Panel on Money in American Politics Launches Weissman Center American Democracy Series

As election 2000 looms, the Weissman Center for Leadership hopes to create a College-wide dialogue on whether the American political system is a vigorous democracy—where competing ideas flourish and public debate thrives—or a victim of big money, voter apathy, and the manipulation of special interests. American Democracy in Crisis? Money, Politics, & Civic Participation, a four-event fall series devoted to this topic, will be launched Thursday, September 28, with “Money in American Politics,” a panel discussion to be held at 7:30 pm in the Art Building’s Gamble Auditorium.

Moderated by Dan Clawson, professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, the upcoming panel discussion will feature Maine state senator Susan Longley ’78, Washington Post political reporter Thomas Edsall, and Ira Glasser, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Debate will center on whether campaign finance reform would promote the democratic process or unduly restrict the right of free expression. Clawson, whose research focuses on the influence of money in the electoral process, is the author of Dollars and Votes: How Business Campaign Contributions Subvert Democracy and Money Talks: Corporate PACs and Political Influence (with Neustadtl and Denise Scott).

“We’re very excited about the fall series, and the impressive array of speakers, including our own Joe Ellis [who will speak October 25],” says Weissman Center codirector Christopher Benfey. “The opening panel on September 28 promises to be a particularly interesting occasion, with the tension between free speech and proposed campaign finance restrictions in the forefront. We couldn’t have a better spokesperson for First Amendment guarantees than Ira Glasser, head of the ACLU.”

The Panel

Thomas Edsall, political reporter, Washington Post Since coming to the Post in 1981, Edsall has covered taxes, campaign finance, and, for the past fifteen years, national politics. A regular contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, the New Republic, and other leading publications, he is also the author of three books, including The New Politics of Inequality.	Ira Glasser, executive director, American Civil Liberties Union Glasser has served as executive director of the 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.
Susan Longley, state senator, Maine 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. Maine was the first state to pass campaign finance reform laws.	Moderator Dan Clawson