My name is Graham Bullock, and I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Davidson College. As a teacher and a scholar, I prioritize giving my students the skills and knowledge to free themselves from ideas they don’t agree with so that they can make their own decisions about their lives, their beliefs, and their values. I therefore do not generally share my political inclinations with them, and I try to be analytically fair to arguments and figures from across the political spectrum.
As a professor of political science, however, I am also aware of the importance of individuals and groups rising to certain critical moments of history and attempting to influence the course of events for the better. I believe we are at one of those moments, where the future of American democracy is truly at stake. As Lee Drutman says, we our caught in a “two-party doom loop,” and we must find a way out of it. It is in these moments that even those who try to be fair and balanced must step up and act. If not to pick a side, then to create a new side that offers a new option to consider for the way forward.
This website is part of my small attempt to contribute to that conversation and to such a movement. My goal is to provide a framework for thinking about how we get ourselves out of our current situation as well as discuss specific strategies we can pursue to do so. I hope you find it to be helpful and thought-provoking. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to email me at gbullock@apartisans.org.
I am also deeply committed to dialogue and deliberation that can bridge the differences that are dividing us. This is why I am serving as the Faculty Director and a Co-Convener of Davidson’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI). The DCI is dedicated to creating opportunities for people to engage with one another on difficult but important issues facing our communities and our society. Such engagement is critical for any effort – apartisan or otherwise – that hopes to break out of our current gridlock and make sustainable and meaningful progress on the challenges facing our country.