James Madison's Montpelier We The People Fall 2015 | Page 9

FALL 2015

words, that they take what they learn at Montpelier
back to Washington and use it to improve the
performance of the Congress.”
Olikara, a former Harry S. Truman Scholar who
worked at the World Bank, left his career path to
start a new kind of political organization aimed at
addressing the feeling of disconnectedness he was
seeing in his peers. Olikara believes that Madison’s
ideas, his processes, and his leadership model are
needed in today’s political culture.
“James Madison believed in diversity; he believed in
a rational conversation in which the best ideas were
the ones left standing, and he believed that factions
were the enemy of the state,” Olikara said. “These
are all contemporary ideas, ideas that resonate with
people in my generation who increasingly feel like
our government is not representing them.”
Each of the Montpelier Summits will bring more
than 20 D.C.-based professionals working in
government, public policy, media, and advocacy
to Montpelier for a three-day residential
program focused on engaging the Constitution,
understanding Madison’s ideas, and networking
with each other.
Kramer also believes Madison’s ideas have
the power to create change in today’s partisan
environment, because those ideas were formed
at a time when even starker divisions divided the
opinions of legislators.

“Madison perceived more clearly th [