Tag Archives: Elections

Insighters & Scholars Circle- Nov. 11th, 2012

First, Has democracy become like fast food? Our first guest says that democracy needs to slow down. Susan Clark, co-author of Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decisionmaking Back Home; [ Dur. 18:30 mins ]

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle, on Friday, President Obama made his first move to address the so-called Fiscal Cliff, one of many critical issues facing the country. But given that the election kept the power structure as is and that polarization remains at a decades-long high, what can we expect in the coming years? [ Dur: 35 mins. ]

  • Sean Theriault is Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of, “The Power of the People: Congressional Competition, Public Attention, and Voter Retribution,” and “Party Polarization in Congress.”
  • Mark Peterson is Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law at UCLA. He is the author of “Legislating Together: The White House and Capital Hill from Eisenhower to Reagan,” co-editor of “Institutions of American Democracy: The Executive Branch.” and contributed to “Institutions of American Democracy: A Republic Divided.”
  • Matthew Dickinson is Professor of Political Science and Department Chair at Middlebury College. He is the author of, “Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power, and the Growth of the Presidential Branch,” co-editor of “Guardian of the Presidency: The Legacy of Richard E. Neustadt,” and editor of the blog “Presidential Power A NonPartisan Analysis of Presidential Politics.”

Visit our Store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Sept. 16th, 2012

First, the hidden agenda in the Ryan Budget, what they could mean for the US and how the campaigns keep them hidden.

  • Thomas B. Edsall is professor of journalism at Colombia Journalism School. He is the author of numerous articles and many books including, “The Age of Austerity”,  “Building Red America”,  and “Power and Money: Writing About Politics.”  He is currently writing an online election-year column for The New York Times.  His articles have appeared in American Prospect, The Atlantic Monthly, Dissent, The Nation, The New Republic,  The New York Review of Book and others.

Then, on the Scholars Circle, throughout US history, third parties have had a profound impact on policy, governance and voter turnout. So why are we still in a two-party system?

  • Scot Schraufnagel is Director of Graduate Studies of the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. His many publications include, Third Party Blues: The Truth and Consequences of Two-Party Dominance and  Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress
  • David J. Gillespie, is Professor of Political Science at the College of Charleston and the Citadel. He has provided testimony in federal and state ballot access cases, and has written extensively on third parties including recently published “Challengers to Duopoly: 
Why Third Parties Matter in American Two-Party Politics,” and “Politics at the Periphery: Third Parties in Two-Party America.”
  • Omar Ali is Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he teaches the history of independent black politics. He is the Director of IndependentVoting.org, a national strategy and organizing center for independents. His many publications include, In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third Party Movements in the United States and In the Lion’s Mouth: Black Populism in the New South.

Visit our store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Sept. 2nd, 2012

1) A retrospective on the Republican Convention–What does it tell us about the future of republican politics & policy & what does it mean for the future of the US? [ dur: 9 mins. ]

  • Alan Minsky, Interim Program Director, KPFK;
  • Mitch Jesserich, KPFA;

2) The humanitarian crisis in Syria keeps getting worse with more than 1.5 million people displaced. [ dur: 16 mins. ]

3) The Scholars’ Circle — Syria, the region, the international community and possible solutions to the crisis there. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Mark LeVine, University of California,Irvine; Prof. of History.
    Author of Why They Don’t Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil.
  • Nader Hashemi, Univ. of Denver; Prof. Middle East and Islamic Politics.
    Author of Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies.
  • Rochelle Davis, Georgetown University. Prof. of Culture Anthropology:
    Author of Palestinian Village History

Visit our store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Aug. 26th, 2012

First, we look at the effects of Wikileaks on Latin America with Latin American specialist, Peter Kornbluh. Peter Kornbluh is  Senior Analyst, National Security Archives and an author of  The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountabilility. [ dur. 29 mins. ]
Then on the Scholars’ Circle, what factors determine the outcome of presidential elections? We look at money, vice presidents, voter turnout and much more.

  • Prof. Samuel Popkin, UC San Diego. Author of  The Candidate: what it Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House;
  • Prof. Allan Lichtman, American University, WA. Author of  Predicting the Next President: The Keys to the White House;
  • Prof. Baumgartner, East Carolina Univ. . Author of  Conventional Wisdom and American Elections: Exploding Myths, Exploring Misconceptions.

Visit our store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Aug. 5th, 2012

This week, in honor of the late Gore Vidal, we bring a 2008 interview we did at his Hollywood Hills home where he reflected on the state of politics and education.

Then on the Scholars’ Circle, with one of the most negative presidential campaigns upon us, and with the Swiftboat Veterans and Willie Horton ads in our rearview mirror, we talk with three top political communication scholars about “going negative,” and what it might mean, especially in this post-Citizens United world.

  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Univ. of Penn. – Dir. Annenberg Public Policy Center, Flackcheck.org & FactCheck.org . Author: Packaging the Presidency.
  • Michael Franz, Bowdoin College – Prof. Government Studies & Legal Studies. Author: Interest Groups in American Campaigns.
  • John Geer, Vanderbilt Univ. – Prof. / Chair of Political Science. Author: From Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls.

Visit our store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle July 8th, 2012

From the ashes of the harsh recession new sustainable ownership models are emerging with groups, unions, and entire communities coming together to co-own their workplaces, homes, and sources of credit. With us to look into the possibilities is Marjorie Kelly, a fellow at the Tellus Institute think tank and author of, “The Divine Right of Capital,” her latest book is, “Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution,” and she cofounded “Business Ethics” magazine. [ dur. 27 mins. ]

And, on the Scholars’ Circle; Earlier this week a high level memorandum was leaked which revealed some of the inner workings of the supreme court. What was said in that memo? What does drive judicial decision making and what constrains it? And, how do these votes effect American society? We are joined by three experts:

  • Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine. He has authored several books including his latest, “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution.”
  • Adam Winkler, Professor of Law at UCLA and the author of, “Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America.”
  • Lawrence Baum, Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University his books include, “The Puzzle of Judicial Behavior,” “Judges and Their Audiences,” and “Specializing the Courts.”

Visit our store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – April 1st, 2012

Our interview with scholars’ about following questions:

1) How much does the President drive US foreign policy and how much is driven by other factors?  [duration: 25 min.]

With:

  • Prof. Jeremy Suri, Univ. of TX, Austin. Author of  Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama.
  • Prof. James D. Boys, Richmond Univ., London.

2) What are the issues that will determine our next president?
[ duration: 27 min. ]

With:

  • Prof. Thomas Holbrook, Univ. of WI. , author of Do Campaigns Matter? Contemporary American Politics.
  • Prof. Robert C. Smith, SF State Univ. , author of Conservatism and Racism, and Why in American They Are the Same.
  • Prof. Jan Leighley, American Univ. , author of  Strength in Numbers? The political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities.

Visit our store

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – March 11th, 2012

1) When might gas prices come back down? Some experts say never. We’ll explore the realities of fuel prices with  Tyson Slocum.
2) Then, from broken heart to suicide bomber. We explore the various drives that fuel deadly terror with Ken Ballen .
3) On the Scholars’ Circle, what the Putin and rising widespread protests mean for Russia and the world.

  • Professor Daniel Treisman
  • Professor Robert English
  • Professor Katherine Stoner-Weiss

Visit our store
Listen to Insighters & Scholars' Circle - March 11th, 2012.

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Jan. 29th, 2012

Seg. 1: A look inside the secret world of spying and intelligence agencies. A discussion with Glenn Carle, former CIA agent and author of the book, The Interrogator.
Seg. 2: Scholars’ Circle. As we head into the fourth Republican Presidential Primary we explore why people vote the way they do.

Scholars’ Circle panel: Andrew Gelman is author of, Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do. Henry Brady is author of Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, and Letting the People Decide. George Lakoff is the author of many books including, Don’t Think of an Elephant, Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, and The Political Mind.
These books are available in our store

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Jan. 22nd, 2012

Seg. 1: We continue our conversation with Gen. Romeo Dallaire re forces of genocide, and what might prevent it;
Seg. 2 (18:20): A new film about the unique challenges of women soldiers and veterans. A special look at Gulf War veterans with Gulf War Syndrome;
Seg. 3: Scholars’ Circle:  This week marks the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Citizens United versus Federal Elections Commission in which the court struck down in a five to four decision several campaign finance laws. What has the effect been so far? Outside spending on campaigns has risen 338 percent since 2006 according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Unions have spent some 17.3 million dollars from their general treasuries on independent expenditures, while conservative non-profit groups have spent some 121 million without disclosing the sources of that money. The Center believes the money comes from corporate sources. The issue of money corrupting political processes has received more public attention recently than it has in several decades. Comedians, Steven Colbert and John Stewart are using parody to demonstrate the system’s flaws. Citizens’ groups are working toward overturning the decision while cities and states are passing resolutions, some of which directly repudiate Citizen’s United decision. Others reject the notion of corporate personhood seen as one of the roots of the money problem.

Henry Brady is Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is author of numerous publications including, Voice in Inequality, Civic Voluntarism in American Politics, and Letting the People Decide.
Scott Bowman is the Chair of Political Science Department at California State University, Los Angeles. Among his publications is The Modern Corporation in American Political Thought: Law, Power and Ideology.
Professor Daniel Green is Professor of Law at Hofstra Law School. He is the author of numerous publications that explore corporation, speech, and constitutional law.

These books are available in our store