Fall 2000: American Democracy
In election year 2000, is the American political system a vigorous
democracy where competing ideas flourish and public debate thrives?
Or is our democracy under siege, a victim of big money, voter
apathy, and the manipulation of special interests? Campaign finance
reform has been a central focus of discussion during the current
election season. Proposals for changes in the structure of elections,
for third-party initiatives, and for various forms of local and
grassroots organizing have been gaining support. What are the
legitimate claims of these various proposals? What can be done
to increase voter interest and participation? What lessons can
be drawn from the current round of elections? In a series of events
sponsored by the Weissman Center for Leadership, nationally known
policy makers and scholars will explore these questions, define
contending positions, examine past and current elections, and
assess the strengths and weaknesses of American democracy.
September 28, 2000
Money in American Politics
Panel Discussion
Moderator Dan Clawson, professor of sociology,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst Mr. ClawsonÕs research is
concerned with the influence of money in the electoral process.
His books include Dollars and Votes: How Business Campaign Contributions
Subvert Democracy (with Alan Neustadtl and Mark Weller) and Money
Talks: Corporate PACs and Political Influence (with Neustadtl
and Denise Scott).
Thomas Edsall, political reporter, The Washington
Post. Since coming to the Post in 1981, Mr. Edsall has covered
taxes, campaign finance, and, for the past 15 years, national
politics. A regular contributor to such publications as The Atlantic
Monthly, The New Republic, and The New York Review of Books, Mr.
Edsall is the author of three books: The New Politics of Inequality,
Power and Money, and Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights,
and Taxes on American Politics (coauthored with Mary Edsall).
Ira Glasser, executive director of the American
Civil Liberties Union. Mr. Glasser has served as executive director
of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) since 1978. Previously,
he was executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
He is the author of Visions of Liberty: The Bill of Rights for
All Americans and coauthor of Doing Good: The Limits of Benevolence.
Susan Longley, state senator, Maine. Ms. Longley,
a 1978 graduate of Mount Holyoke, was elected last November to
her third term as Maine state senator, representing the people
of Waldo County. Senator Longley has a special commitment to the
economic development of Maine and to issues affecting children.
Maine was the first state to pass campaign finance reform laws.
October 18, 2000
Making Democracy Work
Panel Discussion
Moderator Preston Smith, associate professor
of politics and chair of African American and African studies,
Mount Holyoke College. Mr. Smith is currently completing a book,
The Quest for Racial Democracy: Black Civic Ideology and Housing
Policy in Chicago, 1940-1966.
Douglas Amy, professor of politics, Mount Holyoke
College. Mr. Amy is one of the nationÕs foremost authorities on
the electoral system of proportional representation and also has
expertise in issues of voting rights and third parties. He is
the author of Real Choices, New Voices: The Case for Proportional
Representation Elections in the United States.
Frances Moore Lapp, cofounder, Center for Living
Democracy; visiting researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ms. Lapp is well known for her groundbreaking work Diet for a
Small Planet. Author of 15 books, LappZ has had articles in such
publications as The New York Times, Tikkun, and HarperÕs. Her
most recent book, The Quickening of America: Rebuilding our Nation,
Remaking Our Lives (coauthored with Dr. Paul Martin Du Bois) focuses
on the success stories and practical tools of citizen problem
solving.
Micah L. Sifry, senior analyst, Public Campaign
Mr. Sifry is senior analyst with Public Campaign, a nonpartisan
organization promoting comprehensive campaign finance reform.
He is writing a book on the prospects of AmericaÕs leading third
parties, which will be published next year. A recent Individual
Project Fellow of the Open Society Institute, he has contributed
articles to many magazines, including The American Prospect, Tikkun,
and The Nation, where he was an editor for many years.
October 25, 2000
Where Have All The Leaders Gone? The Presidential Elections of
1800 and 2000
A public lecture by Joseph J.Ellis
Mr. Ellis is a nationally recognized scholar on American history, from colonial
times through the early decades of the Republic. The author of
six books, in 1997 he was awarded the National Book Award in Nonfiction
for American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. He recently
completed a new bookÑFounding BrothersÑabout the entire revolutionary
generation. Mr. Ellis has published a wide variety of scholarly
articles, essays, reviews, and opinion pieces in publications
including American Heritage, The New York Times, and U.S. News
& World Report. He has also appeared frequently on C-SPAN, The
News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and National Public Radio.
November 13, 2000
Elections 2000: Implications for American Democracy
Panel Discussion
Moderator Christopher Pyle, professor of politics,
Mount Holyoke College. Mr. Pyle teaches constitutional law and
civil liberties at Mount Holyoke College.
Theodore Lowi, John L. Senior Professor of American
Institutions, Cornell University. Mr. LowiÕs books include The
End of Liberalism: The Second Republic of the United States, The
End of the Republican Era, and Embattled Democracy: Politics and
Policy in the Clinton Era (coauthored with Benjamin Ginsberg).
Mr. Lowi served as president of the International Political Science
Association, 1997Ð2000, and received the Outstanding Mentor of
Women in Political Science Award, 1996.
Ellen Story, State Representative, Massachusetts.
Ms. Story, a Democrat, represents the towns of Amherst, Pelham,
and Shutesbury. The first woman to represent her district, Ms.
Story has served in the legislature since 1992. Her priorities
include education (especially public higher education), affordable
health care (including mental health care), union-related issues,
and welfare reform.
Sean Wilentz, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History;
director, Program in American Studies, Princeton University. Mr.
Wilentz is a contributing editor and a frequent contributor to
The New Republic and publishes widely in popular and scholarly
journals. He is the author of Chants Democratic: New York City
and the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788Ð1850, which won
the Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the Albert J. Beveridge
Award, and The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation
in 19th-Century America (coauthored with Paul E. Johnson).
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