Leadership, Ethics & Political Parties

Date/Time
Date(s) - May 31, 2018
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Location
University of Missouri – St. Louis, Millennium Student Center
1 University Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63121

Presented with support from:

Online registration is now closed. Walk-ins are welcome; check-in will begin at 9:00 a.m.

Now in its sixth year, the Public Ethics Conference is designed to bring together public officials, regional civic and private sphere leadership, academics, journalists, the interested public, and students around a conversation on ideal political process.

This year’s focus is the structure and functioning of political parties and party leadership. The questions we seek to address in this conference are not about the Republican Party vs. the Democratic Party. Instead, the question is how political parties themselves should be structured/governed/shaped.

Here is an appetizer list of the kinds of questions we seek to address:

Given they are technically private organizations with a very public role, what exactly is a political party?
How should political parties structure their internal decision making?
How much control should parties have over candidates?
How much control should parties have over money?
How much control should parties have over messaging/policy positions?
How does/should internal party process change in a region or institution where one party has a lock on power?
How should parties deal with insurrections from the inside or outside?
How does the role of a political party change in a one-party city or region?
What are alternatives to the current party system that we might explore?

SCHEDULE & SESSIONS

9:00-9:30 a.m.

Breakfast & Networking

9:30-9:50 a.m.

Welcome: Dr. Wally Siewert, Director of Civic Engagement, FOCUS St. Louis

9:50-11:10 a.m. – Session 1

One Party in Power: St. Louis City Democrats
This session will discuss what it means to be a big tent political party in a city where one party has a virtual monopoly on public office.

Panel:

Virvus Jones: Former St. Louis Alderman from the 27^th ward, Assessor, Comptroller, political commentator and consultant, and author
Annie Rice: Former Democratic 8^th Ward Committeewoman, current Alderperson from the 8^th ward, and 5^th Senate District Committeewoman to the state Democratic Party
Brian Wahby: Former Chair of the St. Louis Democrats, 7^th Ward Committeeman, and Missouri Delegate-At-Large to the Democratic National Committee

11:20-12:40 p.m. – Session 2

One Party in Power: Legislative Republicans
This session will discuss what it means to be a big tent political party when the party has a virtual monopoly on legislative power.

Panel:

Franc Flotron: Former Republican Minority Floor Leader of the Senate, Principal at Flotron & McIntosh Governmental Consultants
Michael Gibbons: Former President Pro Tem of the Missouri Senate and founding member of GibbonsWorkman
John Hancock: Former Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party (twice), founder of Hancock & Associates, and co-host of Hancock & Kelley on KMOX radio

12:40-1:30 p.m.

Lunch

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Keynote Address: Congressman Mickey Edwards
Former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma (1977-1993), Harvard and Princeton Professor, Journalist, current Vice President of the Aspen Institute, and Author of The Parties vs. The People. Learn more.

2:40-3:20 p.m.

Keynote Response: Dr. Daraka Larimore-Hall
Current Vice-Chair of the California Democratic Party, Dr. Hall is also a sociologist who studies the functioning of political parties. Learn more.

3:20-4:00 p.m.

Joint Q&A with Congressman Mickey Edwards and Dr. Daraka Larimore-Hall

4:00 p.m.

Conference Ends

Registration

$35 – General Admission
$25 – Students and FOCUS members

Registration includes breakfast, lunch and admission to all sessions.

Parking & Directions

The conference will take place in the Millennium Student Center (MSC) on the UMSL campus. View directions and campus map. Parking is available in the MSC lot. If using Metro, the closest stop is the UMSL North Station.

We’ll be in Century Room C, located on the top floor of the MSC.