The Great Issues Forums are a series of policy seminars focused on some of the nation's most important current issues. The topics of these unique seminars rotate frequently, as expertise and events warrant, and are an integral part of the MPP program. Recent Forums have included:
Comparative Ideas and Policies
Instructors: Natasha Léger (Consultant, Deloitte & Touche) and Harlan Abrahams (Attorney and Writer)
This Forum focused on incorporating a comparative perspective to better understand domestic policies--their strengths and weaknesses--as they relate to national and global implications. The principles of comparative public policy were demonstrated by examining international trade disputes and two specific countries, Singapore and Cuba.
Economic Development: Restarting the Metro Denver Economic Engine
Instructor: Joel Rosenstein (Attorney, Fisher Sweetbaum & Levin)
This Forum was an introduction to issues and processes that have a direct bearing on economic development in the Denver area. The Forum examined the current economic climate of metro Denver; the budgets of state and local governments; the public, quasi-public and private actors that promote economic development; and the infrastructure needs of metro Denver.
Education Policy
Instructor: Peter C. Groff (Colorado State Senator, District 33)
The "Education Policy" Forum featured discussion of education funding, state-mandated standards, school vouchers, and Colorado Amendment 23. The Forum included presentations by a diverse group of policy professionals, including representatives of the Colorado Children's Campaign, Colorado League of Charter Schools, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Education Association, and Colorado Association of School Boards.
Entitlements: Public Policy of Medicare and Social Security Reform
Instructors: Richard D. Lamm (Colorado Governor 1975-1987) and Sarah Kuehl (Analyst, U.S. Senate Budget Committee)
The "Entitlements" Forum was an in-depth examination of the fiscal challenges of an aging America, focused largely on Social Security and Medicare programs. Topics included important demographic trends, the budget implications of an aging society, various reform proposals, and the role of interest groups in the debate.
Foundations of American Government
Instructor: Andrew E. Busch (Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif.)
"Foundations of American Government" was an overview of the United States' founding personalities, principles, and documents. This Forum was a guide to the foundations of American government and a key to understanding modern public policy.
Getting Results Inside the Beltway
Instructors: Raymond Friedlob (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP) and Sarah Kuehl (Senior Committee Staffer, U.S. Senate Budget Committee)
This Forum was an in-depth exploration into power and lobbying in Washington, DC, taught by two Beltway insiders. Themes explored included the key strategies for accessing power in the American legislative and executive context; the skills required to represent a client; how a successful strategy incorporates an understanding of regulatory compliance and rule-making; and the personal skills required to function effectively in a competitive environment. The Forum also featured guest speakers from the Southeast Business Partnership and EchoStar Communications.
Globalism and Sovereignty
Instructors: Harlan Abrahams (Attorney and Writer) and Natasha Léger (Consultant, Deloitte & Touche)
This Forum explored the intersections and conflicts between "globalism" and "sovereignty" -- two words often heard but seldom understood. Globalization in the strict economic sense is seen as only part of a larger global perspective. Sovereignty as a force of politics is seen as relative and flexible. And both are shown to be subject to American constitutional requirements. Case studies drawn from current events were used to emphasize multi-dimensional thinking in a policy-making context.
Immigration
Instructor: Gov. Richard D. Lamm
This Forum examined the history of American immigration policy and the contemporary pressures for immigration reform in America. The Forum also examined the questions of assimilation and the various interpretations of what it means to be an American. Specific areas of inquiry included the first "Great Wave" of immigration of the 1880s, changes in immigration policy in the 1920s and 1960s, and policy reasons both for immigration and for limiting immigration.
The Initiative Process
Instructor: Alexis Senger (Chief Legislative Analyst, Joint Budget Committee, Colorado General Assembly)
The initiative process has been called the "unexamined arena of power politics" Is direct democracy the "tyranny of the masses" or is it governmnt "for the people, by the people"? Does the initiative process increase citizen involvement or does it simply bypass representative government? This forum examined the initiative process from both theoretical and practical perspectives using case studies and explored the question, "What happens when direct democracy converges with representative democracy?" Guest speakers included Dennis Gallagher (Denver City Auditor), Mike Feeley (Baker & Hostetler, LLP; former Colo. State Senator) and Cary Kennedy (Director of Policy, Office of Colo. House Speaker Romanoff).
The Knowledge Economy: Governance & Growth
Instructor: David M. Hart (Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
A diverse set of public and private institutions has evolved to facilitate the creation, protection, and use of knowledge--increasingly recognized as the key to long-term economic growth. This Forum explored the origins of the knowledge economy and the key choices facing society as these institutions evolved under the pressures of globalization.
National Security, Modern War, and the New Threat Environment
Instructor: Christopher Carr (Professor, U.S. Air Force, Air War College)
All professions have their own discrete language and cultural mores, but the defense sector is more opaque and separate than most professions. Indeed, secrecy is an inherent element of national security policy. This Forum provided a comprehensive analysis of the structure and function of the national security community.
Polling and Elections
Instructor: Michael McKenna (MWR Strategies, Washington, D.C.)
During the dramatic mid-term campaign of 2002, Michael McKenna, a Washington, D.C. pollster, presented a Forum on the methodology, importance and limitations of polling. The two-day Forum was capped off with a presentation by The German Marshall Fund of the United States (an IPPS partner organization) of an international Sept. 11-related poll conducted by the GMF and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.
Urban Policy: The New Paranoia in Urban Policy and Politics
Instructor: Fred Siegel (Professor, Cooper Union College, New York City)
In the 1990s, the big American city, long a symbol of decline and depravity, experienced a series of renewals. In New York and other big cities, the "evacuation mentality" that was the result of high crime rates and loss of business confidence was challenged by a renewed emphasis on law enforcement, quality of life and civil behavior. In the wake of divisive, racially-themed elections in such cities as Philadelphia and Detroit, this Forum investigated whether or not the traditional urban American model of acculturation will be replaced by the"identity politics" of race and ethnic division.