Democracy Forum

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine The mostly volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Martha Dickinson, Michael Fisher Starr Gilmartin, Maggie Harling, Lisa Leaverton, Ann Luther, Judith Lyles, Rick Lyles, Wendilee O’Brien, Maryann Ogonowski, emerita, Lane Sturtevant, Leah Taylor Linda Washburn Democracy Forum: Participatory Democracy, encouraging citizens to take an active role in government and politics This month: If Small States Rule, Why Are They So Angry? Does this small-state bias in the federal government equate to overrepresentation of rural interests? Does it translate to policies that help rural areas thrive? Are communities in small or rural states actually thriving? Do people in those communities feel like they’re thriving? Or does “rural resentment” account for minority rule at the federal level? Senators from small states hold outsize sway in government to the point where they can block measures that