As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, Maxwell School scholars are taking a fresh look at the big ideas that launched American democracy and why they still matter today.  

This July 4 marks a milestone Independence Day: America’s Semiquincentennial, with celebrations nationwide reflecting on the country’s founding and its evolving democratic experiment. At Syracuse University, the Maxwell School ledthat reflection through USA@250, a free public lectureseries exploring U.S. history, politics and society from the Revolution to the present. All sessions are available on Maxwell’s YouTube channel.

Maxwell faculty experts ⁠⁠Carol Faulkner⁠⁠, professor of history and senior associate dean, and ⁠⁠⁠Shana Gadarian⁠⁠⁠, professor of political science and associate dean for research, helped guide those conversations, connecting the founders’ aspirations to the challenges facing American democracy today.

On this episode, Faulkner and Gadarian reflect on the enduring power of the Declaration of Independence, the debates that shaped the nation’s political identity, and why the questions the founders wrestled with still feel relevant today.