Power, responsibilities and resources | Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic conference

On the 16th and 17th of October 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the conference Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic. The conference brought together historians, political scientists, geographers, legal scholars, analysts, and practitioners from the US, EU, and the UK to consider the role of federalism in fuelling polarization in the US and how federalism may be leveraged to tame it. Adopting a comparative and historical perspective, the conference featured frank, sustained discussion of critical issues such as state autonomy, political representation, and fiscal equalization.

On Saturday 17 October, the conference held the panel session, "Power, responsibilities and resources". Fiscal imbalances between surplus and deficit states have become a lightning rod in debates over the expansion of states’ powers. What adjustments can be taken to redress the imbalances, and at what risk to devolving authority to the subnational level? The panel explored the relationships between changes in the division of powers and the distribution of fiscal resources.

The panel session featured Tracy Gordon of the Urban Institute, Professor Stephanie Rickard of LSE’s Department of Government and Professor Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, of LSE’s Department of Geography and Environment. The session was chaired by Michael Storper, Professor of Economic Geography at LSE.

For more information about the Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic conference, including recordings from the other panel sessions, please see the conference website.

This event recording was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.