Democracy Forum

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine   Engineer: Amy Browne Political Parties: Do They Still Matter? We talk about the state of the two party system, how recent trends have weakened the parties even as partisanship has grown, whether our political parties threaten our democracy or hold the main hope for its salvation. Guests: Professor Mark Brewer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine umaine.edu/polisci/faculty-and-staff/mark-brewer/ Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a contributing editor to The Atlantic. www.brookings.edu/experts/jonathan-rauch/ To learn more about this topic: More professionalism, less populism, from the Brookings Institution How American Politics Went Insane, from The Atlantic How Trump is helping to save our democracy, from the Washington Post The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Starr Gilmartin Maggie Harling Linda Hoskins Ann Luthe

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine   Engineer: Amy Browne Census 2020: Making Sense of the Census Key Discussion Points: We’ll talk about the history and evolution of the census, Why it’s important, Who uses census data, What’s being planned for 2020, What problems are on the horizon, and Why the census matters in Maine. Guests: –Margo Anderson, Distinguished Professor of History and Urban Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, author of the book, The American Census: A Social History uwm.edu/history/people/anderson-margo/ -Richard Taylor, Communications and Research Manager, Maine State Housing Authority To learn more about this topic: 2020 Census Operational Plan from the Census Bureau New Acting Director To Oversee ‘High Risk’ 2020 Census, reporting from NPR The 2020 Census may be wildly inaccurate–and it matters more than you think, from the Brookings Institution The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine   Engineer: Amy Browne Civil Discourse: Can We Still Do It? What civil discourse looks like? Why does it seems to be so hard right now? How can we practice it ourselves? What can we to do encourage it in our leaders and public servants here in Maine? Guests: Tomas Spath, co-founder of the Institute for Civility in Government Matt Motyl, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois – Chicago Andrew Rudalevige, the Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College To learn more about this topic: Why Polarization Matters, David Blankenhorn in The American Interest The Seven Habits of Highly Depolarizing People, David Blankenhorn in The American Interest 2016 Colby Civility Poll with the Boston Globe The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Starr Gilmartin Maggie Harling Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Maryann Ogonowski Pam Person Leah Taylor Linda Washburn FMI re

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Jobs in Maine: What’s the Future? Key Discussion Points: a) global changes in employment and the nature of work b) the shifting demographics of jobs c) barriers to work d) what it means for Maine Guests: James Breece, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Maine. umaine.edu/soe/faculty-and-staff/breece/ Rosalie Hughes, is an investigative journalist and writer at the Bangor Daily News and a contributor to the Maine Focus series. bangordailynews.com/staff/bdn-maine/content/rosalie-hughes/ Beth Stickney, Executive Director of the Maine Business Immigration Coalition mainebic.org/about/ To learn more about this topic: The State of American Jobs, Pew Research Center Did China Eat America’s Jobs, Freakonomics, January 25, 2017 Visualizing the Jobs Lost to Automation An Overview of the Maine Economy: Per Capita Personal Income 2014, James Breece, 2016 Maine Job Outlook to 2024 The all-volunteer team at the League o

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Free Trade: Winners and Losers in Maine Key Discussion Points: We’ll talk about international trade policy How does it work? Who sets the rules? What does it mean for Maine? Guest: Kate DeLutio, economist, applied researcher, and trade expert. www.45northresearch.com/about/ To learn more about this topic: a) Did China Eat America’s Jobs, Freakonomics, January 25, 2017 freakonomics.com/podcast/china-eat-americas-jobs/ b) Maine History Online: Trade and Transport, from the Maine Historical Society. www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/885/page/1296/display c) Maine Trade Assessment Report 2016, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, prepared for the Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission. www.maine.gov/legis/opla/CTPC2016TradeAssessmentFinal.pdf    The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Starr Gilmartin Maggie Harli

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Fake News: Who Can You Trust? Key Discussion Points: We’ll talk about the proliferation of news sources in the internet age The role of independent journalism in a liberal democracy The challenges for citizens in finding real news. b) Guests: John Christie, co-founder and senior editor for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. pinetreewatchdog.org/about/ Naomi Schalit, co-founder and senior reporter for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. pinetreewatchdog.org/about/ Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication at Merrimack College in Massachusetts www.merrimack.edu/live/profiles/586-melissa-mish-zimdars To learn more about this topic: Study: Breitbart-led right-wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda, Columbia Journalism Review, March 3, 2017 The Real Story About Fake News Is Partisanship, The Upshot, New York Times, January 11, 2017 There̵

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: Two Maines: Can We Bridge the Divide? Key Discussion Points: a) We’ll talk about the cultural, demographic, and economic differences that define the two Maines and how those differences are sharpening political differences. b) Are there only two Maines? c) Can we bridge the divide? Guests: a) Alan Caron, is the owner of Caron Communications and the author of “Maine’s next Economy” and “Reinventing Maine’s Government” b) Erin Rhoda, Editor of Maine Focus for the Bangor Daiy News bangordailynews.com/staff/bdn-maine/content/erin-rhoda/ c) Matt Stone, journalist and writer for the Bangor Daily News To learn more about this topic: What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class, Joan C. Williams in the Harvard Business Review, November 30, 2016 hbr.org/2016/11/what-so-many-people-dont-get-about-the-u-s-working-class%20 6 takeaways from an examination of rural Maine

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: John Greenman Program Topic: Ballot Questions in Maine: Whose Initiatives Are They? Key Discussion Points: We’ll discuss what happened in the recent election What our constitution provides What role the legislature and the governor are playing now. Guests: a) John Brautigam, Attorney and election law expert b) Ron Schmidt, Associate Professor of Political Science at USM. usm.maine.edu/pos/ronald-schmidt To learn more about this topic: Laws Governing the Initiative Process in Maine Initiated Bills in Maine 1911 – Peoples Vetoes in Maine 1909 – Referenda in Maine 1910 – As Progressives Turn to Ballot Initiatives, GOP Eyes Restrictions Steve Mistler story for Maine Public, February 2, 2017. The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Don Carmichael Suzanne Carmichael Starr Gilmartin Maggie Harling Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Maryann Ogonowski Pam Person Leah Taylo

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: John Greenman Program Topic: The Civic Mission of Public Education Key Discussion Points: a) What is the historical role of public education in American democracy and civic life? b) Do inequities in public education and the failure of public schools to prepare all children for citizenship contribute to political inequality? c) What can citizens do? Guests: a) Meira Levinson, Professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education www.gse.harvard.edu/faculty/meira-levinson b) Bill Richards, Maine educator and former Associate Commissioner of Instruction for Maine. To learn more about this topic: a) Education and Equality, by Danielle Allen b) “If Democracies Need Informed Voters, How Can They Thrive While Expanding Enfranchisement?” by Jennifer Hochschild c) “Why Did We Stop Teaching Political History?” by Fredrik Logevall and Kenneth Osgood in the New York Times d) No Citizen Left Behind, by Meira Levinson The all-v

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Election Reflections Key Discussion Points: What just happened? Why were we surprised? What role did voter suppression play in the election? And what does it mean for the future of democracy? Guests: Prof. Mark Brewer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine umaine.edu/polisci/faculty-and-staff/mark-brewer/ Kathy Colliton-Gonzalez is Senior Counsel at Demos, a national civil rights organization, where she participates in litigation and policy advocacy to ensure an inclusive democracy and equal opportunity for all. FMI: www.demos.org The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Pam Person Leah Taylor Linda Washburn FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: Ballot Questions in Maine Key Discussion Points: a) We’ll discuss the ballot questions in Maine this year, how the process works, what the questions mean, and how citizen initiatives fit into a representative versus a direct democracy. b) What are the questions on the ballot? What do they mean? What are the arguments for and against the question? c) Where can voters learn more? Guests: Amy Fried, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine umaine.edu/polisci/faculty-and-staff/amy- fried/ Jill Goldthwait, former Maine State Senator and award-winning political columnist for the Ellsworth American and the Mount Desert Islander.         The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: John Bradford Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Marge May Pam Person Leah Taylor Linda Washburn FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: The Civic Mission of Public Education (NOTE: This was an abbreviated version of Democracy Forum. Due to technical difficulties the show was 30 minutes rather than the usual 60.) Key Discussion Points: a) We discuss whether inequities in public education and the failure of public schools to prepare all children for citizenship contribute to political inequality. b) Has there been a decline in civic education? Or an evolution in what constitutes civics instruction? c) What do kids typically learn about how government and democracy work in Maine and in the United States? d) What do citizens need to learn to be effective in civic life? e) In what ways do disparities in the quality of education among school systems widen empowerment gaps between rich and poor children? Guests: Meira Levinson, Professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education www.gse.harvard.edu/faculty/meira-levinson Bill Richards, Maine educator

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: Privatizing Public Policy: Is Philanthropy Good for Democracy? Key Discussion Point: a) We discuss philanthropy, foundations, shadow networks, and the private drivers of public policy from the Koch Brothers to the Gates-inspired Giving Pledge. b) To what extent is a libertarian world-view pushing down taxes and reducing the size of government while increasing concentrations of private wealth? Has there also been an increase in charitable and public-benefit giving? c) Is private generosity displacing public dollars in supporting charitable, educational, research, and other non-governmental institutions? Has this shift in funding created a change in priorities for these dollars? d) How much of this private giving is transparent? Can we tell where the money is going and to what ends? e) Government bureaucracy has a terrible reputation for waste and fraud. Is this kind of philanthropy more effective? Does it get the job done

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Press or Propaganda: Corporate Media, a Free Press, and the Future of Democracy Key Discussion Points: -Tension between corporate, profit-motivated ownership of mainstream media and the public interest mission served by journalism in an open democracy. -What roles are old and new media playing in forming an educated electorate in 21st century America? -The long-held belief in a liberal media bias has been challenged by the success of Fox News and the like. Is this kind of POV media a new phenomenon in American journalism? Which side is winning? -What happens when the ultra-rich like Sheldon Adelson, Rupert Murdoch, and Jeffrey Bezos start buying up news outlets? -Is this good for democracy? What can citizens do? Guests: Michael Franz, Associate Professor at Bowdoin College and co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project. mikemfranz.com/ John Christie, co-founder and senior editor for the Main

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Us vs Them: Is Government the Enemy Key Discussion Points: a) We’ll discuss the history and cultural origins of American attitudes toward government b) How these attitudes have evolved over time, and c) Whether these attitudes have been purposefully amplified by vested interests. Guests: Colin Woodard, award winning author and journalist www.colinwoodard.com/ Amy Fried, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine umaine.edu/polisci/faculty-and-staff/amy-fried/ The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: John Bradford Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Marge May Pam Person Leah Taylor Linda Washburn FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Moochers and Freeloaders: Welfare for the Rich, Welfare for the Poor Key Discussion Points: a) We’ll discuss the relationship between free markets and democracy; b) Have the rules of government and markets have been rigged in favor of big money interests and corporations? c) Has populist sentiment has been played to generate resentment over welfare for the poor? d) Who is being served in American democracy today? e) What can ordinary citizen do? What policies should they support? Guests: a) Vanessa Williamson, Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution www.brookings.edu/experts/williamsonv?view=bio b) Garrett Martin, Executive Director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy MECEP Staff Bios The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Marge May Pam Person Leah Taylor Linda Washbur

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Whose Democracy Is It? Wealth and Income Inequality, Money in Politics Key Discussion Points: a) The great American experiment in democracy was founded on the ideal of a sovereign people — government responsive to the will of the people. Does American democracy still serve that ideal? b) Are policy outcomes today more responsive to wealthy donors than to the majority voters? c) Is the new populism evident in the current presidential primaries fed by voter frustration with government? Is money in politics somehow responsible for that frustration? d) If it’s not practical or even wise to think of eliminating income and power disparities, do we even have a problem? e) What are some practical solutions? Guests: Mark Schmitt, Director of the Political Reform Program at New America www.newamerica.org/experts/mark-schmitt/ Tony Corrado, Professor of Government at Colby College www.brookings.

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine     Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic:  Political Equality: The Founding Vision, the Modern Reality Key Discussion Points: a) What do we mean when we talk about political equality? b) Was it an ideal embraced by our founding fathers? c) What did it mean to them? What does it mean to us today? d) To what extent has the founding ideal been realized or thwarted? Guests: a) Prof. Ralph Ketcham, Maxwell Professor Emeritus of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, www.maxwell.syr.edu/psc/Ketcham,_Ralph/ b) Prof. Mark Brewer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine, umaine.edu/polisci/faculty-and-staff/mark-brewer/ The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Linda Hoskins Ann Luther Marge May Pam Person Leah Taylor Linda Washburn FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org                    

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters Engineer: Joel Mann Issue: Participatory Democracy Program Topic: Political Advertising and Its Effect on Voters and Elections Key Discussion Points: a) How important is political advertising in helping people learn about candidates? b) How does political advertising work and why is it worth the many millions of dollars being spent on it. c) Is it good for democracy? d) What can citizens do? Guests by name and affiliation: A) Richard R. Lau, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University, fas-polisci.rutgers.edu/lau/. B) Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, www.asc.upenn.edu/faculty/Faculty-Bio.aspx?id=129. Call In Program: No

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters Engineer: Joel Mann Program Topic: Educating Voters; Educating Citizens Key Discussion Points: a) the difference between educated voters and well-informed voters b) the role of public education in cultivating civic engagement c) what can citizens do? Guests: A) Professor Jennifer Hochschild, the Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government at Harvard University, www.gov.harvard.edu/people/faculty/jennifer-hochschild B) Elisabeth MacNamara, the 18th president of the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS) and chair of the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF), www.lwv.org/content/elisabeth-macnamara Call In Program: No Political Broadcast: No