The Unequal and Racist Structure of the U.S. Senate — and How To Fix It
This event will be a powerful, in-depth discussion about race and politics in the Upper House. The event will be interactive, beginning with Beavers interviewing Orts about his recent work on the contemporary Senate's history and legal structure, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
In an article entitled Senate Democracy: Our Lockean Paradox, Orts has revealed how radically unequal the Senate has become in terms of its misrepresentation of the U.S. population. In particular, the Senate has followed a historical trajectory that has seared a racially unjust structure into the contemporary Senate: with small states reflecting a higher percentage of white voters vs. large states with higher percentages of non-white voters. Orts maintains that Congress has constitutional authority under the post-Civil War voting rights amendments to adopt a Senate Reform Act that would break what he calls a “Lockean paradox” of Senate malapportionment.
Contemporary issues, including the legislative filibuster, the seniority system, and term limits for both senators and senate leaders, will also be addressed. They will allocate ample time for an engaging Q&A.
Beavers and Orts initially met running track as Oberlin students. They reconnected decades later on parallel tenure tracks at the University of Pennsylvania—where they both hold endowed chairs today.
Herman Beavers ’81, is the Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt President’s Distinguished Professor of English and Africana Studies and the new director of Civics House at Penn. He is a distinguished poet and a widely published scholar of 20th-century American and African American literature.
Eric Orts ’82, is the Guardsmark Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics at the Wharton School. His work focuses on theories of business and environmental sustainability. Motivated in part by the threat of modern tyranny—his honors thesis topic at Oberlin—Orts has formed an exploratory committee to consider entering the race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022.
We look forward to gathering with you on Sunday, April 25.
