[EL] DC area folks -- Australia Embassy offers free lunch....& Thursday roundtable on voting laws w/Mann. Ornstein, Richie, Beazley, Reilly

[Rob Richie]

Folks,

Rick cleared the idea of me sharing this news.

This Thursday, July 12th, we are cosponsoring a lunchtime forum that
includes Australia's Ambassador to the United States Kim Beazley and
American political scientists Tom Mann and Norm Ornstein - whose new
book <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YlSwjH7TA1xTyTt4rbG0P82Og3wtMFTH>makes
the case for FairVote-backed reforms like instant runoff
voting<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Gb1KRedsI4lY%2FCAThKXHaM2Og3wtMFTH>
and
*fair voting plans <http://www.fairvote.org/list/author/Fair%20Voting_Plans>
*. See below for details and information on how to RSVP.

Earlier that day, we're releasing a comprehensive new report on
congressional elections at 9:15 am at the Stewart Mott House at 122
Maryland Avenue, NE (next to Supreme Court) -- focused both on the present
(horserace analysis of current House districts) and the future (fair voting
plans). Our Board Chair Krist Novoselic talked about fair voting  on the
Rachel Maddow show last week -- see:
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-show/48089249#48089249<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=e8kBkHpPhnc5bC8y79zeic2Og3wtMFTH>

For those of you who want to catch up with Krist, John Anderson and other
FairVote leaders and like-minded reformers, see info on an event we're
having tonight at 6 pm:
http://www.punchbowl.com/parties/4387688-if-it-s-broken-fix-it-political-
technology-for-the-21st-century-copy
Thanks,
Rob Richie

############
http://northamerica.anu.edu.****au/news-events-2/political-****
reform-in-australia-and-****america-reversing-the-flow-of-****ideas/<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6KSN6Yh8TuA6t4eJFGthhM2Og3wtMFTH>
Political reform in Australia and America: Reversing the flow of ideas?

[image: Ballot Box]

*Australian Ambassador to the United States, HE The Hon Kim Beazley AC,
will host a roundtable discussion on Thursday 12 July at the Australian
Embassy, “Political reform in Australia and America: Reversing the flow of
ideas?”*

With:
Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution
Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute
Benjamin Reilly, Australian National University
Robert Richie, FairVote

*Background*
Australia borrowed liberally from the United States when it became a nation
in 1901, adopting US institutions such as federal government, a high
(supreme) court and a bicameral parliament. Today, however, this process
seems reversed, with American reformers looking to Australia for new ways
to make government work.

Should the United States adopt Australia’s model of preferential voting to
encourage candidates to reach out to more voters? Would compulsory voting
and independent redistricting commissions encourage less polarization in US
politics?

This roundtable discussion brings together Australian and American
political scientists to discuss these issues, including Thomas Mann and
Norman Ornstein whose new book, It’s Even Worse Than it Looks, recommends
these and other reforms as cures for the ills plaguing US politics.

*Thomas Mann *is the W. Averell Harriman Chair and senior fellow in
Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution. Between 1987 and 1999, he
was Director of Governmental Studies at Brookings. Prior to that, Mann was
executive director of the American Political Science Association.

*Norman Ornstein* is a long-time observer of Congress and politics. He
writes a weekly column for Roll Call called “Congress Inside Out” and is an
election eve analyst for CBS News. He served as codirector of the
AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and participates in AEI’s Election W
and led a working group of scholars and practitioners that helped shape the
McCain-Feingold law that reformed the campaign financing system. He was
elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004.

*Benjamin Reilly* is a Professor of Political Science at the Australian
National University, and a former Director of the Centre for Democratic
Institutions there. He has written and advised widely on issues of
electoral reform and democratization. He is currently senior visiting
professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
(SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, in Washington DC.

*Robert Richie* has been Executive Director of FairVote since 1992. His
writings have appeared in the nation’s leading newspapers and in nine
books. He has been a guest on various talk shows and has addressed
conventions of the American Political Science Association, National
Association of Counties, National Association of Secretaries of State, Free
Press, National Latino Congreso and National Conference of State
Legislatures. He serves on the Haverford College Corporation.

*Thursday 12 July
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Embassy of Australia
1601 Massachusetts Ave NW*

*RSVP nalo at anu.edu.au No parking at the Embassy
Space is limited Metro: red line
Photo ID required for entry Light lunch provided*

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Respect for Every Vote and Every Voice"

Rob Richie
Executive Director

FairVote
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
www.fairvote.org  rr at fairvote.org
(301) 270-4616

Please support FairVote through action and tax-deductible donations -- see
http://fairvote.org/donate. For federal employees, please consider  a gift
to us through the Combined Federal Campaign (FairVote's  CFC number is
10132.) Thank you!
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