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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
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Ed Muskie, Political Parties, And The Art Of Governance, Don Nicoll
Ed Muskie, Political Parties, And The Art Of Governance, Don Nicoll
Maine Policy Review
In its 200-year history as a state, Maine has gone through three major political realignments and is now in the midst of a fourth. The Jefferson Democratic Republicans supplanted the Federalists to achieve statehood. The Republican Party dominated state politics from the eve of the Civil War until 1954. The Maine Democratic Party, under the leadership of Edmund S. Muskie and Frank Coffin, transformed it into a competitive two-party state. Now the goals of open, responsive, and responsible governance that Muskie and Coffin sought through healthy competition and civil discourse are threatened by bitter, dysfunctional national trends in the political …
Climate Policy 2015: Reports From The Congressional Trenches, Sharon Tisher, Peter Mills
Climate Policy 2015: Reports From The Congressional Trenches, Sharon Tisher, Peter Mills
Maine Policy Review
The bipartisan commentary by Peter Mills and Sharon Tisher urges action in Congress to address the problem of climate change, and stems from interviews with Senator Susan Collins, Senator Angus King, and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree regarding their climate-related initiatives in 2015.
Worldviews In Conflict, Tom Allen
Worldviews In Conflict, Tom Allen
Maine Policy Review
This article is an edited version of a lecture given in a lecture series, “Politics Then and Now, in Maine and the Nation,” presented by the Muskie School and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine in the fall of 2013. Speakers were asked to address the issue of political polarization and dysfunction, comparing how politics was played in the past with the current situation, and discussing what Maine can offer based on experiences here. Tom Allen analyzes the significance of conflicting worldviews in explaining the modern political climate in the U.S.
Politics Then And Now: Looking Forward, Amy Fried, Ken Fredette, Cynthia Dill
Politics Then And Now: Looking Forward, Amy Fried, Ken Fredette, Cynthia Dill
Maine Policy Review
This article is an excerpt of a concluding panel presentation from a lecture series, “Politics Then and Now, in Maine and the Nation,” presented by the Muskie School and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine in the fall of 2013. Speakers were asked to address the issue of political polarization and dysfunction, comparing how politics was played in the past with the current situation, and discussing what Maine can offer based on experiences here.
Why Margaret Still Matters, Martha Sterling-Golden
Why Margaret Still Matters, Martha Sterling-Golden
Maine Policy Review
In this commentary, Martha Sterling-Goldman reflects on the complexities of women in public life, and why it is important to prepare women to fully engage in political life. She says we must train a generation of women and men who think about power in a different way.
Margaret Chase Smith Essay, David Richards, Chelsea Bernard, Terrance H. Walsh, Stacy Sullivan
Margaret Chase Smith Essay, David Richards, Chelsea Bernard, Terrance H. Walsh, Stacy Sullivan
Maine Policy Review
Each year, the Margaret Chase Smith Library sponsors an essay contest for Maine high school seniors. The essay prompt for the 2009 contest was tied to a quote from Sen. Smith not to fear the inevitability of change. Essayists were asked to respond to the question, “What changes do you think the new administration will need to make, and we the people embrace, to reform American society?” Featured here are the three prize-winning essays.
“These Very Impelling Reasons Against My Running”: Maine Women And Politics, Mary Cathcart
“These Very Impelling Reasons Against My Running”: Maine Women And Politics, Mary Cathcart
Maine Policy Review
In the Margaret Chase Smith Essay Mary Cathcart reflects on women in politics and describes her own trajectory in coming to serve in the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate. She discusses the upcoming (2009) launch of the Maine NEW Leadership program at the University of Maine, a national education program for college women
Margaret Chase Smith Essay: High School Student Essay Winners, Emily Parker, Rachel Culley, Miles Kirby
Margaret Chase Smith Essay: High School Student Essay Winners, Emily Parker, Rachel Culley, Miles Kirby
Maine Policy Review
Maine has benefited from the public service of many well-respected and influential national leaders over the last two centuries. One of them, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, offered her reflections on leadership at a time when the United States faced a struggle for civil rights at home and the tensions of the Cold War abroad. With the country currently confronting challenges such as the threat of terrorism, ongoing tensions in the Middle East, and the taint of corporate scandals, the Margaret Chase Smith Library annual essay contest invited Maine high school seniors to reflect on the qualities leaders will need to …
The Perils Of Voice And The Desire For Stealth Democracy, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
The Perils Of Voice And The Desire For Stealth Democracy, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
Maine Policy Review
This article is an address given at the May 2002 Maine Town Meeting sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. Elizabeth Theiss-Morse takes issue with each of the alleged beneficial effects of increased participation and deliberation in politics. She presents evidence from her own research with colleague John Hibbing that suggests a more participatory democracy does not necessarily result in better decisions, a better political system or better people. Rather, most Americans would prefer not to have to participate in politics at all. Theiss-Morse explains where this view comes from and, in the end, argues for a civic …
Term Limits, The Standing Committees, And Institutional Response, Matthew C. Moen, Kenneth Palmer
Term Limits, The Standing Committees, And Institutional Response, Matthew C. Moen, Kenneth Palmer
Maine Policy Review
Through citizen initiative in 1993, Maine passed a term limits bill that now prevents legislators with eight years of consecutive service from seeking reelection. Although touted as a means of eliminating careerism in public service and as a means of bringing fresh blood and new policy initiative to Augusta, many now question whether limits on service have hampered legislative efficiency through the loss of experienced leadership and institutional memory. Moen and Palmer examine the impact of term limits on the legislature’s standing committees. While noting adverse impacts such as heavier workloads, they also find an institution hard at work to …
The Project Of Democracy, Alexander Keyssar
The Project Of Democracy, Alexander Keyssar
Maine Policy Review
This article is an address given at the May 2002 Maine Town Meeting sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. Alexander Keyssar chronicles the advances and contractions of democratic political rights in American history. While on balance, this is a story of progress, it is not, Keyssar argues, unilinear, nor one that is completed. Although arguably late for the world’s “greatest democracy,” by the 1970s the United States had achieved universal suffrage. Today, however, the tug between democratic and anti-democratic forces continues. The contest is no longer over voting rights but over the procedures and rules governing elections …
Digital Democracy Is Coming To The Maine Legislature, Joseph Carleton
Digital Democracy Is Coming To The Maine Legislature, Joseph Carleton
Maine Policy Review
Although Maine's information infrastructure is several years ahead of the nation in development, Maine ranks only 41st out of 50 states in its "Digital Democracy," that is, its use of new telecommunications and information technologies to permit greater citizen access to laws, legislators and the state's legislative processes. State Rep. Joseph Carleton outlines changes underway in the Maine Legislature that will result in greater digital democracy throughout the state. Through advances such as e-mail, the Internet, and other digital forms of communication, Carleton envisions new ways of doing business both for legislators and citizens. In discussing the effects of such …
Ethics And The Election Of 1996, Steve Ballard
Ethics And The Election Of 1996, Steve Ballard
Maine Policy Review
In the Margaret Chase Smith Essay, Steve Ballard discusses the Maine Code of Election Ethics: its origins, its successes and failures, and how it can be improved. Pioneered by the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, the code is a unique response to a national problem—making representative government work.
The Search For Predictability: A City Manager's Perspective On Intergovernmental Relations, Thomas Stevens
The Search For Predictability: A City Manager's Perspective On Intergovernmental Relations, Thomas Stevens
Maine Policy Review
Thomas Stevens’ perspective on intergovernmental relations has been shaped particularly by his experience as town manager in Limestone, Maineas he watched the federal government attempt to close Loring Air Force Base on numerous occasions. The closing of Loring was an especially traumatic experience for central Aroostook County. Not surprisingly, the nature of intergovernmental relations and the economic future of the region are high on Tom Stevens' list of concerns. In a recent interview with Maine Policy Review, he argued for a new partnership among the three levels of government that would be characterized by stability and predictability.
Maine In The 104th Congress: Life Without Mitchell, Kenneth T. Palmer, G. Thomas Taylor
Maine In The 104th Congress: Life Without Mitchell, Kenneth T. Palmer, G. Thomas Taylor
Maine Policy Review
For many Mainers, the significance of the last election had little to do with the Republican "sweep" throughout the nation, but had much to do with the retirement of Senator George Mitchell. This article summarizes Senator Mitchell's most critical policy contributions and the results of his influence at the state and national levels. His absence from Congress presents the currentMainedelegation with a new set of challenges. These issues are explored, in part, from the broader perspective ofMaine's history in Congress.
The 1994 Elections: The Maine Vote In National Perspective, Matthew C. Moen
The 1994 Elections: The Maine Vote In National Perspective, Matthew C. Moen
Maine Policy Review
The 1994 elections at the national and state level resulted in significant changes all across the political landscape.University of Maine political scientist Matthew Moen analyzes the nature of that change and its implications for Maine.
Reflections On Citizenship: Thinking About Power As Interaction, Leslie I. Hill
Reflections On Citizenship: Thinking About Power As Interaction, Leslie I. Hill
Maine Policy Review
The steady decline of participation in many areas of public life suggests that we may be overlooking power as not only a source of the problem, but also as a critical part of the solution. Leslie Hill argues that to revive concepts of citizenship and democratic participation enshrined in the language of the nation's founding, we ought to rethink conventional ideas about power as control and domination and, in the alternative, view power as interaction. She also suggests that we need to adopt new approaches to civic education that include this concept of power as interactive politics. Underlying this argument, …