Politics

What are the ramifications of partisan drawn districts that favor one party over another? Is there a better and fairer way to do this? What are the alternatives? This presentation, hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area, will explore how legislative lines are drawn in Michigan, who draws them and why it is a critically important question for those concerned about fair representation.  

*Stream* David Brooks from The New York Times will be in conversation with presidential historian Ronald C. White to discuss character as a part of the Grand Valley State University's series on "Character and Presidency."

A presentation and Q&A on the Iran deal featuring two White House officials, including one of the Administration's negotiators.From the speakers: This presentation will lay out the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated between six major world powers and Iran after nearly two years of highly technical and painstaking sessions. Presenters include Paul Irwin, one of the negotiators, who will detail what the deal does and how it addresses international concerns about Iran's nuclear program, and Matt Nosanchuk, Associate Director for Public Engagement and Liaison to the American Jewish Community and on International Issues, and a native Detroiter.

Meet the force of women leading communities in Michigan, engage with municipal issues, and learn more about the management profession in this interactive panel session. This session is for graduate and professional students - registration is free, but required.

The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Michigan Theater present The Diplomat with a special introduction by former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill. The Diplomat tells the remarkable story of the life and legacy of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose singular career spans fifty years of American foreign policy from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Told through the perspective of his eldest son David, the documentary takes you behind the scenes of high stakes diplomacy where peace is waged and wars are ended.

U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel is a Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is Chairman of the Atlantic Council and a Member of the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board.

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.

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.

Rebecca Blank will deliver the Citi Foundation Policy Talks @ the Ford School keynote of the two-day Poverty, Policy, and People: 25 Years of Research and Training at the University of Michigan.

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

Reception and book signing following the program. Free and open to the public. Panelists: Scott Cannon, son of author James Cannon Captain James M. Cannon IV, son of author James Cannon Moderator: Barry Rabe, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Environmental Policy, Gerald R.

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow. Join the conversation on Twitter: #policytalks About the topic Few cases have generated as much controversy as Citizens United. The story told by reformers and reporters is that Citizens United ushered in a new era of dark money, with wealthy corporations spending wildly, saturating the airwaves, and taking over American politics. Most of that story is wrong, and some of it is nonsense.

Please join Professor Susan Collins, the Ford School DE&I Officer, Stephanie Sanders and Global Engagement Program Manager, Cliff Martin for an info session about this exciting opportunity in global engagement.

Join us for an evening screening of the documentary, Bring It to the Table, a project aimed at breaking down partisanship and opening up lines of communication across political divides. 

Consideration of the the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement has been postponed until after the election, when it may come up for a vote in Congress. Ford School Professor Alan Deardorff will moderate this two-person panel on the pros and cons of the TPP.

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). 

NY Times Op-Ed columnist Charles M. Blow will present a keynote presentation on "Donald Trump, arrogance, pride, and American democracy."

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.

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.

Professor Shujiro URATA examines Japan’s current economic situation and identifies the problems, then he discusses the importance of adopting an activist international economic policy with a focus on its relationship with the United States, in order to overcome the problems and achieve sustained economic growth.  

Daniel Russel is a Senior Fellow and Diplomat in Residence at the Asia Society Policy Institute. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he served until March, 2017 as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on July 12, 2013, Mr. Russel served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region.

Diplomatic Simulation from United States Diplomacy Center.

Daniel Honig on Getting Things Done in Tricky Places: When Reporting Undermines Performance for Aid Agencies

Free and open to the public.Students of PUBPOL 456/756 invite the public to join them for a debate featuring candidates for the offices of mayor and city council in Ann Arbor. This event takes place as a product of PUBPOL 456/756. It originated and is planned, organized, and moderated by the students of the Ford School’s Public Policy Course 456/756 under the supervision of their instructor, former Mayor of Ann Arbor John Hieftje. Final details are pending on which candidates will participate, and will be announced here as soon as possible.

Saumitra Jha, Stanford University will present Swords into Bank Shares: Financial Innovations and Innovators in Mitigating Political Violence in EDS Seminar on Tuesday, April 10 at 2:30pm in 201 Lorch Hall.