Democracy Forum on WERU FM Community Radio
The League of Women Voters-Downeast in cooperation with WERU FM produces a monthly radio program on topics in participatory democracy. It's called the Democracy Forum.
Broadcasts may be heard from 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. on the third Friday of the month at WERU Community Radio, 89.9 FM Blue Hill. Listen on the web at WERU.org. The show can also be heard in the Portland area at 11:30 a.m., the first Sunday of the following month, at WMPG Community Radio, 90.9 FM Portland, streaming at WMPG.org.
In September, 2018, the Democracy Forum won top honors from the Maine Association of Broadcasting for public affairs radio.
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Here is information about our latest or upcoming broadcast.
October 15 — In Government We Trust — Or Do We?
This new episode was pre-recorded on September 13; no listener calls will be taken. Comments and questions may be emailed to news@weru.org with Democracy Forum on the subject line.
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'" - Ronald Reagan, 1986
We'll talk about trust and distrust in government. What is the history of distrust in government in the US? How has it been weaponized in the last half-century? What do we lose when we have a blanket distrust in government: who loses and who gains? What motivates strategic attempts to weaken government? In what way is distrust a weapon in the arsenal of attempts to weaken or reduce government?
Special Guests:
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Amy Fried, John Mitchell Nickerson Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. Her most recent book is At War with Government: How Conservatives Weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump with Douglas B. Harris, August 2021.
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Steven Webster, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Indiana University. His recent book is American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics, August 2020.
To learn more, follow these links to related content:
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"How Republicans Stoke Anti-Government Hatred" by Luisa S. Deprez in Washington Monthly, August 27, 2021
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"Covid vaccine resistance and the Capitol riot stem from the GOP long weaponizing distrust," by Noah Berlatsky in NBC New Think, Aug. 3, 2021
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"Are Liberals to Blame for Our Crisis of Faith in Government?" by Louis Menand, August 9, 2021 in The New Yorker
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At War with Government: How Conservatives Weaponized Distrust from Goldwater to Trump by Amy Fried and Douglas B. Harris, August 2021
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"Rebuilding Trust in American Institutions" By Sonal Shah & Hollie Russon Gilman Jan. 27, 2021, Stanford Social Innovation Review
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American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics, by Steven W. Webster. August 2020
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"Stoking the Beast" By Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic June 2006
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"Key findings about Americans’ declining trust in government and each other," Pew Research Center, July 22, 2019
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"The Republicans waged a 3-decade war on government. They got Trump." By Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann Jul 18, 2016, Vox