Domestic policy

This one-day symposium aims to grapple with this growing controversy, and explore ways forward for patents and patent systems that maximizes the public interest and social justice. The day will end with a book talk and reception celebrating the publication of Shobita Parthasarathy’s Patent Politics: Life Forms, Markets, and the Public Interest in the United States and Europe (University of Chicago Press, 2017). 

Vivian Thomson will offer an insider’s account of how power is wielded in environmental policy making at the state level. Drawing on her experience as a former member of Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board, she narrates cases in Alexandria, Wise, and Roda that involved coal and air pollution. She identifies a “climate of capitulation” —a deeply rooted favoritism toward coal and electric utilities in state air pollution policies. Thomson links Virginia’s climate of capitulation with campaign finance patterns, a state legislature that depends on outsiders for information and bill drafting, and a political culture that tends toward inertia. She extends her analysis to fifteen other coal states and recommends reforms aimed at mitigating ingrained biases toward coal and electric utility interests.

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. About the lecture Compared with any other nation, the U.S. spends far more on medical care and seemingly gets far less in return than other nations (as measured by such things as infant mortality and longevity). We also have abundant evidence that much of our spending is wasteful, in the sense that regions within the U.S.

Free and open to the public. Auditorium doors will open at 3:30 PM on March 19. This event will be live web-streamed; a link to the web-stream will be posted here on the day of the event at least 30 minutes prior to the start time.

Policy Talks @ the Ford School Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Paperback editions of Lawrence Lessig's book, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress–and a Plan to Stop It will be available for purchase at the event. Professor Lessig will sign copies of his book during the reception. Join in on the conversation on Twitter: #fordschoollessig This event is co-sponsored by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. From the speaker's bio: Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L.

Free and open to the public. Join the conversation on Twitter: #policytalks Lecture by Roger Ferguson, president and chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF. About the lecture Despite our sluggish economy and the global economic uncertainty, building lifelong financial security is not a pipe dream in 21st century America. But for most Americans, it's become a do-it-yourself proposition, as a result of the decline of traditional pension plans in the private sector. This is a concern given the general lack of financial literacy among our population.

Free and Open to the Public Frank J. Thompson, Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University-Newark. Author of Medicaid Politics: Federalism, Policy Durability, and Health Reform With Commentary provided by: Scott L.

Free and Open to the Public. Presenting: Mark Funkhouser, Director, Governing Institute, Former Mayor of Kansas City, MO Abstract "The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities." - Abraham Lincoln Government exists to produce positive outcomes in the community and those outcomes are "co-produced" by government and citizens working together.  Every citizen has p

Free and open to the public. Book sales and signing immediately following. Continue the conversation on Twitter: #policytalks Thomas Mann (MA '68, PhD '77) and Norman Ornstein (PhD '74) will discuss their most recent book, the New York Times bestseller, It's Even Worse than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism.

Lecture by Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary of International Affairs and Chief Diplomatic Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

****Watch the video**** Free and open to the public. Abstract The federal Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is the premier national example of a non-regulatory environmental policy, and it illustrates well both the potential and limitations of using information disclosure to achieve policy goals. The TRI was adopted in 1986 as an amendment to the federal Superfund law, and since 1988 we have had annual reports on the release of over 650 toxic chemicals by some 20,000 industrial facilities around the nation.

Avik Roy and Jonathan Cohn debate over the viability of the Affordable Care Act.

Danielle Sered will speak about her experience directing Common Justice, a program of the Vera Institute of Justice that develops and advances solutions to violence that transform the lives of those harmed and foster racial equity without relying on incarceration.

The Diversity Center Community Conversation series welcomes Richard Primus, professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School.

This event has been canceled.

The Obama Administration’s EPA created a stir when it recently proposed widely varying state carbon-intensity targets to be achieved by 2020 and permanently by 2030. Dr. Engel will discuss a recent paper that examines the bases for federal allocation, among the various states, of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to meet federal air pollution standards under the Clean Air Act.

Join us for a book talk with Hendrik Meijer about Arthur Vandenberg, a Republican Senator from Grand Rapids, MI. The event is co-sponsored by the Bentley Library, Ford Library, and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.