| Established | 1998; 27 years ago (1998) |
|---|---|
| Mission | Promoting the value of politics and the importance of civic engagement |
| Director | Larry J. Sabato |
| Address | Montesano, 2201 Old Ivy Rd.,Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. |
| Location | ,, United States |
| Coordinates | 38°2′51″N78°30′51″W / 38.04750°N 78.51417°W /38.04750; -78.51417 |
 Interactive map of University of Virginia Center for Politics | |
| Website | centerforpolitics |
TheUniversity of Virginia Center for Politics (CfP) is anonpartisan institute at theUniversity of Virginia. Based inCharlottesville, Virginia, the institute promotes the value of politics and the importance ofcivic engagement. It operates on the principle that 'government works better when politics works better, and politics works better when citizens are informed and involved participants'.
Founded in 1998 by professor and political analystLarry Sabato, the institute is housed inMontesano, on property once owned byUnited States SenatorThomas S. Martin, and functions with the funding support from a variety of public and private sources.
Alongside its focus oncivic education and engagement, the CfP also publishesSabato's Crystal Ball, a source of comprehensive election analysis which is recognized as providing the most accurate electoral predictions.
The Center for Politics was founded in 1998 byLarry Sabato, a professor at the University of Virginia, to put into practice his belief that "politics is a good thing!".[1][2]
With an aim to "promote the value of politics and the importance ofcivic engagement" by improving the political process and citizens' interaction with it, the center seeks to influence the functioning of government itself.[3] The institute's three core aims are:
Having been founded in 1998 at the 'Center for Governmental Studies', the Center's first program was the Virginia Governors' Conference, which evolved into the Virginia Political History Project, and a post-electionconference which is now the annual American Democracy Conference.[1][2][4][5]
In 1999, the CfP launched The Youth Leadership Initiative, and was noted as the nations 'only center dedicated to restoring the health of the American democratic system'. In October 1999, the Center hosted the largest internet election in the nation's history with 10,000 students.[6][7] In 2002, the Center's 'Crystal Ball' election predictions debuted.[8]
In 2008, the Center moved into Montesano, an early 20th-centuryGeorgian Revival house on land previously owned byThomas Staples Martin,US Senator fromVirginia. In 2009, the Center launched its newest program, Global Perspectives on Democracy, a program designed to foster dialogue between citizens in established and emerging democracies around the world and to conduct workshops on civic action plans.
The Youth Leadership Initiative provides free, technology-based civic education materials toK-12 teachers and students in public and private schools in all 50 states and Defense Department schools internationally.
The program emphasizes hands-on participation so that students can directly experience the electoral and legislative procedures of American government. The components of the Youth Leadership Initiative include detailedlesson plans, an onlinemock election, an online policy-making simulation which engages students in the law-making process nationwide, and a political campaign-simulating computer game.[9]
In 2008, Diane Trim ofInside the School, a website for secondary educators, ranked the Youth Leadership Initiative'smock election highly, giving it more stars than the other two educational mock election programs reviewed and praising the Youth Leadership Initiative program for its comprehensiveness and ease of use.[10]
The Youth Leadership Initiative began as a response to a perception of increasingpolitical apathy among citizens and a decline in the number of schools incorporating civics lessons into their curricula. It started in Virginiapublic schools, but is now nationwide.
Current partners include:[9]
Sabato's Crystal Ball, founded by CfP Director Larry Sabato, is a free,nonpartisan weekly online newsletter and comprehensive website that analyzes the current American political scene and predicts electoral outcomes forU.S. House of Representatives,U.S. Senate,governors, andU.S. president races. Since it was first launched in September 2002, the Crystal Ball has garnered a reputation for fair analysis and accurate predictions and is frequently cited by journalists and other political watchers.[11]
Over its lifetime,Sabato's Crystal Ball has a 98% accuracy rate in predicting U.S. House races, 98% accuracy rate in predicting U.S. Senate races (including 100% accuracy each of the past two election cycles), and 94% accuracy rate in predicting gubernatorial races.[citation needed] It also has featured commentary from renowned political scientists and journalists, includingAlan Abramowitz ofEmory University,James E. Campbell from theUniversity at Buffalo,Dahlia Lithwick who writes forNewsweek andSlate,Thomas E. Mann from theBrookings Institution, andBarbara A. Perry fromSweet Briar College.
The CfP hosts an annual post-Election Day conference to analyze the outcome of the year'scampaigns and elections, discuss its impact on upcoming races and campaigns, and assess the overall state of American democracy.[12] Previous conferences have included such speakers as journalistsDahlia Lithwick,Susan Page, andRich Lowry, strategistsEd Rollins and Kiki McLean, and public officials Rep.Tom Davis, Rep.Artur Davis,U.S. Secretary of StateLawrence Eagleburger, and Sen.Mark Warner.
The 2009 American Democracy Conference was held on December 3 at theNewseum inWashington, DC and is co-sponsored byPOLITICO. Keynote speakers were Virginia governorTim Kaine, chairman of theDemocratic National Committee, and Texas senatorJohn Cornyn, chairman of theNational Republican Senatorial Committee. Panelists included journalistsMike Allen andSusan Page; congressmanRoy Blunt; and strategistsPaul Begala,Alex Castellanos, andLeslie Sanchez.[12]
The Virginia Political History Conference focuses on the history of politics, policy, and political leadership in the CfP's home state of Virginia. The Virginia Political History Conference includes an annual summer conference, a documentary on the same subject, and accompanying research materials. The most recent conference focused on the 50th anniversary of the official end ofMassive Resistance, Virginia's official policy to resist the integration of its public schools, with a conference at theVirginia State Capitol inRichmond, Virginia, featuring panels with students who were unable to attend school, as well as keynote speakerDouglas Wilder, the firstAfrican-American governor in U.S. history.[13]
There have been eight documentaries produced in conjunction with the conference:[14]
On October 17, 2007, the CfP hosted a National Constitutional Convention inWashington, D.C. The convention featured panel discussions on the U.S. Constitution, moderated byBob Schieffer ofCBSFace the Nation.[18] The keynote speaker of the convention wasSupreme Court JusticeSamuel Alito, and it also featured remarks by formervice presidential nomineeGeraldine Ferraro and former senatorBob Dole.[19]
In conjunction with the convention and the publication of Larry J. Sabato'sA More Perfect Constitution, the CfP produced a documentary, "Questioning theConstitution".[20] The film features interviews with ProfessorLarry J. Sabato, former Senate Majority LeaderRobert J. Dole,NAACP ChairmanJulian Bond,Republican National Committee ChairmanMichael Steele andACLU PresidentNadine Strossen.Questioning the Constitution won an Award of Excellence from the International Academy of Visual Arts.[21]
The CfP has been involved in a number of publications, from full-length books to academic reports. CfP Director Larry J. Sabato has written over a dozen books, most notablyFeeding Frenzy,Year of Obama, andA More Perfect Constitution.The Dynamic Dominion andVirginia in the Vanguard by Frank Atkinson were published in partnership with the CfP. The CfP has also published the Political Challenges Series on a wide array of topical issues. Volumes in this series includeHealth Care Half Truths by Dr. Arthur Garson Jr. and Carolyn Engelhard,Freedom is Not Enough: Black Voters, Black Candidates, and American Presidential Politics by Ronald Walters, andAttack the Messenger byCraig Crawford.[22]
The CfP also publishes reports, such as "Virginia Votes" which is a compendium of election results for the state of Virginia. In 2004, it published a report on civic education, "Politics: The Missing Link of Responsible Civic Education," which seeks to explain the reason for a decline of civic engagement among young people and also provide solutions to the problem.[23]
The CfP is one of 20 colleges and universities participating in the National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement.[24] The Campaign began in 2003 as an initiative of theHarvard Institute of Politics.[25] It focuses on three priorities:
As part of the Campaign, the CfP organizes an annual Voter Registration Coalition to register students to vote.[26] The CfP also grants Awards for Civic Excellence, stipends available to undergraduates at theUniversity of Virginia to supportinternships in the field of politics.[27] The CfP also offers internships to University of Virginia students and select undergraduate students from other institutions, as part of the focus oncareer development.[28]
Launched in March 2009, Global Perspectives on Democracy is a new program that seeks to help educate and empower young leaders and representatives of marginalizedminority groups in established and emerging democracies to identify and implement effective tools and strategies for civic action and advocacy through peaceful and productive means.[29] The first initiative undertaken as part of Global Perspectives on Democracy was a two-way exchange program, with Sri Lankan citizens visiting theUnited States to learn about American democracy and two CfP staff members going toSri Lanka to teach civics lessons and learn about the challenges in Sri Lanka.[30]
Begun in 1999, this series of discussions explores "topical issues inAmerican politics." Recently, the series has brought then-presidential candidateHillary Clinton to the University of Virginia and hosted several discussions on "taboo subjects" like the roles played by race, religion and gender inpolitical campaigns. Other participants in the Series include former presidential candidateMichael Dukakis, formerNew Hampshire Governor andWhite House Chief of StaffJohn H. Sununu,Democratic Party strategistDonna Brazile, formerConnecticut GovernorLowell Weicker, and journalistBob Woodward.[31]
Sabato, who is quoted by news media so frequently that he is known as Mr 'Dial-A-Quote' made himself available to the politicians last night for a public roasting to raise money for the new Center for Governmental Studies he has founded at the University of Virginia.
said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Governmental Studies at the University of Virginia
On 26 October, 10,000 Virginia students will showcase what may become of the electoral process of the 21st Century with the largest digital election in the Nation's History [...] The Youth Leadership Initiative is the signature program at [...]
'only center dedicated to restoring the health of the American democratic system'
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