Pizza, Politics and Progress

Thursday evening, Jim Matheson, former congressman, addressed a group of students in the Merrill-Cazier Library as part of the speaker series Pizza and Politics organized by the Institute of Government and Politics.

Matheson represented Utah’s second and fourth districts throughout his 14 years serving in Congress. After voluntarily leaving Congress in January 2015, Matheson’s legacy of seven undefeated terms as a democratic congressman representing such a republican-leaning district is a legacy not likely to be forgotten.

Right from the start Matheson wanted to get to the root of the different perspectives from Washington and what was working, but more importantly, what wasn’t working.

“We value what we have here. We value our system of government, we value our constitution. We should want it to work well,” Matheson said, “yet right now the public isn’t very happy about how it is working. How does the public change that?”

With that question out in the open air, the discussion of processes, structures and the importance of building consensus took shape.

Many themes wound through all that Matheson talked about. The need for consensus, building stability, the prevalence of gridlock and bipartisan efforts are all ideas that Matheson compiled and explained in three steps of how you get things done.

Matheson noted that it wouldn’t be easy but they are important elements to emphasize. One: It always needs to be a bipartisan group effort, both sides working together. Two: Identify all the stakeholders, making sure that there is awareness of everyone involved. Three: Actually get people around the table taking to each other, recognizing the importance of face-to-face communication.

This final step, to actually get people talking to one another, led the rest of the discussion to completion. Matheson continued to make points about it being the effort of everyone involved that will lead to the outcomes that we want.

There is more to be done than merely show up, he said. We need to make a quality effort. This begins with asking for information from multiple places, verifying the information that we are given, fact-checking and understanding it and then taking the next step — actually talking about it.

Matheson said that starting those conversations — therefore change — is critical. It is important to start those conversations on a campus like Utah State University where thoughts can more easily transition into actions.

“Listening to someone with insight and who actually has experience in Washington, D.C., was really cool and to have answer questions helped me understand,” said USU student Kolten Crane.

Many people buzzed with discussions about what they gained from the forum. Aleigh Allred, a USU student, said she gained a better understanding of Citizens United.

“I thought Matheson had a lot of really great answers towards the problem of having term limits and what that entails,” Allred said.

“We had a great turnout, meaning that students are interested and want to be engaged in these issues,” said Jashon Bishop, a graduate student who works with the Institute of Government and Politics. Bishop helped organize the event.

Bishop emphasized that everyone seemed engaged and asked solid questions to demonstrate their understanding, meaning the students came to learn and left with more insight.

There are many more speakers lined up in this series throughout the semester, all organized as part of a Careers in Government class to allow people in many different government careers to come and share how they got there and what opportunities there are out in the world.