News from the John W. Kluge Center: Two Upcoming Events at the Kluge Center

Tomorrow, Wednesday November 1 at 5:15pm, the Kluge Center and the American Trust for the British Library will co-host an event, Digital Outreach in the British Library's Asian and African Collections.

British Library curators will share their stories, successes, and challenges using digital media to showcase the Library's Asian and African collections. 

This event will take place in the Whittall Pavilion in the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress. Registration is not required. This event will be in-person only.

Thursday, November 16 at 4pm, Join the John W. Kluge Center for an event titled A Big Deal: The Role of Heresthetic in Negotiating the Affordable Care Act of 2010, looking at the history and strategy surrounding the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Kluge Center Director Kevin Butterfield will interview Kluge Fellow in Congressional Policymaking Alex P. Smith, who has extensively studied the negotiation strategies lawmakers used to overcome stalemate in the US Congress and pass a major overhaul of the health care system.

Free registration is available here.

This event will take place in person in the Montpelier Room of the Madison Building at the Library of Congress, as well as being broadcast live virtually. Please register on Zoom to watch in-person or virtually.

Smith will discuss the ways that Democratic Party leaders used the heresthetic strategies of strategic voting and dimension manipulation to secure votes in the House and Senate and gain support from key stakeholders in the health care industry. As unexpected events like Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter switching his party affiliation, the death of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, and the victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate special election shaped the course of negotiations, policy options became more and less viable in each legislative chamber, and policymaking strategies shifted frequently. With this example of overcoming stalemate in Congress, Smith argues the methods used prioritized legislative action over policy efficacy.