The Roots of Resentment: Affective Polarizations' Impact on Cross-Partisan Conversation

This policy brief will examine how effective polarization serves as a threat to social and democratic cooperation, and the dangers it poses to social cohesion and stability. It will also propose policy implementations and initiatives for civil discourse, seeking to strengthen policy mitigating this rising problem.

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Allison Cohen

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January 9, 2026

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Inquiry-driven, this project may reflect personal views, aiming to enrich problem-related discourse.

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Allison Cohen

2025 Fall Fellow

Allison Cohen is a student at Pascack Hills High School. She has a strong passion for civic engagement and advocacy. Through both her academic and community work, she aspires to create a lasting positive impact. In her free time, she is an avid reader and loves running.

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Other Fellowship Capstones

Multilingual Education in Connecticut

Capstones Summer 2025

This brief will examine the effectiveness of multilingual programs in the state of Connecticut and explore how these programs can be enhanced through policy implementation.

From Nixon’s War on Drugs to Trump’s Deportations: How Racialized Criminality and Supreme Court Sanctioned Profiling is Shaping America

Capstones Fall 2025

This policy brief traces how racially coded “law and order” rhetoric evolved into institutionalized racial control within U.S. criminal justice and immigration enforcement, beginning with Nixon’s War on Drugs. It shows how political dog whistles reframed civil rights claims as criminal threats, laying the groundwork for mass incarceration and later extending to immigration through the 2025 Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo ruling, which authorized racially motivated ICE enforcement. The brief argues that Trump-era deportations and family separations are not anomalies but the continuation of a long-standing political strategy that weaponizes race. It concludes that dismantling racialized criminality is a moral and democratic imperative central to restoring constitutional equality.

From Plaza to Prison: ICE’s Expanding Overreach

Capstones Fall 2025

Anaya Qayyum

Immigration enforcement in New York City, particularly at 26 Federal Plaza, reflects ICE’s increasing overreach of power. A civil offense is treated like a criminal offense, all without the protections afforded to someone being prosecuted as a criminal. This brief will examine ICE’s overreaching power and its impact on civil liberties and propose policy reforms to ensure congressional oversight measures, limits on ICE detainers, and expanded legal protections for immigrant families.

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Allison Cohen

Other Fellowship Capstones

Multilingual Education in Connecticut

From Nixon’s War on Drugs to Trump’s Deportations: How Racialized Criminality and Supreme Court Sanctioned Profiling is Shaping America

From Plaza to Prison: ICE’s Expanding Overreach