Videos on Representative Democracy

From:  Representative Democracy in America  |  Center for Civic Education

Representative Democracy in America: Voices of the People is a national project designed to reinvigorate and educate Americans on the critical relationship between government and the people it serves. The project introduces citizens, particularly young people, to the representatives, institutions, and processes that serve to realize the goal of a government of, by, and for the people. ...

In July 2008, its Alliance launched a professional development initiative to promote the use of its extensive curricular programs in classrooms across the country. During the opening two-day seminar, notable scholars, legislators, and experts addressed wide-ranging topics on the institutions and practices of representative democracy in the United States.

Included are the following videotaped speeches presented:

• Understanding Congress–Hon. Lee Hamilton, Director, Center on Congress at Indiana University (34 minutes)

• The Philosophical Foundations of Representative Democracy–Anthony Corrado, Charles A. Dana Professor of Government, Colby College

• The Informal Political Process–Thomas Mann, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution (26 minutes)

• The Role of the U.S. Senate–Donald Ritchie, Associate Historian, U.S. Senate (17 minutes)

• The Role of U.S. House of Representatives–Fred Beuttler, Deputy Historian, U.S. House of Representatives (20 minutes)

• The Role of State Legislatures–Alan Rosenthal, Professor of Political Science, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University (28 minutes)

• Citizen Participation in State Legislatures–Hon. Rosie Berger, Wyoming State Representative (9 minutes)

• Citizen Participation in State Legislatures–Hon. Leticia Van de Putte, Texas State Senator (29 minutes)

• The Role of Education in a Representative Democracy–Margaret Branson, Associate Director, Center for Civic Education (34 minutes)

(The videos are unedited, full-length versions of the speeches.)