Regional Devolution: pathway or roadblock? | Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic conference

On the 4th of November 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the event Making sense of the US midterms 2026.

Can AI systems go rogue? How and why might they be harmful to humans and society? Can AI think and understand in the way that people do? What is really going on behind the screen when you ask an AI bot a question or to perform a task for you?

Given the potential repercussions of trying to work across the aisle, for many in Washington DC, working in a bipartisan manner has become an act of courage.

In the past decade, America has taken steps that appear deliberately designed to unmake the international order which it set up more than 50 years ago. This has led some commentators to argue that the US is now a revisionist power.

On the 16th and 17th of October 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the conference Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic.

On the 16th and 17th of October 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the conference Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic.

On the 16th and 17th of October 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the conference Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic.

On the 16th and 17th of October 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the conference Taming polarization: Reforming the American federal republic.

President Donald Trump’s two terms in the White House have seen the president take a range of actions with congressional approval, leading to warnings from many commentators that America is in a state of constitutional crisis.

Is America experiencing a constitutional crisis, or have we reached the point of constitutional failure? At this LSE Phelan US Centre event, leading scholar on American constitutional history, Professor Jack Rakove, explored this question