Tag Archives: Money in Politics

Scholars’ Circle – Armenia – Azerbaijan treaty update ; Labors view on tariff – April 20, 2025

Recent peace treaty communication coming from Armenia and Azerbaijan explained.

  • Robert English is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev, Intellectuals and the End of the Cold War and The Other Side: How Soviets and Americans Perceive Each Other.
  • Talin Hitik is an international human rights advocate focused on seeking accountability for war crimes and human rights violations. She also has worked as a legal officer at the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Permanent Court of Arbitration and has served at the Ministry of Justice of Armenia, managing the European Court of Human Rights litigation department. She was a professor of international human rights and humanitarian law at American University of Armenia and Yerevan State University and most recently, was an Academic Affiliate at the University of Michigan Law School.

US Tariff policy effect on labor.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Why voters should strike down Dark Money in politics – December 22, 2024

Money can distort politics. And the lack of transparency where this money comes from can further distort politics and invite corruption. Since much of the money in campaign finance is not subject to transparency laws, it has taken the name dark money. This specifically references spending by nonprofit organizations created for political spending. How much has dark money skewed American democracy? What role does transparency in spending play in ensuring the legitimacy of democracies? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This interview was recorded October 2022.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Efforts towards making sustainable cities and urban housing – February 25, 2024

With the massive population growths, cities are facing enormous challenges especially with housing, building climate resilience, transportation networks, and addressing the needs of working people. How are cities facing these challenges? We discuss the 21st Century city. [ dur: 32mins. ]

Across the US, many cities are grappling with an enormous housing crisis, as homelessness reaches unprecedented levels. What are the causes and what can be done to be sure people have adequate housing? [ dur: 26mins. ]

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – How, why and effects of corruption led by elected officials – February 3, 2019

We explore public corruption. We’ll examine the specific allegations related to U.S. President Donald Trump, his family and associates, and what their effects might be on governance and society. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into Russian Politics in Patronal System (1 of 2 ) -/- Past History of US Corporation’s Public Purpose – May 14, 2017

First, while many in the West decry the politics of the former Soviet Union countries as corrupt and anti-democratic, our guest argues that there are much better ways of understanding the processes and politics of patronal systems. This is part one of a two part discussion with Professor Henry Hale. You can find Part 2 here. [ dur: 22 mins. ]

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, once upon a time, corporations were required to have a public purpose and once they fulfilled it, they were dissolved. How did we get to where we are today & what does it mean for democracy? [ dur: 36 mins. ]

Find book authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.