Current Discussion Question

Contributors:

James A. Barry
Visiting Associate Professor
New Century College

Frank Blechman
Clinical Faculty
MS Program Coordinator
Institute for Conflict Analysis & Resolution

Joel Clark
Public and International Affairs

Joel Garreau
Senior Fellow & George Cook Distinguished Fellow
The School of Public Policy

Margaret R. Yocom
Associate Professor
Department of English

Teresa Michals
Director
The Mason Topics Program

Printable Text of Article

Discussion Question
for Spring 2001

The Gain from Participation

The Department of Public and International Affairs (PIA) has grappled with the issue of citizenship education for some time. Although department faculty sometimes differ over the role they can and should play in fostering democratic citizenship, PIA as a whole has sought to raise student interest in elections and democratic politics in various ways. It remains to be seen how much impact such efforts have on students. While I think that there are some interested and politically motivated students at George Mason, it is obvious to me that many students remained largely oblivious to the recent elections and the ongoing challenges of democratic citizenship.

PIA sponsored several interrelated events to stimulate student interest and participation in the 2000 elections. The Foundations in Democratic Citizenship: Decision 2000 speaker series, which concluded on October 18, was targeted specifically to students in all the sections of Government 101, "Democratic Theory and Practice." This semester's speakers were:

• James Pfiffner, Professor of Government and Policy, a nationally recognized expert on the American Presidency and author of several books including Understanding the Presidency (2000) and The Strategic Presidency (1996).
• Hugh Heclo, Robinson Professor of Public Affairs, author of several books including A Government of Strangers (1997) and The Illusion of Presidential Government (co-editor, 1981)
• Susan Tolchin, Professor of Public Policy, author of several books including The Angry American (co-author, 2000) and To The Victor: Patronage from the Clubhouse to the White House (1971)

Each drew on their particular expertise in discussing national electoral politics.

Pfiffner's lecture on September 12 was entitled: "Taking the Character Issue Seriously: Sex, Lies, and Promise Keeping." His lecture outlined various ways we can judge presidential character. In his talk entitled, "The Permanent Campaign," Heclo outlined various aspects of the permanent campaign which is used to legitimize officeholders and their policies. Finally, Tolchin spoke on "Political Anger and the 2000 Election." Here she outlined how the angry American voter is shaping policy agendas and campaign tactics in the 2000 elections.

Post-Election Panel