The Working Class and Democracy in America

Just weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, join Vanderbilt University's Center for Global Democracy for a timely conversation about working-class Americans and their role in U.S. democracy.

How are working-class Americans and their interests being represented in politics today? How have political parties and candidates responded to their demands? And how might recent shifts in class politics shape the midterms and the road to 2028?

A distinguished group of leaders from academia, policy, and public life will explore how class is reshaping American politics and what these changes mean for the future of U.S. democracy. Speakers will include Nick Carnes of Duke University, Oren Cass of American Compass, Emily Cherniack of New Politics, and Noam Lupu of Vanderbilt. Bill Adair, founder of PolitiFact, will moderate the conversation.

This conversation draws on the related Academy report, How to Elect More Working-Class Americans and Why It Matters, and coincides with the release of Carnes and Lupu's new book, Keeping Workers Off the Ballot: How Democracy Undermines Working-Class Representation (Princeton University Press), out just days before this event.

For questions, please contact centerforglobaldemocracy@vanderbilt.edu.