Theda Skocpol on the American political condition

A political scientist and sociologist's assessment of the American political condition.

Theda Skocpol of Harvard University has been interviewing people who don't live in liberal metropolitan areas to find out what's most important to them. Her recent research is based on interviews conducted in Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Skocpol said, "politics isn't about policy ideas in the abstract, is it. It's about who we are, and how we do a better job of being who we are."

Skocpol is a professor of government and sociology at Harvard University.

She shared her thoughts on America's future as a representative republic at an event held April 18 at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.