American Democracy Project Program and Event Archives

Students, alumni, and faculty travelled to New Hampshire for the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. They went to candidate events, talked to members of the media, and reported their observations to WJAR/NBC10.

WJAR/NBC 10 once again partnered with the American Democracy Project at Rhode Island College to host two televised debates on Thursday, August 31st. They could be viewed live and in-person in Sapinsley Hall on the RIC Campus.

The first debate featured half the candidates (randomly selected) from the hotly contested CD1 Democratic Primary race.

The second debate featured the second set of candidates for the CD1 Democratic Primary race.

NBC 10 reporter Brian Crandall moderated the debate.

Presented by The American Democracy Project at Rhode Island College.

Reception, Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Thursday, September 28th in Gaige Hall 100 on the Rhode Island College campus. Reception began at 5:15 pm with the film screening slated for 6:00 pm.

Amidst an onslaught of attacks from President Donald Trump and the deadly threat of a global pandemic, local election administrators worked around the clock to secure the vote for their community. Rhode Island’s election teams take center stage in this unprecedented voting adventure. The film is an invitation to the American electorate to meet the people whose job it is to uphold the scaffolding of our republic and protect accessible, free and fair elections.

Following the screening there was a discussion and Q & A with Gregg Amore, Rhode Island Secretary of State, Sara Archambault, the film’s director and producer, Rob Rock, RI Deputy Secretary of State, Kathy Placencia, RI Director of Elections, and Vincent Bohlinger, RIC Professor and Director of Film Studies. Moderator: RIC Associate Professor of Political Science, Michelle Brophy-Baermann.

Finding solutions to gun violence will require a multifaceted approach that includes preventative work, research, legislation, community-level interventions, and law enforcement. As a college community, we understand that these conversations can be emotion-laden and complex but can also help to build consensus. In this spirit, the American Democracy Project at Rhode Island College and RIC Civic Engagement joined together to sponsor a series of forums dedicated to a greater understanding of the root causes of gun violence and designed to provide opportunities for exploring sensible solutions.

The evening’s event included an opening reception for informal conversation, an engaging panel discussion, a very special choral performance, and a fundraiser for Miya’s Voice, a scholarship fund in remembrance of Miya-Brophy-Baerman and dedicated to elevating the voices of diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

WJAR/NBC 10 once again partnered with the American Democracy Project at RIC to host two televised debates. RIC faculty, staff, students, and the greater RI community were invited to attend these debates in-person on the RIC campus.

The first debate featured Allan Fung (R) and Seth Magaziner (D) in the hotly contested 2nd congressional district race. The second debate featured incumbent Democrat Dan McKee and Republican candidate Ashley Kalus in the race for governor. There was an opportunity to provide opinions following the gubernatorial debate in a focus group conducted by the American Democracy Project at RIC.

This course included a 4-day field trip to observe presidential candidates and meet with campaign operatives and the media at the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Students had the opportunity to meet presidential candidates, attend a special event held exclusively for the RIC group, and had the opportunity to talk with members of the media from all over the country and the world.

For a three-day span leading up to its first-in-the-nation primary, students blanketed the Granite State, attending several political rallies and even posed questions to some candidates. The experience was part of a political communications course taught by Associate Professor of Communication Valerie Endress, who required the students to report on the primary via Twitter. Through a partnership with Rhode Island College and NBC 10 news, many of these tweets were reposted on the channel’s website.

The students’ first stop was at the Merrimack American Legion on Thursday, Feb. 6, where they squeezed into a standing-room-only veteran meet and greet with former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Addressing the unexpectedly large crowd, Buttigieg vowed to protect veterans’ rights, saying that his own veteran status would allow him to unite Americans.

Grace Gervais, a senior double-majoring in psychology and chemical dependency and addiction studies, felt the event resonated with her because her father is a veteran.

“I wanted to see Mayor Pete’s connection with the veterans and see the powerful support of the veterans,” she said. “Knowing Mayor Pete is a veteran himself, it was important to see him.”

At an event for Elizabeth Warren, senior Cameron Landry, also a double major in psychology and chemical dependency and addiction studies, had the opportunity to ask about substance abuse on live television, when the candidate opened the floor to questions.

“I was super excited because I’m so passionate about the topic,” he said.

Landry reflected that the feeling he had when asking the questions, in front of a potential national audience, was surreal. However, he was excited to have the opportunity to interact with Warren, noting that Warren’s energy and passion for the country resonated with him.

The next day, Friday, Feb. 7, many students visited several Manchester campaign offices, where they ran into visitors from as far as California visibly eager to show support for their candidates. Notably, U.S. Olympic Figure Skater Michelle Kwan turned up at Joe Biden’s campaign headquarters, saying that she believes he has the best chance at winning.

Later that night, the students attended a debate watch party with Chris Hayes, host of All In With Chris Hayes, a weekday news and opinion television show on MSNBC. After the debate, the students lined the front row to hear Hayes’ post-debate special. Junior communications major Marisa Lenardson was mesmerized by the experience.

“It was really cool to see how the TV show setup worked,” she said. “It was interesting to see the behind the scenes of how they set up the show with a panel and then interviewed individuals who were supporting candidates.”

Saturday, Feb. 8, did not disappoint either. Both Joe Biden and Michael Bennett spoke in Manchester in the morning. Gervais, who attended Bennett’s event, stayed to get a picture with the senator, which she appreciated because many candidates were unable to pose for photos.

The cold weather, which reached the single digits, was not enough to prevent the reoccurring themes of high occupancy and high energy for Senator Bernie Sanders’ event at the Rochester Opera House. Some of the students made their way onto the stage to sit behind Sanders while he spoke.

The next morning, Sunday, Feb. 9, some students traveled to see Andrew Yang in Hopkinton, where Ashely Salemi noticed something different.

“After attending almost a dozen events this weekend across NH ahead of the #FITN primary, Andrew Yang was the ONLY candidate who had an ASL interpreter when he spoke to the crowd, making information accessible for ALL constituents. Thank you,” Salemi tweeted.

Between rallies the students toured Arnie Arnesen’s house, a woman who was once a representative of New Hampshire but now hosts a radio show. The students had lunch with Arnesen and had the opportunity to ask questions about the election, the candidates and the future of politics.

Arnesen was the first woman to run for governor of New Hampshire on a major party ticket and her house is adorned with the famous, historical political icons who either visited the house or hosted parties there.

The line for the group’s last event in the state stretched down the street. It was the longest line any student had to stand in since arriving, and it was for an Amy Klobuchar rally. Energizing the crowd, Klobuchar threw in some jokes, referencing the current POTUS.

“We’re going to build a beautiful blue wall of votes around these states and we’re going to make Donald Trump pay for it!” she said.

Senior journalism major Abigail Nilsson commented that, to her, Kolbuchar “seemed like a president. She was very well-spoken and her presence on stage gave hope to her followers.”

Coming back to Rhode Island, the students considered the trip unforgettable, with Nilsson emphasizing how immersive the experience was.

“I learned so much more about politics and what is involved than what I thought,” she said. “It is such a critical time for people, especially students, to get involved in politics.”

Others concurred, describing how rallies gave them a chance to get to know more about the candidates, rather than reading everything through their websites and watching the debates.

“I’m so glad I got the experience,” Landry said. “It was incredible.”

Two students from the Parkland, Fla., high school where a mass shooting took place in February 2018 participated in a forum “Make Way for Gen Z” at Rhode Island College on March 25.

The shooting touched off a student-led movement pushing for more gun control. The movement included a march on Washington for stricter gun laws. Titled “March for Our Lives,” the demonstration became one of the biggest youth-led protests since the Vietnam War.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students Alex Wind and Tyah-Amoy Roberts were joined by their Advanced Placement government teacher Jeff Foster on a six-person panel for a discussion about the up-and-coming generation of political leaders and activists, or Generation Z, representing those who were born between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s.

Generation Z is learning more about the world and more quickly than past generations because of the easy flow of information. From climate change, to divisive politics, to social inequality, to natural disasters, the full force of problems has reached these digital natives at lightning speed. “As they head into their 20s and into the 2020s, [Generation Z] will be challenged, as have previous generations, to find solutions to national and international problems,” said Dr. Valerie Endress, RIC Associate Professor of Communication and Director of RIC’s American Democracy Project, which sponsored the event. In that journey, their no-nonsense “since no one else is fixing the problem, we’ll take care of it ourselves” might portend a shift in thinking that carries with it the potential to change America over the next 20 years.

This forum on Generation Z activism seeks to understand a new generation of political leaders and activists by asking such questions as: What has forced Gen Z to take on the mantle of leadership so young? How does this affect their coming of age? What changes are they seeking and why? And, finally, what are their principle challenges as they seek a new vision and new ways of engaging in the political process?

Moderator: Deborah “Arnie” Arnesen, Community activist, political analyst, producer and radio host of The Attitude on WNHN-FM in Concord, NH, former member of the New Hampshire state legislature, and first female major party NH gubernatorial nominee.

Panelists

• Jeff Foster, Advanced placement government & politics teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Nearly all Stoneman Douglas students advocating for gun reform took Foster’s AP United States Government and Politics class.
• Rey Junco, Director of Research at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Tufts University. He is one of the foremost scholars on social media, youth, and activism.
• Rosa Ramos, Community activist and Impact Manager at City Year Providence.
• Tyah-Amoy Roberts, Senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; founding member of STORM: Students Tactfully Organizing Revolutionary Movements.
• Alex Wind, Senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; founding member of March for our Lives and the Never Again MSD campaign.
• Musah Mohammed Sesay, Senior at Classical High School in Providence, RI, a member of the Providence Student Union RI and a co-plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that seeks to confirm the constitutional right of all public-school students to a civics education.

Biographies

Deboarah “Arnie” Arnesen is a radio and television commentator based in Concord, New Hampshire. She is producer and radio host for The Attitude on WNHN 94.7FM and is the only person to be recognized by the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters as both radio and television personality of the year. Arnesen was the first woman in New Hampshire state history nominated for governor by a major party and is a former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Arnesen has played a pivotal role in the political education of several “generations” of Fellows from the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. Additionally, she was a Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics at Harvard. A regular political commentator on Iowa Public Radio, WGBH Boston and WKBK in Keene, New Hampshire, she has provided analysis for NECSN, C-Span, Fox News, TV Ontario, and Al Jazeera English. Arnesen has been a key political speaker for Leadership NH, the National Education Association, various centers at the Kennedy School at Harvard and is a regular college commencement speaker. She was a religion major at St. Olaf College and received her JD from Vermont Law School.

Rey Junco is Director of Research at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) where he applies his extensive experience in quantitative social science research to study various aspects of youth civic and political engagement. Rey has a rich background in several interconnected fields, including education, cognitive science, and the use of technology. Before joining CIRCLE, he was a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where he worked on the Youth & Media and the Ethics of Governance of Artificial Intelligence projects. Rey has a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from Pennsylvania State University, and he was a licensed, practicing counselor for a number of years. He also has a D.Ed. degree from Penn State.

Jeffrey Foster is an Advanced Placement Government & Politics teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He is a twenty-year veteran teacher in Broward County Public Schools and is passionate about ensuring that his students become life-long contributors to the political process. After the tragedy at MSD, Mr. Foster’s students founded the March For Our Lives, an organization that is committed to common sense gun reform. He and one of his most famous activists, Emma Gonzalez helped organize the march in Washington DC last year that was attended by an estimated 800,000 people. Jeff currently serves as a committee member of BAWN, a group that is on the verge of obtaining enough signatures for a ballot initiative that will allow Florida citizens to vote on banning assault weapons.

Rosa Ramos was born in the Dominican Republic and came to Providence RI at the age of ten. She attended the Providence Academy of International Studies and graduated from Providence College as a first-generation college student with a double major in Global Studies and Spanish. As a young immigrant woman of color growing up in Providence, she is acutely aware of the challenges that young people face in the education system. Her mentors have inspired her to work in youth development and particularly with youth in the public education system in the city of Providence where she encourages students to graduate and gain access to higher education.

Tyah-Amoy Roberts is an up-and-coming activist and a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. She co-founded the group STORM (Students Tactfully Organizing Revolutionary Movements), an organization which focuses on tangible solutions to gun violence that are both effective and intersectional. Roberts is an ambassador for United State of Women, and is also on the executive council of Team Enough, a collective of young activists from all over the country backed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. She has delivered speeches to crowds with thousands in attendance, including Dr. Bernice King’s #MLK50Forward event in April of 2018 and the United State of Women’s Summit in May of 2018. She has been honored by the Fort Lauderdale Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. for her fearless pioneering and trailblazing activism. She plans on attending Stanford University in the fall to pursue chemical engineering, her lifetime passion.

Musah Mohammed Sesay is a senior at Classical High School in Providence and a member of the Providence Student Union. He is a co-plaintiff for a lawsuit seeking a federal court ruling affirming that all students are entitled to an education that prepares them to be capable voters and jurors, to exercise effectively all of their constitutional rights, and to participate effectively and intelligently in a democratic political system. The suit also asks the court to force the state of Rhode Island to address the situation through new laws or policies. As Sesay noted in his interview during a recent press conference, “Our school system in America is just inherently failing so many students because it’s not giving students the information they need to actively contribute to making changes in this country.”

Alex Wind was a typical high school junior prior to February 14, 2018; he was a National Honor Society scholar and an accomplished thespian and writer. But after the tragic shooting at his school, Alex became a founding member of March For Our Lives and spent the remainder of the school year bringing the issue of gun violence in our country to light. Wind was one of five Stoneman Douglas students featured on the cover of Time magazine in 2018. Last summer he participated in the Road to Change, where he and his fellow classmates held voter registration rallies, town hall style meetings and panel discussions, met with shooting survivors as well as victims’ families, all as prelude to the 2018 mid-term elections. Now a senior, Alex is still advocating for change while continuing on his path to college.

Parkland Student Activists Article

WJAR NBC10 once again partnered with the American Democracy Project at Rhode Island College to host the final televised debate in the then hotly contested race for Rhode Island governor. The hour-long forum featured incumbent Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo, Republican Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, Independent candidate Joe Trillo and Moderate party candidate Bill Gilbert. NBC10 News anchor Gene Valicenti moderated while NBC10 News anchor Emily Volz moderated social media reaction.

Rhode Islanders attending the debate had the opportunity to express their opinions immediately following the live broadcast. The American Democracy Project at RIC has conducted debate focus groups since 2004 and the research has served to shape the format of future debates and has aided local media in assessing citizens’ responses to the candidates.

A panel of world-class journalists from the New York Times, the Washington Post (a 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner), HuffPost, WGBH, and ThinkProgress talked about what it’s like to cover Washington in the current political climate.

Washington members of the media covering the White House are beset with challenges seldom experienced in any other presidential era. To be sure, this is a digital era marked by vitriol and bombast, as well as a President’s addiction to social media. For news outlets with shrinking news staffs and desperate to find ways to maintain or increase their audience, Trump’s 24-hour news presence may seem like a godsend: His unerring instinct for how to attract attention has been helpful to the bottom line of many of those in the Fourth Estate. But this is also an era marked by a growing and dangerous disconnect between voters and established news media, a situation fed by the administration’s use of terms like “fake news” and “alternative facts.” Is this a passing phase brought about by the cult of presidential personality? Or, have we forever lost the trust in those who bring us the news? We brought together some of the nation’s most prominent members of the Washington media to give their take from a rare, insider’s perspective.

Panel Moderator: Jill Agostino is Deputy Editor, Special Sections of the New York Times. Her career at the NYT spans over twenty years and, prior to her current position, she was the day editor for the NYT’s Washington bureau, serving as the Liaison between the Times’ New York and Washington, D.C. offices. She also served as the NYT’s Assistant National News Editor, Daily News Editor and Night Editor.

Panelists: Jennifer Bendery is a Senior Politics Reporter for HuffPost. She has covered the White House and Congress for HuffPost since April 2011. Prior to joining HuffPost, she reported on Congress for four years for Roll Call, a Capitol Hill Newspaper, and spent four years covering the Texas Legislature for Gallery Watch in Austin, TX. She also worked in book publishing for three years in San Francisco and was a health care policy reporter for two years in Providence, RI.

Josh Israel has been the Senior Investigative Reporter for ThinkProgress since 2012. Previously, he was a reporter and oversaw money-in-politics reporting at the Center for Public Integrity and was chief researcher for Nick Kotz’s acclaimed 2005 book, Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Laws That Changed America.

Ron Nixon is the New York Times Homeland Security Correspondent. He is based in the Washington bureau, where he covers border and aviation security, immigration, cybercrime and cyber security, transnational crime, and violent extremism. Previously at the NYT, he reported from Rwanda, Uganda, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also the author of Selling Apartheid: Apartheid South Africa’s Global Propaganda War.

Ashley Parker is a White House reporter for the Washington Post and winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for her coverage of Russian Interference. She joined the Post in 2017 after eleven years at the New York Times where she covered the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns and Congress.

Paul Singer became Investigations Editor at WGBH in Boston and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting in March 2018. Prior to this year, he spent six years serving as the Washington Correspondent and Politics Editor at USA Today. And before that, he designed and ran the investigations unit for Roll Call.

A screening of the documentary “Whose Streets?” was followed by a panel discussion of scholars and community activists on “Racism, Police Brutality and Rebellion in Ferguson, Missouri.”

On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, 18, a black youth, was shot after stealing goods from a convenience store, then struggling with Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, a white man, through his squad car window. Brown fled the scene and Wilson followed, firing 12 shots at Brown, one of which killed him.

This documentary recounts what Ferguson’s black community saw and felt in the weeks that ensued, including the uprisings, protests and rioting. “Whose Streets” (2017), the directorial debut of community activist Sabaan Folayan, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Moderating the panel discussion was Mississippi-born activist and educator Marco McWilliams, a RIC alum (Class of 2016), who founded the Black Studies Freedom School in downtown Providence.

Panelists

• Sadhana Bery, Assistant Professor and Director of Africana Studies at RIC
• Charina Herrera, current RIC student, McNair Scholar and Africana Studies major
• Vincent Bohlinger, Associate Professor and Director of Film Studies at RIC
• Darryl Walker Jr., RIC alum (Class of 2013) and central committee member of Rhode Island Socialists

This event was sponsored by the American Democracy Project at RIC, the RIC Unity Center, RIC’s Open Books-Open Minds common book program and four local community organizations: Showing Up for Racial Justice (Attleboro and Providence areas), March for Racial Justice RI and Resist Oppression-Community for Social and Racial Justice. Funding was provided by RIC’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Committee on College Lectures.

Video: Whose Streets?

The program sends bipartisan pairs of former Congress members to schools for two-day visits, is administered by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress and sponsored by the Stennis Center for Public Service and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship. RIC’s chapter of the American Democracy Project (ADP), in partnership with the New York Times, hosted four panel discussions featuring former U.S. Congressional Representatives Loretta Sanchez (D-CA 1997-2016) and Gil Gutknecht (R-MN 1994-2006), along with several local officials and reporters.

ADP at RIC Director Dr. Valerie Endress noted that “The former members of Congress offer an authentic and often unvarnished view of the inner workings of Washington. Their perspectives, combined with two days of forums with influential decision makers, key officeholders and members of media is an unbeatable combination for insight into the world of politics.”

Our Four Programs

“Congress, Bipartisanship and Governing across the Divide”, a discussion of the increasingly bitter polarization between the two parties in Washington, featured U.S. Rep. James Langevin, along with Sanchez and Gutknecht. NBC10 political reporter Bill Rappleye moderated.

“Paradigm Shift? Millennials in Politics” featured a panel of Millennial officeholders who discussed their generation’s impact on the political landscape. RIC’s Interim Vice President of College Advancement and External Relations, Edwin Pacheco moderated a panel that included Smithfield Town Councilwoman Suzy Alba, Rhode Island State Senator Dawn Euer, Central Falls Mayor James Diossa, New Hampshire State Rep. Amelia Keane and New York City Councilman Stephen Levin. The session began with keynote remarks from Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner and concluded with a response from Sanchez and Gutknecht.

“From Your House to the White House: Political Bullying in Our Daily Lives”, a discussion about the need to restore civility in politics, was moderated by Central Falls Schools Superintendent Victor Capellan. More than 300 high school students were expected to attend the panel to discuss the topic. The panel featured Sanchez and Gutknecht, along with Pawtucket City Councilwoman Sandra Cano, RIC Associate VP for Community, Equity and Diversity Anna Cano-Morales, Youth in Action Executive Director Pegah Rahmanian and Charon Rose, Director of Outreach for General Treasurer Magaziner.

“Hashtag Politics: The Dominance of Social Media”, moderated by GoLocalProv news editor Kate Nagle. This discussion of the ever-increasing use of social media and its influence on politics featured Sanchez, along with R.I. State Rep. Aaron Regunberg, NBC10 I-Team Digital Reporter Patricia Resende and Tim Staskiewicz, Director of Digital Media for CBS Radio in Boston.

Congress to Campus Video

Meet the Women

• RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea
• RI House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan
• RI State Senator Gayle Goldin
• Town Councilwoman Suzy Alba
• Former Gubernatorial Candidate Myrth York
• Moderator: NBC10 News Anchor Alison Bologna
• Featured speaker: Arnie Arnesen, community activist and radio/television host

Funded with the support of RIC FAS Dean's Office and Committee on College Lectures.

RIC’s American Democracy Project, the Junior League of Rhode Island and the Jim Casey Youth Initiative presented “THE POWER OF SUPPORTIVE ADULTS FOR FOSTER YOUTH: The Challenges of Youth Who Experience the Foster Care System and How You Can Make a Difference”.

The Junior League of Rhode Island partnered with Foster Forward RI, a Jim Casey Initiative site on “Youth Home Makeovers”, to present this forum demonstrating how an innovative program and the JLRI is helping youth transition to suitable and affordable housing, as a first step to being successful adults.

In Rhode Island, 100 youth age out of the foster care system each year. These youths do not always have the consistent presence of adults in their lives. The lack of familial and community support for foster youths leads to poor outcomes – lower prospects for employment, higher rates of incarceration and struggles with mental and physical health.

Attendees heard about the experiences of young people in the foster care system and learned how to get involved and make a difference in their communities. This program helped them understand the positive impact of supportive adults on youth in and transitioning from foster care nationally and in Rhode Island.

Panelists included former foster youth, Sixto Cancel, the current Founder & CEO of “Think of Us”, Sandra Wilkie, Consultant with the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Lisa Guillette, Executive Director of Foster Forward RI.

The American Democracy Project had the opportunity to bring to Rhode Island College some of the most respected political speechwriters in the nation. In this forum, we explored the intimate relationship between speechwriter and speaker, and sought to understand how political speeches are constructed and negotiated among a team of writers. These behind-the-scenes strategists influence political dialogue far more than the average citizen realizes, and this event was designed to shed light on the process.

Writers for Howard Dean, Martin O’Malley, and President Obama were among the compelling panelists:

• Parag Mehta, Chief of Staff to the U.S. Surgeon General and former speechwriter for Senate candidate Ron Kirk and presidential candidate Howard Dean
• Sarada Peri, Special Assistant and Senior Speechwriter to President Obama
• Steve Rabin, Senior Advisor for NASA’s Office of Communications, former speechwriter for Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and former Press Secretary for Anthony Weiner
• Michael E. Smith, former speechwriter for Rhode Island Office of the Governor and former speechwriter for RIC Office of the President

Members of the RIC and greater Rhode Island community watched the first presidential debate, followed by a community focus group. ADP and RIC students conducted the focus groups as part of a longitudinal research project that began in 2004.

NBC10 WJAR co-sponsored this program and their reporters Bill Rappleye and Brian Crandall were on hand to cover the event.

Keynote Speaker: Alan Sager, Professor of Health Policy & Management at Boston University.

This was a second in the series of Health Care Forums and focused on the cost of health care.

The ultimate aim of health-care policy is good care at affordable prices. Yet, health care spending has grown much faster than the economy, driving the unsustainable costs of federal health programs, exploding state Medicaid budgets, and elevating health care to nearly one-fifth of the GNP. As a country, we have never been particularly innovative or successful in our efforts to address the rising costs.

As experts agree, controlling costs while reinventing the health care system is a pursuit that requires collaboration among all key stakeholders. Within this context, state policymakers have a unique opportunity to play a significant role in lowering costs and can function as a proving ground for new approaches and new efficiencies. With the participation of Rhode Island’s own key stakeholders, this forum explored some of the most promising approaches from both private, commercial markets and in state and public sector programs-all intended to point the way toward improved health care affordability.

Also participating on the panel were Elizabeth Roberts (Director of Health and Human Services), Stephen Farrell (CEO of United Healthcare), and Mark Marcantano (President and COO of Women and Infants Hospital). Kristen Gourlay from Rhode Island Public Radio moderated the panel.

Every day we see more evidence that the issue of campaign finance is one that deserves some examination. Our keynoter and panel provided an interesting and thoughtful discussion of the “cost” of running for office and staying there.

Estimates suggest that the typical member of Congress spends between 25% and 50% of his or her day fundraising for their campaign war chest. House members, on average, each raised $1,689,580, an average of $2,315 every day during the 2012 cycle. Senators, on average, each raised $10,476,451, an average of $14,351 every day during the 2012 cycle. As the costs increase, the growing dependence on SuperPACs and corporate sources are also increasing. While officeholders insist that their votes are independent of the sources of their funding, the issue remains: Is this the best government that our nation can have, or merely the best government that money can buy? Representing both sides of the issue, our panel examined the influence of money, the recent Supreme Court rulings, and whether there is a need for campaign finance reform.

Moderator: Scott MacKay, Political Analyst for Rhode Island Public Radio

Keynote and Panelist: Tony Corrado, Professor of Government at Colby College and one of the nation’s leading experts on political finance reform

Other Panelists

• John Walsh, 2006 Campaign Manager for Governor Deval Patrick, Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Head of the TogetherPAC, and the Principal of Walsh Strategies
• Mike Stenhouse, Chief Executive Officer of the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
• John Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island
• Josh Israel, Senior Investigative Reporter for Think Progress

The event was made possible by the support of the Rhode Island College Committee on College Lectures.

Keynote address: “Don’t Push Me ‘Cause I’m Close to the Edge”. Dr. Kendra King Momon addressed 21st century challenges of African Americans and the seeming gaps between theory and practice as related to the tenets of American democracy and justice. 

King Momon is an Associate Professor of Politics at Oglethorpe University and the Director of the Rich Foundation Urban Program in Atlanta, Georgia. She is author of the book, African American Politics, a cutting-edge examination of minority politics in America. King Momon is a sought-after political thinker and media commentator on political and spiritual leadership, Hip Hop and culture, African American politics, the Black church, and leadership training and development. Panel discussion followed the keynote.

African Americans are more involved in the U.S. political process than other minority groups-if measured by levels of voter registration and participation in elections. But does this fact translate to real political and economic power nationally and in the state of Rhode Island? By many scholarly accounts, “The Other Glass Ceiling” remains intact for the African American community and barriers still remain.

This forum focused on both the successes and persistent challenges of African Americans within political, cultural, and economic systems. The focus of the opening keynote was the national perspective and an assessment of African American citizenship in the 21st century. Panelists then discussed trends in political participation, business expansion, and cultural inroads for African Americans in Rhode Island.

Moderated by former R.I. State Representative and Deputy Secretary of State Ray Rickman. Panelists included:

• Travis Escobar, Community Engagement Coordinator for Olneyville Housing Corporation and cofounder of Millennial Professional Group of Rhode Island
• Armeather Gibbs, Managing Director of Urban Finance and Business Development at the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and Diversity Implementation Team Coordinator for the Rhode Island Department of Administration
• Ray Hull, R.I. State Representative and Sergeant of the Providence Police Department
• Donald King, Vice President of Fete Music and founder of the former Providence Black Repertory Company
• Lisa Ranglin, Vice President at Bank of America and founding President of the Rhode Island Black Business Association

The American Democracy Project (ADP) co-sponsored both the Providence Mayoral and the Rhode Island Gubernatorial debates with NBC10 and RINPR.

Nicco Mele of Harvard’s Kennedy School and author of the book, The End of Big: How the Internet Makes David the New Goliath, delivered the keynote address in which he discussed how our technology-fueled society and our ability to stay connected has changed nearly every aspect of our lives – including how we learn about the world around us. Following the keynote, Mele was joined by our other invited guests for a discussion that focused on (1) how consumption of the news is changing; (2) how political campaign reporting is evolving because of the influence of social media; (3) how the various forms of social media are influencing the ways in which voters are informed; and (4) how can students best utilize social media to stay informed for the upcoming 2014 elections.

Panel Moderator: Mark Curtis, Chief Political Reporter, ABC6 Providence

Panelists

• Scott MacKay, Political Analyst, Rhode Island Public Radio
• Erika Niedowski, Associated Press Reporter
• Kate Nagel, writer and news editor, GoLocalProv
• Ed Fitzpatrick, Providence Journal Political Columnist

The program sends bipartisan pairs of former Congress members to schools for two-day visits, is administered by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress and sponsored by the Stennis Center for Public Service and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship.

ADP at RIC Director Dr. Valerie Endress noted that “The former members of Congress offer an authentic and often unvarnished view of the inner workings of Washington. Their perspectives, combined with two days of forums with influential decision makers, key officeholders and members of media is an unbeatable combination for insight into the world of politics.”

Two former Congressmen, David Minge and Ann Marie Buerkle and other prominent political figures and members of the media participated in various informal panels.

ADP at RIC and Rhode Island PBS presented a film screening and panel discussion of “Defending Freedom of Speech, Press, and Religion”. It also included a short preview screening of “Constitution USA”. The panel discussion, moderated by Marc Levitt of Action Speaks, followed.

In 2004 and 2008, RIC’s American Democracy Project held the largest DebateWatch in the country. For this program ADP joined forces with the Community College of Rhode Island’s Democracy Commitment to bring an even bigger and better event. Bill Rappleye of NBC10 and Mark Curtis of ABC6 also participated in this program.

A town-hall meeting with statewide office holders and other dignitaries was followed by a viewing of the first presidential debate on theatre-sized screens. After viewing, trained facilitators led discussions on the debate, and the results from these discussions was sent to the National Commission on Presidential Debates and to local media. Results from DebateWatches have influenced how debates are organized, their format, the types of questions asked, selection of moderators, and even the length of the debates.