On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the McCullen Center for law, religion and public policy welcomed former U.S. Senator Pat Toomey to give a seminar on the topic of “Civil Discourse and American Politics Today.”

  Senator Toomey represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2023, capping his 12-year service on the Senate Committee on Banking.

Before going into politics, Toomey owned a restaurant with his brothers, but he became interested in politics and economics during college which sparked the start of his career in the early 1990s.

In the 1998 election for the House of Representatives, Toomey ran for the first time.

  “If I knew then what I knew now, I probably wouldn’t have run,” Toomey said about his improbable chances of winning that specific election. “I was quite lucky that it worked out.”

Toomey was asked about current civil discourse, especially surrounding the killing of Charlie Kirk, and how he worked across divides in his own races.

“We should remember that politics is downstream from culture,” Toomey said.

Toomey made a point to say that our culture has become angrier which is causing a divide not only in society, but also in Congress.

“You can disagree passionately, but doing so respectfully and acknowledging the legitimacy of another point of view,” Toomey said.

A focal point of the discussion was on the importance of returning a level of civility and finding common ground to bring back healthy debate. This decorum has been strained intensely over the recent years.

Toomey moved to discussing the importance of strengthening the institutions that force compromise, specifically the U.S. Senate.

He criticized the current state of the Senate and suggested rewarding those who are in office to legislate rather than those who are there to create a political brand for themselves.

“We’ve got to stop electing people like that,” Toomey said.

Toomey was asked about a possible rule change that could make Congress better to which he answered increasing the threshold for preventing a vote on the Senate floor.

The current number is usually one vote which Toomey says no longer works because the culture in Congress has shifted away from debate.

He then described his belief why the culture has shifted on Capitol Hill.

“It is no longer an adequate expression of your opposition to oppose the vote and defeat it,” Toomey said.

“The Senators must prevent it from being allowed to be brought onto the floor for a vote.”

Toomey was then asked about resolving the current vulnerable state of our democracy regarding gaps in the separation of power between branches.

“It comes down to restoring the robust functions of the three branches of the government,” Toomey said.

Ultimately, Toomey focused his seminar on the divided political culture currently present in the country which is creating gaps in our democracy.

A major takeaway from this seminar is that going back to the basics of separation of powers would be ideal to achieve a level of democracy where healthy debate can occur and produce a legislature based on compromise.

This distinction of branches allows for smoother function, as well as limited sway. The seperation decsribed in the discussion is what the Constitution intended.   The American legal system was created to encourage careful deliberation and thoughtful discourse, but the current contentious political climate has only stifled the value behind these aspects.

Given the heightened political violence, deep gridlock and lack of cooperation across the aisle, it is necessary to encourage civilty.

  Students who are interested in attending similar events in the future are encouraged to keep up with the McCullen Center.