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Faculty are encouraged to bring their classes. Sponsored by: Department of Policy Studies |
5th Annual Toby E. Huff
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Theme of the Lecture Series
The theme selected for the 5th Annual Toby E. Huff Policy Studies Lecture Series is “Power Elites and the Public Policy Agenda.” This theme was selected partly as a response to student and faculty interest in the “elite theory” of policy formation and partly in response to the renewed interest generally among political scientists and political sociologists in the critical work of C. Wright Mills (author of The Power Elite, 1956). C. Wright Mills (1956, 3-4) defined the power elite as the men and women:
“in command of the major hierarchies and organizations of modern society. They rule the big corporations. They run the machinery of the state and claim its prerogatives. They direct the military establishment. They occupy the strategic command posts of the social structure.”
In a work that still challenges both popular and official conceptions of American democracy, equality of opportunity, and pluralism, Mills argued that the power to make “decisions having major consequences” for American society, and for much of the world, is controlled almost exclusively by an entrenched economic, political, and military elite. The 5th Annual Policy Studies Lecture Series will bring some of the foremost elite theorists and policy experts to the UMass Dartmouth campus to explore this fundamental theme through an analysis of contemporary public policy decisions.
Speakers Dr. Michael Parenti
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Presentation Title: “PLUTOCRACY vs. DEMOCRACY”
plu•toc•ra•cy (n.): 1. Government by the wealthy. 2 wealthy class that controls a government. 3. government or state in which the wealthy rule (www.dictionary.com) Michael Parenti is an internationally known award-winning author and lecturer and one of the nation’s leading progressive political analysts. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University and has taught at a number of colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. Please click here for a brief bio. |
| Presentation Title: "The Power Elites and state Reform in Germany"
Dr. Detlef Sack is a Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Kassel (Germany), where he teaches political theory and public policy. After receiving his PhD, Dr. Sack worked at the Social Science Center in Berlin and at Aston University (Birmingham, UK). His current research projects focus on the spread of public-private-partnerships within the public sector and on regional development and participatory culture. Please click here for a brief bio. |
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Dr. G. William Domhoff
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Presentation Title: “CHALLENGING THE POWERS THAT BE: Will Anything Work?” The powers that be is a term that refers to any group that is an established political power. G. William Domhoff, who goes by “Bill,” is a Research Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was born into an apolitical middle-American family in what he and his friends thought of as the Midwest (Ohio). He received his B.A. at Duke University, his M.A. at Kent State University, and his Ph.D. at the University of Miami. He has been teaching at the University of California, Santa Cruz since 1965. Please click here for a brief bio. |
Dr. George A. Gonzalez
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Presentation Title: “U.S. Oil Policy and Urban Sprawl" Strategic considerations surrounding U.S. oil policy in the post-World War II period revolved around its competition with the former Soviet Union i.e., the Cold War) and the obtaining of sufficient petroleum supplies for the relatively high demand of the U.S. The former tended to be the most prominent consideration throughout the 1950s and 1960s when there existed a significant surplus of petroleum on the world market and, as a result, U.S. petroleum consumption levels were seemingly a non-issue. In the aftermath of the oil shocks of the 1970s, however, U.S. oil policy was visibly centered on ensuring enough supply to maintain U.S. consumption levels. As a result, the Middle East took on greater importance because it became evident that U.S. consumption levels could not continue without the oil from this region. The outlines and trajectory of U.S. oil policy have historically been set by economic elites. |
| Presentation Title: “The Failure of Fuel Economy Policy" Over the past twenty years the average fuel economy of the nation’s vehicle fleet has dropped. Many thought that the 1975 passage of fuel economy standards would lead to more efficient vehicles on the nation’s roads, lessening the need for oil imports which at the time accounted for 20 percent of domestic usage. While initially successful, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) policy has been thwarted by the nation’s automakers, who switched production to sport utility vehicles in the 1990s to take advantage of a loophole that allows for lower efficiency standards for light duty trucks. Democratic and Republican administrations alike have refused to raise standards, now twenty years old, and Congress, in the grips of automobile industry lobbyists, has been deadlocked. Since transportation energy use accounts for over one-quarter of the nation’s total energy use, with petroleum accounting for virtually all of transportation usage, improvements in vehicle fuel economy are essential for lessening the nation’s oil needs. Oil imports currently account for over 55 percent of domestic usage, making fuel economy policy a national and economic security issue. Please click here for a brief bio. |
| Dr. Robert L. Ostergard, Jr. received his B.A. in Political Science and Economics in 1992 from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and his M.A. (1996) and PhD (1999) in Political Science from the State University of New York, Binghamton. He served as the Associate Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the State University of New York, Binghamton from 2000-2006. He is currently Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. His research is focused predominantly on issues of national and international security in Africa, intellectual property rights, and the impact of epidemic diseases on state security. His latest book is entitled HIV/AIDS and the Threat ot National and International Security. Presentation Title: "The New Oil War" The war on terrorism has forced US foreign policy makers to focus new attention on America's energy policy and particularly new sources of oil. Political instability in the Middle East has made our oil supply lines insecure. Thus, Africa has become an important new area of concern because of its potential for major oil reserve finds. However, while the United States has been courting new relationships with some of Africa's new petro-states, China too has been focusing its attention on the region as a source of oil as well. This paper explores the consequences of Africa's oil reserves for both the United States and China and questions whether the United States is in a strategic challenge with China for influence and support in Africa. |
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Contact Information
Correspondence and inquiries should be sent to Dr. Shawna E. Sweeney at (508) 999-8254 or email at ssweeney@umassd.edu.
Directions
Please click here for directions.
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| The Center for Policy Analysis University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 285 Old Westport Road North Dartmouth, MA. 02747-2300 Phone: 508-990-9660 |
Last Updated On: 2/26/07
