Our American Nightmare: The Anachronistic Disaster of the Electoral College

Each year the Margaret Chase Smith Library sponsors an essay contest for high school seniors. The essay prompt for 2021 asked students to offer their opinions on whether the Electoral College has outlived its usefulness, or if it is more important than ever given the country’s current deep political polarization. This is the first-place essay.

Forest Policies and Adaptation to Climate Change in Maine: Stakeholder Perceptions and Recommendations

Socioeconomic pressures require forest management to address the impacts of climate change. However, we must ask, Are current forest policies sufficient to deal with the impacts of climate change? Here, we report on two surveys of forest stakeholders in Maine including woodlot owners and forestry professionals and discuss their perceptions of the barriers to climate change adaptation. We conclude with several policy directions including reevaluating existing policies, expanding incentive-based policies, integrating adaptation efforts into mitigation efforts, and increasing communication and outreach.

Legislative Amendment of Citizen Initiatives: Where the “Will of the Voter” Meets the “Consent of the Elector”

This article discusses the issues involved in legislative amendment of citizen initiatives in Maine by explaining the legislature’s authority to amend or repeal citizen initiatives, how and why the Maine Constitution specifically provides for that authority, and how and why that approach is conceptually consistent with numerous other provisions and principles of our Constitution. This article further suggests the types of issues that, regardless of the subject matter in question, the legislature should consider in deter­mining whether, and if so how and when, to change a directly democratic act of the people. Such considerations when earnestly applied can serve to balance the legislature’s representational duty to mind the popular will as well as its leadership responsibility to steward the state with the additional exercise of the legislature’s own lawmaking power.

American Democracy and Governance in a Polarized Era

Where do we stand today amid America’s sharply divided politics and governance? I argue here that in less than two and a half centuries since the nation’s founding, it has gone from the espousal of democracy and the general welfare to the pursuit of autocracy and corporatism. In the absence of fundamental reforms, America’s founding principles and our national character are at risk.

The Importance of Education and Trust Building for Wabanaki Self-Governance

Education and trust building are inextricably intertwined parts of addressing failed efforts of the state of Maine and the Wabanaki tribes to resolve tribal self-governance issues. Lack of structural and financial support for the delivery of Wabanaki Studies Law content directly affects tribal-state relations and Wabanaki self-determination in Maine. This article examines legislative proposals, current laws, and scholarly research and explore how they relate to tribal self-governance. Maine needs strategies for trust building and increased educational experiences for all Maine residents about Wabanaki people and ways of knowing.

Reflections: Taking the Long View

Linda Silka's reflections on the benefits of taking a long view of public policy issues.