The Center for the Political Future is a non-partisan center housed in the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The center was established in order to combat uncivil political discourse and promote bipartisan, fact-based dialogue on national issues. The Center for the Political Future hosts conferences, offers a Fellows program, hosts an ongoing dialogue series called Political Conversations as well as other speaker events, and provides a neutral ground for political discourse in "off-the-record policy workshops" with top experts from relevant disciplines, among other programs.
Through its dialogue series, conferences, fellows program, and workshops, the center has expressed that some of its goals are to "understand and contextualize causes of the political divide" in the United States, "work toward a common fact base," "renew civil discourse to find common ground," and assess the possible "domestic and global implications of different policy approaches" through civil discourse between experts across the ideological spectrum.
The center's director is Robert Shrum and its co-director is Mike Murphy. Shrum is a longtime Democratic strategist and speechwriter for politicians, including Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry. Murphy is a veteran Republican campaign strategist and has worked for candidates Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeb Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney. The center's Executive Director is Kamy Akhavan, former CEO of ProCon.org.
The Center for the Political Future brings political professionals together from both sides of the aisle and models bipartisan discussions for students and the national political stage.
The center's stated mission is to âÂÂcombine rigorous intellectual inquiry, teaching, and practical politics to advance civil dialogue that transcends partisan divisions and explores solutions to our most pressing national and global challenges.âÂÂ
The Center for the Political Future outlines several objectives, including:
In 1978, before it was called the Center for the Political Future, USC founded the USC Institute of Politics and Government. A little more than a decade later, in 1987, it was renamed the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics after the late California state politician, Jesse M. Unruh. In 2018, long-time political strategists and friends Robert Shrum (D) and Mike Murphy (R) expanded the Unruh Institute of Politics by creating the Center for the Political Future.
The center has several departments and initiatives that further its mission: the Unruh Institute of Politics, the USC Dornsife Poll, programming through their Political Conversations series as well as other speaker events, a Fellows Program, and large-scale conferences.
The Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, named after long-time California politician Jesse M. Unruh, is a component of the Center for the Political Future. Its focus is on engaging students at USC in politics and public service. It achieves this goal by providing students with internships and practical experiences in politics.
Student programs include immersive professional experiences at the Iowa Caucuses, in California state politics in Sacramento, a leadership conference for LA-based high school women, and related coursework in these areas. The Center also provides scholarships to make these experiences more accessible to students.
The Unruh Institute has two affiliated student groups, VoteSC, and USC Political Union. Both organizations promote student engagement in voting and politics.
The USC Dornsife poll is maintained by USCâÂÂs Center for Economic and Social Research and conducted in partnership with the Center for the Political Future. The purpose of the probability-based online panel is to track respondents changing attitudes and preferences for political candidates over time.
The Center for the Political Future hosts a conversation series called Political Conversations. The Center brings in guests from the world of politics, journalism, and other related fields to expose students to practitioners in journalism, politics, and public policy. The Center also hosts other speakers for book talks and professional development events.
Past guests include:
The Center for the Political Future conducts several annual conferences. The two main conferences hosted by the center are the Warschaw Conference on Practical Politics and the Climate Forward Conference.The conference themes range from climate change and political tribalism to immigration and elections.
Featured speakers have included:
Besides speaker events and conferences, the Center also hosts debates, both between USC groups and California candidates for public office. On January 22, 2024, the Center hosted the first debate between California senate candidates. On March 22, 2022, the Center for the Political Future partnered with Fox11 and the Los Angeles Times to sponsor the Los Angeles Mayoral debate, held at USC's Bovard Auditorium. The Center also hosts a debate every semester between the Trojan Democrats and the USC College Republicans.
The Center for the Political Future hosts visiting Fellows each semester to lead study groups pertaining to politics, public policy, and journalism.