This post is contributed by LWVJ member LaRae Jones. Various scholars and social scientists remind us that our middle class is eroding, along with our roads, our bridges, harbors, and – most alarmingly – schools. Some see the solution in renewed isolationism that reduces the huge budget drain of foreign wars and arms races. The more [more...]
This post is contributed by LWVJ member Margo Waring. The Alaska Constitution requires that the State redraw the lines of legislative districts every ten years, using census data to ensure that each legislative district has the same number of residents as every other district. Each time that redistricting occurs, there is great concern that minorities could [more...]
Three ideas are fundamental to the workings of a democracy: The open and unrestricted access to a secret ballot by all adults. A ballot secured by competent administration from accidental or purposeful disclosure of a voter’s ballot choices. The use of a paper balloting system that assures the auditing and accurate hand counting of voting [more...]
This post is contributed by LWVJ member Ann Fuller. Let’s make democracy work by improving civics education in our schools and community. Our future well-being depends on people sensibly cooperating for effective action and engaging in open debate. Helping students learn to think critically, monitoring school programs, and including young people in practical democracy are important [more...]
This post is contributed by LWVJ member Pat Watt. Our Assembly and School Board members are elected on a nonpartisan basis. Why is that – and does it matter? State statutes require Alaska’s local governments to adopt rules for conducting local elections - but allow them plenty of flexibility about how they conduct those elections. Juneau’s [more...]
This post is contributed by LWVJ member Judy Andree. Freedom, patriotism, the Bill of Rights, the Founding Fathers — all rallying cries when talking about politics in the USA. But we don’t hear much talk about our responsibilities as citizens in a free society. Every freedom we enjoy comes with citizen responsibilities. Here are three points [more...]
This post is contributed by LWVJ member Chris Niemi. While listening to the radio the day before our primary election, a KINY radio announcer said that picture ID was required to vote. Shocked, I called the radio station and was told that photo ID would “speed up the process”. The announcer misinformed the public at least [more...]
This post is contributed by LWVJ member carolyn Brown. When I was a kid in early years of learning the saga of U.S. history, I had trouble understanding the meaning, relationship and difference between the words ”suffrage” and “suffering.” They sounded alike to me. Now, these several years later, I find myself similarly troubled to understand [more...]
