UA Bliss Institute Hosts National Party Conference

Akron, Ohio, Sept. 25, 1997 — The state of the American two-party system will be the focus of a wide-ranging series of panel discussions hosted by The University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, Oct. 9-10. “The State of the Parties: 1996 and Beyond” features former Democratic Party Chairman Don Fowler and Hal Bruno, director of political coverage for ABC News, as keynote speakers Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. in the Martin University Center. The keynote addresses are free and open to the public.

The two-day conference will analyze key aspects of party-building in the 1990s. Current hot-button panel topics will include the role of gender and race in party politics, the evolving role of the national committees, the judicial shaping of party politics, values and activists behavior and political parties targeting of state legislative districts.

Fowler, chairman of Fowler Communications Inc., served as national chairman of the Democratic Party from 1995-97. He has been active at all levels of the party, holding posts as executive director and chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Fowler now teaches political science at the University of South Carolina.

Bruno has covered national politics since 1960. As director of political coverage for ABC News, he's responsible for the planning and editorial content of political news on the company's television and radio networks. Bruno served as a moderator of the 1992 vice presidential debate. He frequently appears on air as an analyst and is the host of Hal Bruno's Washington.

Other speakers during the two-day conference will include political scientists and party operatives. Included among the speakers will be A. James Reichley, the Georgetown Graduate Public Policy program; Paul A. Beck, Ohio State University; L. Sandy Maisel, Colby College; John H. Aldrich, Duke University; and representatives of Republican and Democratic state party operations and former Bliss Institute students.

“There are fundamental questions facing the political parties,” says Dr. John Green, director of the Bliss Institute. “Although 1996 returned the status quo in terms of party leadership—Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich—we have to determine what role political parties play in these events. How did party organizations fare, and what are the future implications as the parties prepare for a new century of party activism and governing?”

For conference information and registration, contact Holly Harris Bane at The Bliss Institute, (330)972-5182.

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