A debate examining universal service will be held Monday, May 6, at 11:45 a.m. in 201 Riley Hall at Linfield College.
The debate on the nature and value of service to one’s country will feature Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, and Tom G. Palmer of the Atlas Economic Foundation and Cato Institute.
For decades, politicians and scholars have advocated programs that would require all 18-year old citizens to commit 18 to 24 months to military or civilian service. Because there are many versions of this proposal, Marshall and Palmer will focus specifically on the version created by the Clinton administration.
Marshall has been one of the chief intellectual architects of the movement to modernize progressive politics for the global age. He is an honorary vice president of Policy Network, an international think tank launched by Tony Blair to promote progressive policy ideas throughout the democratic world.
He has edited and co-edited many books, including “Mandate for Change,” the Progressive Policy Institute’s best-selling policy blueprint for President Clinton’s first term. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The American Interest, The American Prospect and Democracy.
Palmer is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and director of Cato University. He is also the executive vice president for international programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and is responsible for establishing operating programs in 14 languages and managing programs for a worldwide network of think tanks. He frequently lectures on political science, public choice, civil society and the foundations of individual rights. He has published reviews and articles on politics and morality in scholarly journals and periodicals such as the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Ethics, Critical Review, Constitutional Political Economy, Slate, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Die Welt, Caixin, Al Hayat, Washington Post and The Spectator of London. He is the author of “Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice” and editor of “The Morality of Capitalism.”
Lunch will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at 11:45 a.m. and the debate will begin at noon. This event is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Forum on Law, Rights, and Justice and the Program for Liberal Arts and Civic Engagement (PLACE). This year’s PLACE theme is “Legacies of War.” For more information, contact Nick Buccola, assistant professor of political science, 503-883-2246, nbuccol@linfield.edu.
