Democracy Forum

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/

The post Democracy Forum 9/15/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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

The post Democracy Forum 7/21/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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

The post Democracy Forum 6/16/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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

The post Democracy Forum 5/19/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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 There’s an intriguing sociological reason so many Americans are ignoring facts lately, Business Insider, February 27, 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

The post Democracy Forum 4/21/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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’s future, Erin Rhoda, Bangor Daily News, January 29, 2017 bangordailynews.com/2017/01/29/mainefocus/6-takeaways-from-an-examination-of-rural-maines-future/ This remote Maine region has a chance to grow, Matt Stone, Bangor Daily News, December 7, 2106 mainefocus.bangordailynews.com/2016/12/wilderness-and-a-way-forward/#.WLsNjfnyuUk Maine’s Next Economy: How the State’s Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Doers are Growing a New Prosperity, Alan Caron, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 16, 2015) 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

The post Democracy Forum 3/17/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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

The post Democracy Forum 2/17/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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-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 Taylor Linda Washburn FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

The post Democracy Forum 1/20/17 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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

The post Democracy Forum 11/18/16 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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

The post Democracy Forum 10/21/16 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.