Civic leaders to discuss impact of partisan divide

Paul Singer | USA TODAY

The Bipartisan Policy Center's Commission on Political reform holds its second national town hall-style meeting Tuesday focusing on how democratic participation is affected by political partisanship.

A USA TODAY/Bipartisan Policy Center poll released Monday found that Americans by a 2-1 ratio believe volunteering for a charity or an organization is a more effective way of bringing about positive change than being active in government.

Analysts suggested that the broad public perception of government being corrupt or ineffectual is driving people away from public participation.

The event will include former Democratic Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and former senators Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Trent Lott, R-Miss., among others. The panel discussion, which begins at 1 p.m. ET in Philadelphia, will be hosted by USA TODAY's Susan Page.

The discussion also includes more than a dozen business, political and civic leaders.

The event will be live-streamed here, and organizers are inviting questions from the public via Twitter using the hashtag #EngageUSA.