Have we forgotten how to self-govern? | Sabrina L. Shaeffer

What if the root cause of America’s polarization isn’t just anger or partisanship — but the loss of a skill we’ve stopped practicing?

On this episode, Nic Dunn speaks with R Street Institute VP of Public Affairs Sabrina Schaeffer to explore how the lost arts of debate, discourse, and civic engagement are essential to a thriving constitutional republic.

Drawing from history and recent research, this conversation examines why the institutions that once taught the “muscle memory” of respectful disagreement have eroded — and how we can rebuild them. It’s a call to see disagreement not as a threat, but as a civic virtue worth reclaiming.

Show notes:

• Self-Government Takes Practice. We’ve Stopped Rehearsing

Defending Ideas is a weekly podcast produced by Sutherland Institute. On this show we are committed to renewing the principles of common sense conservatism, equipping listeners to become more effective champions of sound principle and good policy. Visit defendingideas.org.