Class, Politics and Public Policy the Focus of Three Lectures by Duke University Scholar

The working class and the need for their voices to be heard in public office will be focus of three public lectures in Bangor, Brewer and Orono, Oct. 2–3.

Nicholas Carnes, assistant professor of public policy at Duke University, will speak at noon, Oct. 2, at the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, 96 Harlow St., Bangor, on “Why do Millionaires Run the Country?” From 6:45–8 p.m. that day, he will participate in a panel discussion, “Balancing the Ballot: Working Class Candidates for Public Office,” at Eastern Maine Labor Council, 20 Ivers St., Brewer.

Oct. 3, Carnes will speak on “The Cash Ceiling: How Expensive Elections Affect Who Runs for Office” at 12:30 p.m. in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union at the University of Maine.

Carnes’ research focuses on U.S. politics, legislative decision making, representation, social class, economic inequality, and state and local politics. His upcoming book “White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making” examines how the shortage of people from the working class in American legislatures skews the policymaking process toward outcomes that are more in line with the upper class’s economic interests.

Carnes is a member of the Scholars Strategy Network, an organization that brings America’s leading scholars together to address public challenges on national, state and local levels. His lectures in the state are sponsored by the Maine chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network and the University of Maine. The League of Women Voters also is a co-sponsor of the noon talk on Oct. 2.

For more information or to request disability accommodation, contact Amy Fried, 207.581.1797 or amy.fried@umit.maine.edu.