Archives for Democracy Forum

Democracy Forum 3/16/18

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine  
Engineer: Joel Mann

Gerrymandering: What’s the Big Deal?

How redistricting has changed over the last 50 years
Thee emergence of extreme partisan gerrymandering
Court cases pending before the U.S. Supreme Court
Why it matters in Maine.

Guests:
Matt Dube, Assistant Professor in Computer Information Systems at the University of Maine in Augusta www.uma.edu/directory/staff/matthew-p-dube/
Elaine Kamark, Senior Fellow in the Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution www.brookings.edu/experts/elaine-kamarck/

To learn more about this topic:
Gerrymandering and how to fix it, from Elaine Kamark at Brookings.
The new front in the gerrymandering wars, from the New York Times Magazine, August, 2017.
We Drew 2,568 Congressional Districts By Hand. Here’s How., from the 538 Gerrymandering Project, January 25, 2018.
Mathematical Characteristics of District Boundary Lines as Indicators of Partisan Gerrymandering in U.S. House Elections, Richard J. Powell, Matthew P. Dube, and Jesse T. Clark, April, 2017.
Assessing the Causes of District Homogeneity in U.S. House Elections, Richard J. Powell, Matthew P. Dube, and Jesse T. Clark, August, 2017

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Democracy Forum 2/16/18

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine  
Engineer: Amy Browne

Primary Elections: What Are They Good For?
-How have primaries changed over the last 50 years?
-Are they still working for the parties and the voters?
-What changes are on the horizon in Maine?

Guests:
Jill Goldthwait, Political columnist
Kevin Raye, Republican politician
Dan Shea, Professor Government at Colby College       
 
To learn more about this topic:
Everything You Need to Know About Maine’s Caucus System, League blog post from February 2016.
Maine considers switching from caucuses to primaries, from the AP, March, 2016.
How activists choose our politicians, long before we vote, Jonathan Rauch for the Brookings Institution, December, 2017.

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 League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

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Democracy Forum 11/17/17

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine  
Engineer: Amy Browne

Ten Months In: Taking Stock in Maine

We’ll talk about what’s changed in Maine since the 2016 presidential election.
How have the policies of the new administration affected Maine politics and people?

Guests:
Hannah Pingree, a Democrat, former Speaker of the House in Maine, now co-host of the Maine Event on Maine Public television. pingree.com/
Josh Tardy, a Republican lobbyist and attorney who served as chair of the 2016 Trump campaign in Maine www.mitchelltardyjackson.com/about/

To learn more about this topic:
Tracking deregulation in the Trump era, from the Brookings Institution.
How Trump is helping to save our democracy, from the Washington Post
Stocks Are Up 20% Under Donald Trump. Can It Last? from the Wall Street Journal
Trump’s Trade Policy Is Lifting Exports. Of Canadian Lobster. from the New York Times
List of Cabinet positions and appointees in the Trump Administration

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 League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

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Democracy Forum 10/20/17

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 Luther
Maryann Ogonowski
Pam Person
Leah Taylor
Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

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Democracy Forum 9/15/17

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 coordinate this series includes:
Starr Gilmartin
Maggie Harling
Linda Hoskins
Ann Luther
Maryann Ogonowski
Pam Person
Leah Taylor
Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org/

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Democracy Forum 7/21/17

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 League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

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Democracy Forum 6/16/17

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 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 League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

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Democracy Forum 5/19/17

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 Harling
Linda Hoskins
Ann Luther
Maryann Ogonowski
Pam Person
Leah Taylor
Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

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