NM
lawmakers OK limits on campaign contributions
SANTA FE,
N.M. — The Legislature on Saturday gave final approval to the first
limits on campaign contributions to lawmakers and other elected
officials.
New Mexico is one of just five states that doesn't put any caps on
contribution amounts.
Gov. Bill Richardson, for example, has gotten mult...
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Interest
groups get early start grooming candidates
Organizations
on polar extremes of
some of the hot-button issues at the Capitol are hoping to attract some
candidates of their own thinking to run for public office. On one side,
the Arizona Education Association and Planned Parenthood Arizona are
sponsoring three weekend-long traini...
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Lobbyists
adapt to power shift
Wanted: Democratic
congressional aide seeking new career. Must have strong powers of
persuasion, excellent connections and good marksmanship. Contact the
National Rifle Association's government affairs office for details |
| Clean-elections
fund match must go, federal judge told |
Dems pull Bee ad after complaints from Giffords |
|
Reject
major parties, Paul urges voters
|
Governor
drops builders from tax plan |
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Votes
for Sale?
A grassroots movement to clean
up elections and stop the influence of big money on political campaigns.
Quicktime
video from PBS - "Now"
|
Giffords
attracting PAC funding
Defense firms, enviro groups
join contributors |
| Christian
right returns to grassroots to reverse political fortunes |
The
right's well-funded answer to MoveOn.org |
Study:
Conservative, liberal brains differ
Region of cortex said more
sensitive in Americans whose politics lean left |
House
votes to bar paying signature collectors per name |
| High
court will revisit campaign law |
Bill would
punish lying lobbyists
Untruthful ones could face
jail, ban on lobbying |
| Poll:
Voters against government intrusion rejected Prop. 107 |
|
| Lawmaker
Criticized for PAC Fees Paid to Wife |
How GOP,
Demo platforms compare |
| Initiative
for cigarette tax likely to be on the ballot |
Nudist GOP
contributor's filing bares all |
| |
Lobbying
- The Basics |
State lobbying
laws fall short
Loopholes leave plenty of room
for exploitation |
Influence
of lobbyists actually waning
Despite renewed
fretting, the influence of individual lobbyists actually has been
waning in Arizona.
|
| Stepdaughter
Of Lawmaker Got Money From PAC |
Lobbying
Firm Made Payment to Hill Aide
Lewis Staffer Received Nearly
$2 Million |
FBI
Says It Saw Jefferson Take Cash
Affidavit Details Sting on
Lawmaker |
GOP
gay-marriage ban out; focus shifting to estate taxes |
| House
Turns to Lobbying Policy Reforms (NPR) |
Ariz.
sees plethora of initiative attempts
An example of direct
democracy policy making; pluralistic/majoritarian |
|
McCain,
Obama Scuffle over Lobbyist Reforms (NPR audio)
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| President
on tightrope, veering left and right, over illegal immigration |
|
100,000
march for immigrant rights
Massive crowds highlight
economic, political might |
Energy
bill a special-interests triumph |
| Voting
and Registration in the Election of November 2004 |
The NES Guide
to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior |
Evangelicals
rev up voters
Christian
activists working to ensure Bush's re-election |
Are a
Nominee's Views Fair Game?
As High Court Battle Nears, Parties
Parse the Senate Filibuster Deal |
Freedom vs. Equality
George F. Will
This may be the most
nation-shaping election since 1932, not only — or even primarily —
because of the parties' foreign policy differences. Those differences,
about sovereignty, multilateralism, preemptive war and nation-building,
concern vital fundamentals. But 2004 may secure the ascendancy of one
of two radically different ideas of the proper role of government and
the individual's proper relationship to it.
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Definitions of moderate on the Web: |
| Definitions
of conservative on the Web: |
| Definitions of liberal on the Web: |
| |
| Texas Demo
congressman moves to GOP |
Campaign funds law has
altered politics
Power is following the money to
groups beyond the parties |
|
Libertarian on Arizona ballot, but
who knew?
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| Young
Voices: Political parties? |
Rehnquist helped lead court, country to right |
Democracy
on Drugs
The Medicare Bill: A Study in How
Government Shouldn’t Work |
Special
Interest Columns by Judy Sarasohn of the Washington Post |
Insiders
Worked Both Sides of Gaming Issue
E-mails Suggest Men Tried to Exploit
Closure of Casino for Huge Fees From Tribe |
The best site on PAC's from
opensecrets.org |
Evangelicals rev up
voters
Christian
activists working to ensure Bush's re-election |
How GOP, Demo platforms
compare |
| Young Voices: Political
parties? |
Rehnquist helped lead court, country to right |
| Green
Party bylaws OK'd by Mexico |
Are a
Nominee's Views Fair Game?
As High Court Battle Nears, Parties
Parse the Senate Filibuster Deal |
| Political
Action Committees (PAC's) from YAHOO |
Tired
of Two Parties?
Blame the centralization of the
federal government, not the Constitution. |
Foundation's
Funds Diverted From Mission
Records Detail Spending By GOP
Lobbyist Abramoff |
Who
Governs Us? A collection of thoughts on
the nature of government, by Bill Hees (updated 11/2003). Keeping Money
Out of Politics |
| Globalisation
& the Who's Who of the New Ruling Elite |
Back-room
dealing a Capitol trend |
| Lobby
Firm Aims Big by Going It Alone |
Energy
bill a special-interests triumph |
Lobbyists'
Role in Food Rules Questioned
Industry Figures Attended 10 Meetings, Group Says |
New
Routes for Money to Sway Voters
501c Groups Escape Disclosure Rules |
Influence,
Inc.
The bottom line on Washington lobbying |
Lobbyists
Feel the Tech Love |
Evangelicals
rev up voters
Christian
activists working to ensure Bush's re-election |
The
Assault Weapons Ban: NRA |
| Drug
Industry Employs 675 Washington Lobbyists, Many with Revolving-Door
Connections, New Report Finds |
McCain
hangs a right, heads to Falwell's school |
| Cost of
Congressional Campaigns Skyrockets |
Bill Would Curb
'527' Spending
No Action Expected Before Elections |
|
Influence,
Inc.
The bottom line on Washington
lobbying
|
Lobby
Firm Aims Big by Going It Alone |
| Insiders
Worked Both Sides of Gaming Issue |
Lobbyists'
Role in Food Rules Questioned |
Drug
Industry Employs 675 Washington Lobbyists,
Many with Revolving-Door Connections, New Report Finds |
Democracy
on Drugs
The Medicare Bill: A Study in
How Government Shouldn’t Work |
Back-room
dealing a Capitol trend
GOP flexing its majority power |
Cost of
Congressional Campaigns Skyrockets |
Campaign
funds law has altered politics
Power is following the money to groups beyond the parties |
A CALL TO
DEFEND DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM
We are a group of individuals
interested in joining with others to rebuild a multi-issue movement for
progressive social change that can assist in informing and organizing
broad coalitions to reverse the ominous right- wing backlash currently
sweeping the United States. In May, 1993 we came from across the nation
to the conference center in Blue Mountain, NY to share our concerns
about the growing prejudice and scapegoating being provoked by
intolerant and anti-democratic religious and secular movements of the
hard right. |
Excerpts from the book
On
Democracy
by Robert A. Dahl |
|
Democracy and the
Constitution
The US Constitution is outdated -- at
least to those who wish it addressed issues such as racial integration,
economic equality, and women's rights. Join Kojo and Robert Dahl, a
preeminent scholar on democracy, to discuss the relevancy of the US
Constitution in its 250th year.
Robert Dahl, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Yale
University; author, How Democratic is the American Constitution? (Yale
University Press) |
IF readers of A
Preface to Democratic Theory accept Robert A. Dahl’s critique, they may conclude that the theoretical bases for democracy
are so defective that they must be discarded in favor of a practical
alternative that avoids the Madisonian and populist ideals.
Dahl’s endorsement of the “American hybrid,” however, is not a merger
of the two democratic lineages he investigates; it is a framework for a
new democratic theory. Democracy in practice in modern America is
defined not by majority rule or its dangers, but by an effort to
incorporate as many groups as possible in the decision-making
process. A democracy conceptualized with this goal in mind
requires institutional reflection of social diversity and is a more
appropriate foundation for democratic theory in a new age. |
