'Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide That Threatens Democracy'

Suzanne Mettler is the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in the government department at Cornell University. Her research and teaching interests include American political development, inequality, public policy, political behavior, and democracy. Her latest book is Rural Versus Urban: The Growing Divide that Threatens Democracy (Princeton University Press 2025), coauthored with Trevor Brown. She has published numerous articles in refereed journals, and her short essays and op-eds have been featured in popular outlets. She is one of the founders of the American Democracy Collaborative, a group of scholars of American political development and comparative politics who are evaluating the health of democracy in the United States. She holds a BA from Boston College, an MA from the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, and a PhD from Cornell University.

Richard Schragger is a Miller Center faculty senior fellow and the Perre Bowen Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. His scholarship focuses on the intersection of constitutional law and local government law, federalism, urban policy, and the constitutional and economic status of cities. He also writes about law and religion. He has authored articles on the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses, the role of cities in a federal system, local recognition of same-sex marriage, takings law and economic development, and the history of the anti-chain store movement. Schragger holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in legal theory from University College London, and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Sidney M. Milkis is the Miller Center’s White Burkett Miller Professor of Governance and Foreign Affairs and a UVA professor of politics. His research focuses on the American presidency, political parties and elections, social movements, and American political development. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, he regularly gives public lectures on American politics and participates in programs for international scholars and high school teachers that probe the deep historical roots of contemporary developments in the United States. His many books include the recently published What Happened to the Vital Center?: Presidentialism, Populist Revolt, and the Fracturing of America. He holds a BA from Muhlenberg College and a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania.