By the People is partnering with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation on the Dialogues in Democracy project.

By the People: Expert Questions and Answers

During the deliberation process, participants in the online deliberative poll were able to pose a question to two experts in the field of Political Science. Any question relevant to "Citizenship in 21st Century America" taken, similar questions were combined. Each group voted for the question they would most like to pose to the experts. Topics included voter apathy, election reform, and mandatory national service. Audio of all the answers are available on this page.

Experts

Henry Brady Professor, Political Science and Public Policy University of California, Berkeley

Daron Shaw Associate Professor, Government University of Texas at Austin

Questions and Answers (Audio)

Topic:
Introduction | Electoral College | Citizen Apathy | Redistricting | Proportional Representation | Election Fraud | Social/Political Unity | Money and Politics/Campaign Finance | Primary Process | Mandatory National Service | Minorities/Majority Rule

Introduction

Prof. Shaw and Prof. Brady introduce themselves.

Topic 1: Electoral College

Group 1_1:

Is the Electoral College obsolete? If so, how can we get rid of it? If not, how can we have presidential elections that more accurately reflect the popular vote?

Group 1_5, 4_3, and 4_6:

Is there a possibility of a popular vote rather than an Electoral College vote? How can we get the Electoral College gone and elect through the popular vote? What can we as citizens do to affect the change?

Group 3_1:

If we abolish the Electoral College, how will voting patterns change? Which voters would the abolition of the Electoral College potentially disenfranchise? Who is disenfranchised by the existence of the Electoral College?

Group 2_1:

Would removing the Electoral College increase electoral competition?

Topic 2: Citizen Apathy

Groups 1_2, 4_1, and 4_4:

Why do the American people seem so apathetic when it comes to political issues? Why aren't people more upset by scandal and corruption? What do you think it would take to get people to want to be more politically and socially active? And what role does patriotism play in this process?

Topic 3: Redistricting

Group 1_3:

What is the feasibility of different proposals for redistricting? Could the census bureau, some other objective body or a scientific process be a better way to do redistricting?

Topic 4: Proportional Representation

Group 1_4:

What are the models we might look at to see what the possibilities are for proportional voting? If we look at such schemes in Europe or Asia, were they instituted recently or do they have a long standing? Do they work?

Topic 5: Election Fraud

Group 1_6:

What can we do to combat election fraud as opposed to voter fraud?

Topic 6: Social/Political Unity

Group 2_2:

Why, when attacked on 9/11, did the country not come together for a long period of time, like they did in WWII? What kinds of "healing events" typically lead a country to become more united, and can the ideological and regional divisions that presently exist in society be "fixed"?

Topic 7: Money and Politics/Campaign Finance

Groups 2_3, 3_3, 3_5, and 4_5:

How do we get rid of big government run by big money and get back to government by the people? How do we limit big money in the political process (e.g., through campaign finance reform) without violating the first amendment? How can we reduce the influence of money in elections? What restrictions exist in the Constitution that limit campaign finance reform?

Topic 8: Primary Process

Group 3_2:

How can the primary process be changed to get the best candidate in both parties?

Topic 9: Mandatory National Service

Group 3_4:

Are there any facts that would indicate that countries that utilized mandatory service programs have increased civic participation (i.e. voter turnout)? Was the implementation of mandatory programs beneficial? Are there any concrete facts that support this?

Topic 10: Minority/Majority Rule

Group 4_2:

How do we become a republic that represents the will of the majority as opposed to the rule of a vocal minority?