Former Members of the U.S Congress in Bonn: Lunch Discussion
To complete our NRW tour with former Members of the U.S. Congress Mike Capuano and Fred Upton, we will stop in Bonn where, together with our partners, we cordially invite you to join a discussion on:
American Democracy at a Crossroad: The U.S. in Times of Hyperpartisan Conflict
with ]Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA, 1999-2019) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI, 1987-2023)
moderated by Prof. Dr. Jasper Trautsch, University of Bonn
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 | 12:15 PM | University of Bonn | Regina-Pacis-Weg 3 | 53113 Bonn
In recent years, Europeans have been watching the erosion of democratic norms in the U.S. with anxious concern, not only because of our military dependence on the Atlantic alliance and the economic importance of transatlantic trade, but also because our own democratic cultures are deeply interwoven with that of the U.S. Better understanding the political developments on the other side of the Atlantic is, therefore, vital – particularly since populism and political gridlock are also on the rise here in Europe. What are the causes of the hyperpolarization that make America’s parties increasingly view each other as enemies? What can be done to avert the threats to US democracy? What can we learn from the American experience to protect our democracies from toxic partisanship?
To discuss these and related questions and to analyze the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency, former Members of the US Congress Mike Capuano, Democrat from Massachusetts (1999-2019), and Fred Upton, Republican from Michigan (1987-2023), will join us for a brown-bag-lunch, to which you are cordially invited. Sharing their political insights with us, they will present their views about the state of American democracy and look forward to your questions.
Congressman Mike Capuano is an attorney who served in the U.S. Congress from 1999 to 2019, representing first the 8th and later the 7th District of Massachusetts. He served on the Financial Services Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and chaired several subcommittees. In 2007, Mike authored the bill that created the Office of Congressional Ethics. He founded the Congressional Caucus on Sudan and South Sudan and the Community Health Center Caucus. Prior to Congress, Mike served nine years as the mayor of his hometown, Somerville, MA, where he enacted environmental reforms, reduced crime, lowered class sizes, instituted an affirmative action plan, and appointed women to lead more than half the city’s departments. Mike currently works at the law firm Venable LLP. He is also a Presidential appointee to the Public Buildings Reform Board. Mike graduated from Dartmouth College and Boston College Law School. He met his wife, Barbara, at Somerville High. They have two adult sons.
Congressman Fred Upton was proud to represent the common-sense values of Southwest Michigan’s 6th Congressional District for 36 years. From 2010 to 2016, he was selected by his House colleagues to serve as Chairman of the pivotal Committee on Energy and Commerce. Fred strongly supports an ‘All-of-the-Above’ energy strategy that focuses on American energy development, emerging clean energy technologies, and traditional energy. He has long been an advocate for a greater emphasis on biomedical research to improve public health and, in 2014, launched the bipartisan 21st Century Cures initiative. As an active member of the Great Lakes Task Force, Fred has an extensive, bipartisan record working to protect the Great Lakes, which has earned him a local and national reputation. Prior to his election to Congress, he worked for President Ronald Reagan in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Fred holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Michigan. He and his wife, Amey, have two adult children.
Prof. Dr. Jasper Trautsch is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bonn. He previously worked at the University of Regensburg and the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 2014, Trautsch received a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service. He was awarded the Rolf-Kentner-Dissertation Prize for his outstanding dissertation in the field of American Studies, and he received a research fellowship of the “History of American Civilization” Program at Harvard University.
This event will be held in English. Tickets are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We kindly ask you to only reserve the number of tickets that you will definitely use.
We cordially thank our partners for their cooperation: The German Atlantic Association e.V., the North American Studies Program of the University of Bonn and the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.
