Suzanne Mettler, author of The Submerged State and Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy, appeared recently on The Ezra Klein Show to discuss her latest book Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide That Threatens Democracy (with Trevor Brown) which deals with America’s widening spatial tensions and the prospects for democratic resilience. Mettler is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University’s Department of Government, where she studies American political development, public policy, inequality, and democracy.
In the episode, Klein and Mettler examine how economic changes have reshaped partisan alignments and fueled a potent “us-versus-them” dynamic between rural and urban communities. Mettler cautions that this cleavage has become a powerful force reshaping national political institutions today. When the conversation turns to the issue of what can be done, she argues that it is not too late to repair the divide, but that doing so will require sustained organizing and political investment to rebuild trust in rural areas.
.png)
