Democracy Studies Speakers Series kicks off second year

Alex Keyssar, the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, will offer insight into the Electoral College in an Oct. 1 lecture as part of the Democracy Studies Speakers Series.

The Moritz College of Law and the Mershon Center for International Security Studies are collaborating on the Democracy Studies Speakers Series. The series aims to stimulate discussion about democracy – its norms and practices – that might lead into the development of an interdisciplinary program in democracy studies at The Ohio State University.

During the first year of the two-year series, national scholars from different vantage points discussed the philosophical foundations for democracy and conceptions of democracy. Presenters were: James Kloppenberg of Harvard University Department of History; Guy-Uriel Charles of Duke University School of Law; Nancy Rosenblum of Harvard University; and Morris Fiorina of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Themes of the second year will include electoral institutions and the current condition of legislative paralysis caused by partisan polarization.

Keyssar will deliver “Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College?” at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Barrister Club, 25 W. 11^th Ave., across from Drinko Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. To register, click here.

Be sure to save the date for these future speakers:

• Melissa Schwartzberg of Columbia University on Nov. 30;
   
• Jack Goldsmith of Harvard Law School on Jan. 28; and
   
• Dennis Thompson of Harvard University Department of Government on March 5.

– Monica DeMeglio