Demos In the News

Women and the Boardroom: Practice Effective Networking at All Levels of Your Career to be On Track for the Boardroom

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:25:00 EST

Many senior women have made it to the top of their department, and even make it into the executive management team. But they find themselves at a loss because they just haven't built the network they need to take them from being a respected professional to recognized expert to a formal director of a company on a corporate board.

"No women can be chosen for a job, promotion, a nomination for public office, a seat on a board of directors, a slot in a training program unless women are in the pool of finalists" states Linda Tarr-Whelan in her book Women lead the Way.

Prisons, Redistricting and the Census

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:14:00 EST

The decision to release the data early was taken at the behest of Representative William Lacy Clay, a Democrat of Missouri, who has long been concerned about the inequities brought by prison-based gerrymandering. The data will be especially helpful to the 100 or so counties that - at great effort - already remove prison inmates from the count at redistricting time. And it should give fresh impetus to legislation pending in several states - including New York - that would require them to determine the home addresses of inmates and draw legislative districts based on that information.

New Option for the States on Inmates in the Census

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:54:00 EST

A number of states--including Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin--are weighing legislation requiring that prisoners be counted at their last known address--for purposes of reapportionment...

In New York, the change could prove pivotal because of the see-saw fight for control of the State Senate and the fact that the state faces the loss of at least one Congressional seat after the 2010 census.

Bureau officials have agreed to release the more specific data several months earlier than usual to let states and localities consider it in apportioning districts for 2011 and 2012 races.

Other groups that have lobbied for the change include the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. and Demos, a research and advocacy organization.

States Get New Leeway to Tally Prisoners in Census

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:53:00 EST

In this week's policy change on prisoner counts, Census officials said they would release data on prison populations to states when they redraw legislative boundaries next year. This gives states more leeway in tallying their prisoners - a move that could reshape the political map.

Census director Robert Groves made the decision after weeks of discussion with Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., and with public interest and black groups. They called it an important first step toward shifting federal resources and representation back to urban communities, where they believe the aid is needed the most.

"For too long, communities with large prisons have received greater representation in government on the backs of people who have no voting rights in the prison community," said Brenda Wright, director of the Democracy Program at Demos, a research and advocacy organization. "The Census Bureau's new data will greatly assist states and localities in correcting this injustice."

The impact could be strongly felt in states such as New York, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Texas and Maryland, where prisons are found in more sparsely populated areas. In New York, for instance, most of the 60,000 inmates live in prisons in rural upstate communities, even though half the inmate population committed crimes in New York City.

Inmates' Stock Is Rising in Albany District Fight

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:23:00 EST

"The present rule takes people who come from and return to poor or black and Latino communities and transfers their value for reapportionment purposes to rural upstate districts that really have nothing to do with them," said Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat from the Upper West Side of Manhattan who is leading the effort to change the way prisoners are counted.

But Republicans say that aside from depriving upstate districts of representation in the Legislature, the plan would unfairly change the way one group is counted without changing how other transient groups, like university students and military families, are counted.

"This isn't purely black and white; you need consistency," said Senator Joseph A. Griffo, a Republican whose North Country district includes four prisons. "To me, until you change everything, you don't change one specific component."

If the proposal becomes law, New York would become the first state where prisoners are not considered residents of the district where they are incarcerated for purposes of determining the size of legislative districts. Similar proposals have been introduced recently in Illinois, Wisconsin and at the federal level, but none have become law.

Marlborough May Become First Mass. Town to Require Voter ID

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:34:00 EST

Despite statewide accusations of voter fraud in the recent Senate election, many argue that the new measure could hinder disenfranchised voters from casting their ballots and would add an unnecessary encumbrance to what is meant to be an easy and accessible right.

"I think it's a solution in search of a problem," said Brenda Wright, the director of the Democracy program at Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization.

Wright said a voter identification law could make voting more difficult for groups that are less likely to have an ID, such as seniors, students, low-income individuals and minorities.

"I think it's a disservice to the goal of making elections convenient and accessible," she said, noting that federal law requires voters who register to vote by mail to include a form of identification.

"There is already that protection in the law," she said. "I don't think new identification provisions are necessary to protect the integrity of elections in Massachusetts.

"You are more likely to be struck by lightning on your way to the polls than you are to commit voter fraud," she said.

A Way to Get More People to the Polls

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:15:00 EST

One of the best things Massachusetts ever did was to allow voter registration at the Registry of Motor Vehicles — and even that logical decision had detractors. But it has brought thousands of new voters onto the rolls. Getting them out to the polls is another story.

Same-Day Voter Registration Proposal Has Pros and Cons

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:27:00 EST

Others say whatever additional costs Election Day registration carries, the results are worth it. Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization, said a 2009 study found the top five voter turnout states in the 2008 presidential election were Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Maine and Massachusetts' neighbor, New Hampshire. All have Election Day registration.

North Carolina, the most recent state to implement the plan, reported voting increased 8 percent in the 2008 election. According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, 253,000 voters were same-day registrants in 2008 and 105,000 indicated they were first-time voters.

Brenda Wright, director of the Democracy Program at Demos, said North Carolina was the state with the largest increase in voter turnout from 2004, but conceded there were other reasons at play in the historic election.

"I don't think anyone would claim that same-day registration is the only reason for that," said Wright.

McCain Backs Restoring Glass-Steagall Bank Limits

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:55:00 EST

Passage of the Cantwell-McCain bill would force firms at the center of last year's financial crisis--such as Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo--to spin off investment and insurance operations, said Demos, a progressive think tank in New York.

A Long Wait for Women's Treaty

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:53:00 EST

Meanwhile, Tarr-Whelan, a 69-year-old grandmother, is lecturing and writing books about women's leadership. In her latest book, "Women Lead the Way," she points to studies that show that when women make up at least 30 percent of legislative bodies and corporate boards, we can really change the world - for the better. That's because women take the long view. They work across party lines. She is one of many who say that if Wall Street had more women in leadership roles, the country wouldn't be in the current financial fix. After 30 years, Tarr-Whelan believes we are finally on the verge of getting the treaty ratified. President Barack Obama, Biden and the current committee chairman, Sen. John Kerry, all support it.

Excerpt: Searching for Whitopia by Rich Benjamin

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:25:00 EST

What exactly is a Whitopia? A Whitopia (pronounced why-toh-pee-uh) is whiter than the nation, its respective region, and its state. It has posted at least 6 percent population growth since 2000. The majority of that growth (often upward of 90 percent) is from white migrants. And a Whitopia has a je ne sais quoi-an ineffable social charisma, a pleasant look and feel.

Ohio Settles Lawsuit Over Voter Registration

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:06:00 EST

Lisa Danetz, an attorney who represented Harkless and Mardis, said the settlement could lead to hundreds of thousands of registrations by low-income people who are eligible to vote. She said Monday the state agency and local welfare offices shared responsibility for making sure welfare applicants have a chance to register to vote.

Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:01:00 EST

"Women Lead the Way" presents argument, research, and tactical guidance to help readers wedge the door open and bring more women through and up. The evidence from around the world validates the findings of the United Nations General Assembly in 1995, which set a baseline of at least 30 per cent women at the table as a prerequisite for genuine partnership and lasting, positive change in the international arena. We see the same phenomena in the business world. More women as corporate officers and members of boards of directors results in stronger financial performance. At 30 per cent representation, we see concrete, positive outcomes for everyone not just women including increased shareholder value, more flexible management approaches, a broader definition of success, and better bottom lines.

Review: Web Pick of the Week

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:39:00 EST

A smart, illuminating work for women (and the men who work with them), this leadership self-help from prominent women's issues scholar and advocate Tarr-Whelan presents a discussion of women's leadership styles and roles rooted in theory, research, and a shining intellect, as well as thorough knowledge of the practicalities of the modern workplace. While some arguments are familiar (a future filled with women executives will benefit women and men alike), Tarr-Whelan also digs up men's strategies worth paying attention to-for instance, fostering tomorrow's leaders while climbing the career ladder yourself. Many of Tarr-Whelan's ideas are surprisingly simple, and at times counter-intuitive, but she's clear in her reasons for questioning studies that don't disaggregate results by gender: revelations include women investors make fewer mistakes than males-less likely to make trades based on emotion, more likely to use the advice of experts. Tarr-Whelan also introduces useful vocabulary to encapsulate her ideas, including "womenomics" as a mainstream business issue, and "first women" as a vital peer group. Conversational and eye-opening, with many narrative illustrations and concrete advice, Tarr-Whelan's text could prove an important volume for working women looking to advance and enrich their careers.

10 Years Later, Looking at Repeal of Glass-Steagall

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:11:00 EST

10 years later, the end of Glass-Steagall has been blamed by some for many of the problems that led to last fall's financial crisis. While the majority of problems that occurred centered mostly on the pure-play investment banks like Lehman Brothers, the huge banks born out of the revocation of Glass-Steagall, especially Citigroup, and the insurance companies that were allowed to deal in securities, like the American International Group, would not have run into trouble had the law still been in place.

"Commercial banks played a crucial role as buyers and sellers of mortgage-backed securities, credit-default swaps and other explosive financial derivatives," Demos, a nonpartisan public policy and research organization, wrote in a report discussing the problems it said were caused by the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

"Without the watering down and ultimate repeal of Glass-Steagall, the banks would have been barred from most of these activities," Demos said. "The market and appetite for derivatives would then have been far smaller, and Washington might not have felt a need to rescue the institutional victims."

Leadership for a Woman's Nation

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:34:00 EST

Perhaps the most significant transformation in this report, however, is that issues such as equal pay, flexible work schedules, and comprehensive childcare policies are addressed as societal issues vs. women's issues - shifting them from the margin to the center of public attention.

According to John Podesta, President of the Center for American Progress, "This report contemplates what a new America should look like after we finally embrace this important new dynamic in our lives and address these challenges not as ‘women's issues' but as fundamental issues important to the livelihood and well being of both men and women."

Last month I interviewed Linda Tarr-Whelan about her new book Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World. As one of our nation's premier experts on women's leadership, Tarr-Whelan's book is very clear about the outcomes leadership balance will bring for women, business, and the global society. She cites research that demonstrates when women are alongside men in leadership positions the decisions, thinking, and skill sets used by both genders changes, and the unique ideas, solutions, insights and sensibilities of women become part of the conversation.

Generation Recession

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:46:00 EST

The result of all this has been that many of today's young people--again, especially the poor, those with less education and people of color--have a measurably harder road to travel than their generational elders, according to "The Economic State of Young America," a report published in spring 2008 by Demos, a New York-based research and advocacy organization. Between 1975 and 2005, for instance, the typical annual income for workers between the ages of 25 and 34 decreased across all educational brackets, with the exception of women with bachelor's degrees. Men without a high school diploma suffered most, their annual income plummeting by 34.2 percent, while men with a high school diploma or the equivalent earned the runner-up slot, with an income drop of 28.5 percent. As for women, those with less than a high school diploma, as well as those possessing just a diploma, lost less ground than their male counterparts; but then again, they're still doing worse than before and, perhaps more to the point, they still fare significantly worse than men their age.

At the same time, today's young workers have had to do more with less. College tuition rates have skyrocketed--in fact, rates for four-year public universities have more than doubled since 1980--with the unsurprising result that nearly two-thirds of students graduating from four-year colleges in 2008 left in debt. The cost of childcare now eats up as much as 10 percent of a two-parent family's income in many states (as much as 14.3 percent in Oregon). And young people between the ages of 19 and 34 are the most likely population to be uninsured--not because they don't want health benefits but because employers don't offer them. A case in point: 63.3 percent of recent high school graduates had employer-provided healthcare in 1979, whereas just 33.7 percent had it in 2004.

"What we're looking at is a situation where young people entered the recession already feeling the brunt of thirty years' worth of pretty gradual but nonetheless dramatic economic and social changes," says Nancy Cauthen, director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos. "The recession just made a bad situation worse."

D.C. Takes Up Same Day Registration, So Should Congress

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:45:00 EST

Today, Virginians will turn out to elect their new governor. Unfortunately, Virginians who are eligible to vote but missed the October 5th registration deadline will not be able to play a role in this important process.

...

Numerous studies by Demos, a non-partisan public policy group, have shown that SDR is especially effective in boosting voter turnout among groups with historically low participation. For this reason, SDR may very well yield a meaningful increase in voting in the District. In 2008, only 60.7 percent of eligible voters in D.C. cast a ballot -- 35 states had higher turnout rates. About 11,000 eligible but unregistered DC residents did not participate in the historic 2008 election. SDR could have made a big difference for many of these citizens.

Can We Get Some Small-d Democracy?

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:50:00 EST

Last week, the Same Day Registration Act was introduced by Senator Russ Feingold (S.1986) and Congressman Keith Ellison (H.R. 3957) requiring states to provide for same day registration (SDR). With SDR, a citizen who misses a voter registration deadline can register at the polls on Election Day or the period leading up to it, and then cast a valid ballot.

Voting participation in the US averages an abysmal 50 percent for presidential elections and 40 percent for congressional elections. SDR has already proven it makes a real difference.

In the 2008 election, the top five states for voter turnout were Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine, New Hampshire, and Iowa. All had a turnout of 70 percent or more and all have same day registration. A total of nine states currently allow for it--the others are Idaho, Montana, North Carolina, and Wyoming.

"In these states, some of which have used SDR for 35 years, voter participation rates in Presidential Elections are consistently 7 to 12 percentage points higher than in states without [the] law," said Miles Rapoportv, President of Demos, a national public policy center that has studied and advocated for Same Day Registration for nearly a decade.

The Pillage People

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:40:00 EST

The Obama administration's passive attitude creates despair for observers like Wall Street veteran Nomi Prins, a former managing director of Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs and author of It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street (John Wiley & Sons, September). Whereas "the New Deal meshed government rescue with economic restructuring," Prins sees few signs that the Obama team is going to insist that the big bailout be coupled with serious re-regulation of the financial sector.

"I think we are less stable now," Prins told In These Times. "There are fewer banks and they are more concentrated and more influential than before. We might not have a crisis on subprime loans in five years, but it might turn out to be the financial sector not fully paying back their loans that causes a new crisis."

Thus far, Obama seems unwilling to engage in an all-out fight with Wall Street or even fundamentally break from the trickle-down approach followed by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (the former Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO). Paulson argued that major investment banks were "too big to fail" and then unleashed a gusher of federal assistance to Wall Street, starting with $787 billion in TARP funds.

Former Wall Street Player Reveals the Inside World Behind Shady Bailouts to Bankers

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:28:00 EST

A former managing director at Goldman Sachs and now a razor-sharp financial muckraker (and regular AlterNet contributor), Nomi Prins understands the labyrinthine world of Wall Street finance, with all its warts, as well as anyone.

In her new book, It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses and Backroom Deals From Washington to Wall Street, Prins lays bare the whole fetid corpse of the burst mortgage bubble.

It wasn't reckless borrowers and their subprime loans that built the house of cards that has come crashing down around us over the past two years, but an out-of-control finance sector running on a perverse set of incentives that made it incredibly profitable to essentially throw caution to the wind and take on incomprehensible amounts of risk.

Prins exposes the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington and shows how it led to a Wild West mentality on "the Street" that allowed the whole casino to flourish for a time.

And she follows the trillions in direct bailouts, subsidized loans and guarantees shelled out by the taxpayers when the whole thing went belly up, shining a bright light on the shadowy deals that decided which institutions would crash and burn and which others would receive the support needed to stay afloat, feast on the corpses of the fallen and then go on to the record profits and fat bonuses Wall Street's survivors enjoy today.

AlterNet recently asked Prins about the book, where we are in the financial crisis and her views of where we're going.

The Skimmer: Searching for Whitopia

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:32:00 EST

It sounds like a recipe for a riot: an inquisitive black writer journeying into some of the most segregated neighborhoods in the country. But Benjamin, a journalist with a Ph.D. in literature from Stanford, pulls off his quest with good cheer. He is invited into the homes and churches of what he calls "Whitopias": melanin-deficient exurbs and towns that have grown at least 6% since 2000, as whites have fled more ethnically diverse areas.

Banks Abusing Credit Card Fees

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:20:00 EST

Those most likely to be harmed by higher borrowing costs are consumers who are relying on their credit cards to carry them through the economic downturn. According to Demos, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization, most low- and middle-income households with high debt-stress levels - the ratio of a family's credit card debt to their annual income - use their credit cards to pay for unavoidable expenses, such as medical expenses or to cover household essentials after a job loss, not for discretionary items.

Higher rates lead to longer payoff periods and thousands of extra dollars in interest payments. Let's take the case of the average low- and middle-income consumers with $9,827 in credit card debt. If they continue to make a 2 percent monthly payment on that amount but at 13 percent interest plus prime, rather than our previous example of 10 percent interest, they must pay at least $19,897 in interest payments over the more than 45 years it will take to clear the balance. And because the prime rate is at historically low levels, this example likely presents a best-case scenario.

The 30% Rule of Women's Leadership

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:51:00 EST

In the book, she describes how 30% provides critical mass in any group of decision makers and creates a "tipping point" at which women's voices can be heard and their ideas implemented. The concept of the 30% solution has already been adopted in 23 countries, which already meet or exceed the goal. In 101 other countries, there have been changes to the constitutions, laws and/or political party practices to try and aim for 30% (or more) women in the decision making bodies. The eleven countries with the greatest representation of women at the highest levels of government are: Rwanda, Sweden, Cuba, Finland, Argentina, the Netherlands, Denmark, Angola, Costa Rica, Spain, and Norway.

The 30% Solution

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:32:00 EST

When women occupy 30% of any entity setting policy, they can influence the agenda, affect priorities, and bring their own particular skill set to both the framing of issues and their resolution. This is the tipping point in gender-balanced leadership. Its consequences are evident in politics, business, non-profit management, academia, and other contexts. With 30% female leadership, the political agenda can be transformed. Changes in our national priorities, as well as the allocation of our national resources, would be realized. An entirely different approach would come to bear not just on the act of problem solving, but on the selection of the problems to be solved.

The Missing Context: From Women's Issues to Societal Needs

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST

The United States ranks 69th in the world in women's political participation - we have an equally dismal record in Corporate America. In the 101 countries that have embraced what Tarr-Whelan calls "The 30% Solution," often through legislation or constitutional mandates, the result has been an intensified focus on the issues that are important to women - improving health care and education, ending violence, and developing long-neglected resources for working families. These same countries have also seen a better business bottom line with more women in power. Tarr-Whelan cites studies that show that the financial firms with more women at the top in France and Denmark weathered the 2008 economic crisis better than countries with fewer women in leadership positions.

Election Day Registration May Result in Higher Voter Turnout

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:59:00 EST

If Nebraskans were allowed to register and vote on Election Day, another 67,000 would likely vote in a presidential election.

Overall turnout could go up by 5.4 percent, based on analysis by Demos, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan group.

Election-Turnout Ideas Debated

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:23:00 EST

Proponents of election changes say Nebraska's neighbors could teach the state a thing or two about registering voters - if the state wanted to learn.

Iowa and Wyoming allow people to register and vote on Election Day.

Kansas allows voter registration online, and Colorado plans to launch an online registration system next year.

Colorado and South Dakota both allow residents to cast ballots even if they have moved within the state and not re-registered at their new address.
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All are steps being encouraged by advocates for change to add and keep more citizens on the voting rolls.

But Nebraska officials have reacted warily to those ideas.

Retired and Broke

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:02:00 EST

The statistics are unsettling. More than half of people 50 and older who carry debt spend most of their monthly income paying it down. An AARP study released before the worst of the current recession hit found that a quarter of those folks spend more than 75 percent of their income on their debts. Americans 65 and older who carry credit-card balances saw their average balance rise to $10,235, up 26 percent from 2005, according to Demos, a public-policy research group.

America's Booming White Enclaves

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:22:00 EST

Traveling some 27,000 miles, African-American journalist Rich Benjamin roamed the U.S. from 2007 to 2009 exploring a major demographic shift that is attracting remarkably little attention - the flight of white residents from cities and integrated suburbs into cloistered, racially homogeneous enclaves. Tidy communities such as St. George, Utah, and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho - places Benjamin calls Whitopias - have grown at triple the rate of America's cities in recent years, raising troubling questions about the country's multiracial cohesion. The Stanford literature Ph.D. chronicled his adventure in a new book, Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, and spoke with TIME about what he found.