics. He blogs at DOMEocracy (https://johnalawrence.wordspress.com).