The Dream Generation - iCitizenForum interviews Rev. Yearwood
Will the current generation be able to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of peace and equality? We spoke to the Reverend Lennox Yearwood, founder and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, about how new forms of engagement such as “hip hop politics” can help eradicate division and partisanship in the 21st century.
America's First Revolution - an interview with Michael Barone
George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights was inspired to a large extent by the English Bill of Rights created in the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9. To find out more about the English Glorious Revolution and how it affected American views of the rights of citizens we spoke to Michael Barone, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of “Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America’s Founding Fathers.”
Diana Mutz: Citizen Participation
U.S. citizens have the right to participate in the political process, and when they do, it’s hoped they do so with deliberation. Is there conflict between participation and deliberation? Watch our interview with Professor Diana Mutz in which she discusses citizen participation and a polarized society.
Jared Bernstein: Wealth Inequality
One percent of Americans control 22 percent of the nation’s wealth. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says a democratic society must address such inequality if it hopes to remain healthy. Are citizens concerned about the gap between rich and poor in the United States? Find out what Jared Bernstein, economist and researcher with the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of “The State of Working America,” thinks about the economic divide and “YOYO” economics.
iCitizenForum Rocks the Vote
In this episode of the iCitizenForum Vblog, we interview Rock the Votes’ Heather Smith about voter turnout, hot issues for young voters, and how Rock the Vote is helping the democratic process.
Kucinich, Paul, and Free Speech
In some minds, the exclusion of Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul from televised presidential candidates’ debates raises Freedom of Speech questions.
As the Nevada caucuses approached, NBC and Fox didn’t see their White House prospects as strong enough to justify their sharing air time with the front-runners.
More on Wealth Inequality
Here are links to sites where you can find more about wealth inequality.
www.inequality.org: A web resource dedicated to the topic of wealth inequality.
Economic Policy Institute
National data from The State of Working America 2006/2007: Compare wages and compensation trends, jobs, unionization, family earnings and income trends, and prices throughout the last 50 years.
Democracy the Winner in New Hampshire
The most surprising news from the New Hampshire primary may have been how wrong the opinion-poll predictions were. Most gave Democrat Barrack Obama double-digit leads going into Tuesday’s voting. But Hillary Clinton won. Though the polls were right about the Republican contest, pundits were stunned. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews called for an inquiry on polling methodology. A colleague said that in future we should put more trust in the American people and wait for the voters to decide. Matthews said, “But then what will we do?”
Tahmina Daultana and Pakistan
With our international attention now focused on Pakistan, here is a re-post of an interview with Pakistani Member of Parliament Tahmina Daultana. We spoke to Tahmina at the “World Forum on the Future of Democracy” in Williamsburg, Va., September 2007. She talks about the prospects for democracy in Pakistan.
