February 11, 2008
Is this the Best Way to Choose a President?
Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. Cohen-Lasry House
Clark University's Office of Government and International Relations will present the 2008 Harrington Lecture in American Politics, titled "Is This the Best Way to Choose a President? Reflections on the 2008 Primaries."
Expert panel members will include William G. Mayer, associate professor of political science at Northeastern University in Boston, and Dean Spiliotes, NHPoliticalCapital.com writer and a veteran political scientist and political analyst.
Mayer is the author or co-author of nine books, including "The Front-Loading Problem in Presidential Nominations" and "The Swing Voter in American Politics" (Brookings Institution Press, forthcoming in 2008). In every presidential election year since 1996, he has edited a set of original essays on the presidential nomination process, the most recent of which is "The Making of the Presidential Candidates 2008" (Rowman and Littlefield). He has been called the nation's leading academic authority on the presidential nomination process. He has also written numerous articles on such topics as voting, public opinion, and media and politics.
Spiliotes has broad expertise in presidential politics and policy, campaigns and elections, and New Hampshire politics and its presidential primary. Author of the book, "Vicious Cycle: Presidential Decision Making in the American Political Economy," he has also published research in a variety of academic journals including, The American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, and Presidential Studies Quarterly. During his years as a political science professor, Spiliotes taught presidential politics in the Government Department at Dartmouth College and in the Politics Department at Saint Anselm College. At Saint Anselm, he also served as Director of Research for the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, where he led a statewide survey research initiative designed to measure the civic knowledge, attitudes and behavior of New Hampshire citizens. Spiliotes provides frequent political commentary and analysis for local, national and international print, broadcast, and web-based media.
The Harrington Lecture in American Politics is supported by an endowment from the late Francis A. Harrington. Mr. Harrington was a Worcester native, civic leader, vice president and director of the Paul Revere Insurance Companies, and a member of Clark University's Board of Trustees.
The Clark University Office of Government and International Relations sponsors this event, which is free and open to the public. A reception will follow. For more information, call, 508-793-7155.