Author Talk: Daniel Squadron — The Fourth Branch- with E.J. Dionne, Jr. and Senator Chuck Schumer

Author Daniel Squadron discusses their book "The Fourth Branch" at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

This part handbook, part history, and part personal narrative will open readers’ eyes to the oft-overlooked arm of government that has done more harm and more good than any other in recent years: state legislatures.

After the 2024 election, many voters were left feeling disillusioned with America’s highest governing body. Anxious citizens point to the federal government and national elected officials with growing alarm, but the broken political system they see in Washington is merely a symptom. The site of that break—and the best opportunity to mend it—lies in the states.

In The Fourth Branch, co-founder of The States Project Daniel Squadron opens readers’ eyes to the oft-overlooked arm of government that has far more power than most people even realize: state legislatures. Nearly every major issue that Americans care about—from climate change to minimum wage, abortion access to criminal justice reform, gun control to paid family leave—can be determined without the involvement of the federal government. Detailing the systems, experiences, and strategic thinking that inform The States Project’s approach to making change—one designed to combat decades of conservative investment and manipulation at the state level—this guide is an urgently needed and galvanizing framework for participation in our democracy, made all the more engaging by Daniel’s stories of his time as a New York State Senator and his work with inspiring lawmakers around the country.

Daniel Squadron is a former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer, former New York State Senator, and co-founder of The States Project.

Squadron is in conversation with E.J. Dionne, Jr., a bestselling author, a syndicated columnist who appears twice weekly in The Washington Post and nearly a hundred other newspapers, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a professor at Georgetown University. His Why Americans Hate Politics won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a nominee for the National Book Award. He is a regular commentator on National Public Radio and on other radio and television programs. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, Mary Boyle, and their three children.

A VIP special guest will be joining the conversation with Squadron and Dionne- Senator Chuck Schumer.

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