UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's School of Public Policy and the Rock Ethics Institute will bring together a panel of scholars to discuss how the values of unelected officials shape democracy at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Paterno Library's Foster Auditorium.
The discussion is inspired by the book "Democracy Administered: How Administration Shapes Representative Government," published by Cambridge University Press. In his book, Anthony Bertelli, Sherwin-Whitmore Professor of Liberal Arts and professor of public policy and political science, explains the role public administration plays in representative democracies and how democratic values shape the structures and processes of public policymaking. The panel will use the book as a starting point to explore representative democracy within the complexities of the modern administrative state.
Participating in the forum are panelists Lee Ann Banaszak, head of the Penn State Department of Political Science and professor of political science, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies; John Christman, director of the Penn State Humanities Institute and professor of philosophy, political science, and women's studies; and Sean Gailmard, professor of political science at the University of California Berkeley. Ben Jones, assistant director of the Rock Ethics Institute, will moderate the forum. After the panelists provide their thoughts about the book, Bertelli will offer his response.
The forum is free and open to the public and will include time for questions from the audience.
Bertelli's research examines the role of political institutions in shaping public policy outcomes and organizational structures in both American and comparative settings. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 articles and books, including "Madison's Managers: Public Administration and the Constitution," "The Political Economy of Public Sector Governance," "Public Policy Investment: Policy Prioritization and British Statecraft," and the forthcoming "Public Administration and Democracy: The Complementarity Principle."
Jones studies ethics, political philosophy, and criminal justice. He is the author of "Apocalypse without God: Apocalyptic Thought, Ideal Politics, and the Limits of Utopian Hope" and co-editor of "The Ethics of Policing: New Perspectives on Law Enforcement."
Banaszak's research interests are comparative political behavior, social movements, and women and politics. Her books include "Why Movements Succeed or Fail," "The Women's Movement Inside and Outside the State," "Women's Movements Facing the Reconfigured State," and "100 Years of the Nineteenth Amendment."
Christman is the author of numerous articles and books in social and political philosophy, specializing in topics such as the social conception of the self, theories of justice and oppression, and the idea of freedom. His books include "The Myth of Property," "Social and Political Philosophy: A Contemporary Introduction," and "The Politics of Persons."
Gailmard studies the structure and development of American political institutions from a strategic perspective. His research has examined the emergence of political institutions in the English colonial period; expertise and political responsiveness in the bureaucracy; historical development of the American executive branch; the internal organization of the U.S. Congress; and electoral accountability. Gailmard is the author of "Learning While Governing: Expertise and Accountability in the Executive Branch" and "Statistical Modeling and Inference for Social Science."
This event will also be offered on Zoom. For more information, visit: publicpolicy.psu.edu/democracy