February 4, 2024
Voice-to-Voice Cloning for the Laryngectomee Community:
Not Quite There, But Close

The Speakeasy, a blog for the laryngectomee community, publishes J.H. Snider’s article explaining how emerging voice cloning technology could empower laryngectomees.

January 2, 2024
iSolonFuturisticLogoThe Proper Scope of USVI’s Constitutional Convention
The USVI Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse publishes J.H. Snider’s policy brief arguing that delegates to the U.S. Virgin Islands constitutional convention should not view themselves as rubber stamps for the legislature’s agenda.

January 1, 2024
iSolonFuturisticLogoFixing USVI’s Constitutional Convention Enabling Act
The USVI Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse publishes J.H. Snider’s policy brief recommending ways to improve the enabling act USVI’s Governor signed into law on Jan. 19, 2023 and that the Legislature is in the process of amending.

June 7, 2023
USVI’s End-run Against America’s State Constitutional Tradition
The Center for Constitutional Design based at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ efforts to subvert the traditional American process when a territory seeks to acquire its own constitution.

April 25, 2023
The State Con-Con Papers
The Social Science Research Network publishes J.H. Snider’s collection of popular essays on the history, democratic function, public policy, politics, and needed reforms of the periodic state constitutional convention referendum.

March 24, 2023
Implementing the Constitutional Convention Voters Approved in 2020
The Virgin Islands Consortium publishes J.H. Snider’s argument that the constitutional convention enabling act passed by USVI’s Legislature focuses on empowering itself rather than USVI’s people.

March 13, 2023
Teachers Unions May Intimidate Student School-Board Members
Education Next publishes J.H. Snider’s blog post critiquing a news article about SMOBs that didn’t explain the power dynamics behind their institutional support.

March 2, 2023
Where a U.S. Territory Can’t Get Its Own Constitution: A Self-Serving Legislature Drives the Plot in a Story of Democratic Failure
Zocalo Public Square publishes J.H. Snider’s essay critiquing the U.S. Virgin Islands enabling act to convene a territorial constitutional convention.

March 2, 2023
Reforming the Process of Democratic Reform
J.H. Snider speech at the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, Mexicio City

March 1, 2022
The USVI Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse
iSolon.org launches a new website to provide iSolonFuturisticLogoinformation about the U.S. Virgin Islands’ constitutional convention. 

January 30, 2023
Part IV: Reforming constitutional convention campaigns
The Fulcrum publishes the fourth of J.H. Snider’s weekly four-part series discussing campaign finance regarding Alaska’s periodic consitutional convention referendum.

January 23, 2023
Part III: The failed constitutional convention campaign finance marketplace
The Fulcrum publishes the third of J.H. Snider’s weekly four-part series discussing campaign finance regarding Alaska’s periodic consitutional convention referendum.

January 16, 2023
Part II: Deterrence helps explain the spending spree
The Fulcrum publishes the second of J.H. Snider’s weekly four-part series discussing campaign finance regarding Alaska’s periodic consitutional convention referendum.

January 9, 2023
Part I: Alaska’s constitutional convention spending spree
The Fulcrum publishes the first of J.H. Snider’s weekly four-part series discussing campaign finance regarding Alaska’s periodic consitutional convention referendum.

January 6, 2023
A Smarter Way to Solve the Daylight Saving and Standard Time Debate
ISE publishes J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn’s argument that smart clock technology should recast the debate over how to seasonally adjust clocks.

November 1, 2022
Congrats to the anti-ConCon coalition: They’ve run a brilliant campaign
The Juneau Empire publishes J.H. Snider’s discussion of the brilliant Machiavellian strategies the no campaign used in Alaska to defeat the constitutional convention question on the Nov. 8 ballot.

October 20, 2022
The lieutenant governor’s sizable role in the constitutional convention
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed critiquing the Alaska Lt. Governor’s coverup of his role in selecting the highly influential pro & con statements regarding the constitutonal convention referendum in the election pamphlet mailed to every Alaskan voter on Oct. 10, 2022.

October 16, 2022
Why Vote for a Con-Con Nov. 8th? Top-Four Primary With Ranked-Choice Voting
The New Hampshire Journal publishes J.H. Snider’s suggestion of one democratic reform a New Hampshire constitutional convention could propose but that incumbent legislators won’t propose, regardless of its merits, in part because it changes the election system that got them elected.

October 16, 2022
Why is ‘con con’ on the Nov. 8 ballot?
The Concord Monitor publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of both why this question is on New Hampshire’s Nov. 8 ballot and why the state’s political elites have adopted a strategy of pretending it doesn’t exist.

October 6, 2022
Why is a convention referendum on the ballot this fall?
The Juneau Empire publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation why a constitutional convention referendum is on Alaska’s statewide ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.

September 24, 2022
Why is a constitutional convention referendum on Alaska’s ballot this fall?
J.H. Snider’s video explainer for Alaska’s Nov. 8, 2022 state constitutional convention referendum.

September 18, 2022
The Development of the Periodic Constitutional Convention Referendum Since America’s Founding
J.H. Snider paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

June 8, 2022
Apparent biases at work in creating pro-ConCon statement
The Juneau Empire publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of how Alaska’s Division of Elections selects the constitutional convention pro & con statements it mails to all Alaska voters in its official election pamphlet.

May 6, 2022
Why is the constitutional convention question on the fall ballot?
The New Hampshire Union Leader publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of the unique, post-1964 democratic function of New Hampshire’s periodic constitutional convention referendum.

April 28, 2022
Why Is a Constitutional Convention Question on NH Ballot This Fall?
The New Hampshire Journal publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of the unique democratic function of New Hampshire’s periodic constitutional convention referendum.

April 27, 2022
The New Hampshjire State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse
iSolon.org launches a new website to provide iSolonFuturisticLogoinformation about New Hampshire’s upcoming periodic constitutional convention referendum.

April 4, 2022
Missourians have a new opportunity to demand a constitutional convention
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch p

April 28, 2022ublishes J.H. Snider’s explanation how Missouri got the periodic constitutional convention referendum on the statewide ballot this coming Nov. 8.

March 28, 2022
The Missouri State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse
iSolon.org launches a new website to provideiSolonFuturisticLogo information about Missouri’s upcoming periodic constitutional convention referendum.

March 23, 2022
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Student members of school boards present a dangerous conflict of interest
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed explaining how Maryland’s student-member-of-the-board position has become a vehicle for corruption.

February 20, 2022
Derailing Alaska’s Constitutional Convention Referendum
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed warning that even if Alaskans approve a referendum this fall calling for a constitutional convention, the legislature may not convene it.

February 9, 2022
Preparing for Alaska’s constitutional convention referendum
The Juneau Empire publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal for improving Alaska’s delegate selection process relating to its Nov. 8, 2022 state constitutional convention referendum.

February 1, 2022
The Alaska State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse
iSolon.org launches a new website to provide iSolonFuturisticLogoinformation about Alaska’s upcoming periodic constitutional convention referendum.

January 24, 2022
Appellate judges should call a jury to pick state Senate’s redistricting map
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch publishes J.H. Snider’s argument that the six Missouri appellate judges tasked with drawing new redistricing lines for the Missouri State Senate should consider employing a supersized-jury on redistricting.

January 13, 2022
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Pittman Falls Short on Transparency Pledge
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed presenting a case study in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, of the discrepancy between open government rhetoric and implementation.

December 21, 2021
Untying Redistricting’s Gordian Knot
Maryland Matters publishes J.H. Snider’s solution to America’s decennial gerrymandering problem via the use of a “Citizens’ Assembly on Redistricting.”

November 30, 2021
Create a Watchdog Branch of Government
Routledge publishes J.H. Snider’s book chapter, arguing for fundamentally reconceptualizing local media policy, in Fixing American Politics.

November 8, 2021
The State Con-Con Papers
The Social Science Research Network publishes J.H. Snider’s collection of 54 short essays on the history, democratic function, and politics of the periodic state constitutional convention referendum.

November 4, 2021
What do we know, and how do we feel about our state constitutions?
J.H. Snider’s presentation at “State Constitutions and Governance in the U.S.,” a conference held at the Utah Valley University Center for Constitutional Studies.

October 29, 2021
Maryland Needs a New Open Government Paradigm
Maryland Matters publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the Maryland General Assembly’s current mendacious and ineffective paradigm for promoting transparent government.

July 26, 2021
iSolon signs on to a letter from the Society of Professional Journalists to the White House expressing concern about censorship by government public information officers. J.H. Snider has a related book chapter being published by Routledge on November 30, 2021.

The State Of Maryland

July 7, 2021
J.H. Snider’s testimony advocating for redistricting juries before the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission.

June 7, 2021
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Partisan vs nonpartisan elections is a false choice for Annapolis
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed endorsing open primaries with ranked-choice voting for local elections.

April 15, 2021
The Periodic Constitutional Convention Referendum in Early American Thought
J.H. Snider paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association.

March 11, 2021
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)False Transparency: Change to Maryland Public Infomation Act not really a change at all
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s letter-to-the-editor critiquing an op-ed advocating for the most important legislation currently under consideration by the Maryland General Assembly concerning Maryland’s Public Information Act.

March 1, 2021
Embedded Finance: The Next Big Disruption?
Chief Executive cites J.H. Snider’s and Terra Ziporyn’s book, Future Shop: How Future Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop & What We Buy, for its prescience.

February 26, 2021
The General Assembly’s Make-Believe ‘Open Government’ Legislation
Maryland Matters publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the Maryland General Assembly’s open government track record.

January 24, 2021
When Schools Are Hostile to Online Course Choice
Maryland Matters publishes J.H. Snider’s criticism of Maryland public policy that prevents families with K-12 students from having access to high-quality online course options

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)

January 3, 2021
Anne Arundel schools block students from taking the best outsourced online courses
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s criticism of K-12 school systems that prevent their students from having access to high-quality online course options.

November 6, 2020
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Anne Arundel Gets an F for Water Bill Transparency
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s letter-to-the-editor critiquing the transparency of water bills sent to Anne Arundel County’s 580,000 residents. The Director of Public Works responds to it in an op-ed.

November 1, 2020
It’s time to talk about a constitutional convention
The Globe Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s plea to the Iowa press to focus on the pros and cons of calling a constitutional convention instead of shortcircuiting that discussion by publishing misleading facts about the unpopularity of past constitutional calls.

October 17, 2020
Why are Iowa voters being asked about a constitutional convention? What checking this box means
The Gazette cites J.H. Snider’s explanation why Iowa’s framers endorsed including a periodic constitutional convention referendum in Iowa’s 1857 Constitution.

October 10, 2020
Iowa’s constitutional convention process, a triumph of democracy, could be improved
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal to add an additional public participation and deliberation stage to the state constitutional convention process.

September 21, 2020
3 things Iowans should consider about constitutional convention referendum
The Iowa City Press-Citizen publishes J.H. Snider’s argument that what Iowans think about their upcoming state constitutional convention referendum is not what Iowa’s political insiders have made it out to be.

September 19, 2020
Iowa Con Con 101
J.H. Snider’s video explainer, distributed through The Iowa State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse, for Iowa’s Nov. 3, 2020 state constitutional convention referendum.

August 16, 2020
Regular Iowans can change things by voting for a constitutional convention on Nov. 3
The Des Moines Register publishes J.H. Snider’s call for Iowans to begin debating Iowa’s next referendum on whether to call a state constitutional convention.

July 20, 2020
Make Covid-Era K-12 Local Education More Like Daycare: Small-scale “nurture centers” can support remote learning for children of parents who aren’t available to homeschool
Education Next publishes J.H. Snider’s call for a new division of labor between local and remote learning for K-12 public education.

June 17, 2020
The illegal cover-up of Maryland’s anti-choice distance-learning policies
The Washington ExaminerThe Washington Examiner publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of Maryland State government’s illegal cover-up of its student unfriendly but teacher union friendly remote learning practices.

April 21, 2020
Choice Media’s Story of the Day
Choice Media publishes a one-minute video of J.H. Snider’s take on the New York Times coverage of distance education in the wake of Covid-19.

April 5, 2020
Teachers’ unions share responsibility for mediocre distance education
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of union opposition to providing high quality remote learning options for families in response to the coronavirus caused school closures.

December 30, 2019
HechingerReportLogoHaving a parent who excels at local public-school politics shouldn’t be a precondition for a child to get a good teacher
The Hechinger Report publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of widespread clientelism in K12 education politics.

November 6, 2019
iSolon signs on to a letter from the Society of Professional Journalists to Congress expressing concern about censorship by government public information officers.

The Washington Post

July 19, 2019
The growing and hidden pay gap between junior and senior teachers is a disgrace
In its Sunday print edition, the Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the disgraceful pay gap between junior and senior K12 teachers.

The Washington PostJune 13, 2019
Should Anne Arundel raise local taxes to fund increased senior teacher pay?
The Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the growing and hidden disparity between junior and senior K12 teacher pay in Maryland. For additional context, see Maryland’s K12 Public School Compensation Transparency.

March 31, 2019
America’s Other Legislative Bypass Constitutional Mechanism
J.H. Snider’s presentation on the periodic state constitutional convention referendum at the Unrig the System Summit in Nashville, Tennessee.

January 19, 2019
Hawaii’s Failed Campaign Finance Law:
The Case of the Star-Advertiser’s Missing Front Page Ad Disclaimer

Hawaii Free Press LogoHawai`i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of Hawaii’s implementation of its campaign finance ad disclosure laws regarding ballot referendums.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)

December 11, 2018
A jury should decide on Maryland’s next redistricting map
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal to fix Maryland’s gerrymandering problem. Snider has published similar proposals in opeds published in Florida and North Carolina.

November 3, 2018
Who Spent What, When, and Where on the Con-Con Referendum
Hawaii Free Press LogoHawai`i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of both the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission’s constitutional convention data and how it was reported in the press.

November 1, 2018
Con-Con: Hawaii’s only hope for term limits
Hawaii Free Press LogoHawai`i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation why a constitutional convention, not the State Legislature, is more likely to propose the highly popular reform of legislative term limits.

October 27, 2018
The War Between Civil Beat and Star-Advertiser on the Con-Con Referendum
Hawaii Free Press LogoHawai`i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of Hawaii’s two leading newspapers’ coverage of Hawaii’s Nov. 6, 2018 constitutional convention referendum.

October 17, 2018
The Advertised Cost of a Constitutional Convention
Hawaii Free Press LogoHawai’i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of opponents’ framing of the costs of a Hawaii state constitutional convention.

October 13, 2018
Why Con-Con Opponents Willfully Ignore Legislative Bypass
Hawaii Free Press LogoHawai’i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of opponents’ framing of the benefits of a Hawaii state constitutional convention.

October 10, 2018
To Oppose A ConCon Is To Oppose Constitutional Democracy
HonoluluCivicBeatLogoCivil Beat publishes J.H. Snider’s democratic theory lesson explaining the linkage between popular ratification and modern constitutional democracy.

October 8, 2018
If You Don’t Vote On Constitutional Questions, You’ve Just Voted ‘No
HonoluluCivicBeatLogoCivil Beat cites J.H. Snider’s political analysis of Hawaii’s constitutional convention voting rule specifying that non-votes will be counted as no votes.

September 28, 2018
Jury, not judges, should pick redistricting plan
News and Record LogoThe News & Record publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal to use a redistricting jury to address North Carolina’s gerrymandering litigation, which has become the highest profile redistricting case in the U.S. Also published in the September 23 edition of the Asheville Citizen-Times.

September 21, 2018
Want Term Limits? A Con Con Is Your Only Hope
HonoluluCivicBeatLogoHonolulu Civil Beat publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of the natural linkage between state legislative term limits and the institution of the periodic state constitutional convention in a state, such as Hawaii, lacking the constitutional initiative.

September 17, 2018
Prince George’s County pension-spiking is ripping off Maryland taxpayers
The Washington ExaminerThe Washington Examiner publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of K12 public school pension spiking and compensation disclosure in Maryland.

August 13, 2018
The State Con-Con Papers
The State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse publishes J.H. Snider’s collection of 42 short essays on the history, democratic function, and politics of the periodic state constitutional convention referendum.

August 3, 2018
Analysis of Candidate Position Statements on the Nov. 6 ConCon Referendum
Hawaii Free Press LogoThe Hawai’i Free Press publishes J.H. Snider’s analysis of more than 80 candidate position statements on Hawaii’s Nov. 6, 2018 state constitutional convention referendum.

June 14, 2018
Take the time now to understand the ‘Con Con’ question
Honolulu Star-Advertiser LogoThe Honolulu Star-Advertiser publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed arguing that, contrary to the messages sent in popular media, the right to meaningfully reform one’s constitution is the most fundamental and precious of all political rights.

April 30, 2018
State Constitutional Convention Was Hijacked In ’96 — It May Happen Again,
HonoluluCivicBeatLogoHonolulu Civil Beat publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision regarding the majority required to call a state constitutional convention in Hawaii.

March 22, 2018
Hawaii’s biased constitutional convention ballot question
Honolulu Star-Advertiser LogoThe Honolulu Star-Advertiser publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed critiquing the ballot language and other information provided by Hawaii’s Board of Elections regarding upcoming state constitutional convention referendums.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)January 17, 2018
Clinton email practices the rule in Maryland
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s observations about the daunting politics of government official email transparency.

December 17, 2017
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Our say: Appointment panel demonstrates — again — why elected school board is better
Capital editorial cites J.H. Snider expose of due process violations by a school board appointments commission.

December 7, 2017
Preparing For Hawaii’s Next Constitutional Convention VoteHonoluluCivicBeatLogo
Honolulu Civic Beat publishes J.H. Snider’s heads up to Hawaii about its Nov. 6, 2018 state constitutional convention referendum.

December 5, 2017
Too High a Price for America’s Next Generation TV System
The Huffington PostThe Huffington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the federal government’s giveaway of spectrum rights to media plutocrats as it transitions the broadcast TV band of spectrum to mobile broadband service.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)

November 27, 2017
Anne Arundel school board pick may have been invalid

T
he Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s expose of due process violations by a school board appointments commission.

November 3, 2017
GothamGazetteLogoNew York’s Con Con Ballot is Biased
The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of New York’s November 7, 2017 state constitutional convention referendum ballot.

October 26, 2017
Times Union Logo with EagleA con-con is a check on legislative corruption
The Albany Times Union
publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of the periodic state constitutional convention referendum as a check on the legislature.

October 23, 2017
CityAndStateLogo11th-Hour Barrage: Why Opponents Attack The Constitutional Convention Process—Not Its Substance
City & State publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of the last-minute barrage of negative ads employed by state constitutional convention opponents.  Another version can be found at Dueling Experts, Part II: The Pros and Cons of Con Con, October 25, 2017.

October 20, 2017
Shall there be a convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same?
The Altamont Enterprise cites J.H. Snider’s analysis of constitutional convention referendum interest group politics.

October 15, 2017
CityAndStateLogoThe Historical Antecedents for New York’s ConCon Debate
City & State publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation why using New York’s 1967 constitutional convention as the benchmark to evaluate future conventions is misleading.

October 8, 2017
WallStreetJournalLogoNew York Constitutional Convention Vote Raises Concern Over Pensions
The Wall Street Journal cites J.H. Snider’s explanation for why New York State’s constitutional convention no campaign has been so effective in recruiting retired union workers.

September 28, 2017
As November ‘ConCon’ Referendum Nears, Supporters and Opponents Escalate Att Save & Exit acks,
Public radio station WNYC cites J.H. Snider’s explanation of the special interest politics behind state constitutional convention referendums.

September 19, 2017
Pros and Cons of a ConCon?
The Indypendent cites J.H. Snider’s explanation of the democratic function of the periodic state constitutional convention.

September 13, 2017
USA Today Network LogoDon’t trust a Constitutional Convention? Then you don’t trust the people
The Journal News, part of the U.S.A. Today Network, publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the argument that the public shouldn’t be trusted to vote on constitutional amendments.

September 13, 2017
USA Today Network LogoTrust New Yorkers? Then trust a Constitutional Convention
The Journal News, part of the U.S.A. Today Network, publishes a video to accompany J.H. Snider’s constitutional convention op-ed analysis.

September 10, 2017CityAndStateLogo
Why Foes Of A State Constitutional Convention Have The Upper Hand

City & State publishes J.H. Snider’s analysis of the comparative resource advantage that no campaigns bring to constitutional convention politics.

July 22, 2017
WallStreetJournalLogoNew York’s Political Establishment, Activists Spar Over Constitutional Convention
The Wall Street Journal cites J.H. Snider’s analysis of the politics surrounding New York State’s upcoming state constitutional convention referendum.

CityAndStateLogoJuly 12, 2017
Pension Issue Surreptitiously Drives New York ConCon Politics

City & State publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the opposition’s framing of New York’s upcoming state constitutional convention referendum.

July 10, 2017
As the Digital Divide Grows, An Untapped Solution Languishes 
See full size imageWired Magazine cites J.H. Snider’s critique of the FCC’s fraudulent and unaccountable giveaway of spectrum rights to EBS licensees. Another version of the article was published in the Hechinger Report.

June 29, 2017
Seek equal pay for equal work? Don’t become a K-12 teacher
HechingerReportLogoThe Hechinger Report publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of seniority-based pay discrimination among K12 public school teachers.

June 10, 2017
Opportunity for Reform: Educate New Yorkers on constitutional convention,
Times Union Logo with EagleThe Times Union publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed summarizing his argument in “Does the World Really Belong to the Living? The Decline of the Constitutional Convention in New York and Other US States, 1776–2015,” Journal of American Political Thought, Volume 6 (Spring 2017).

April 27, 2017
America’s $1 million per year K12 public school teachers
The Washington ExaminerThe Washington Examiner published J.H. Snider’s argument that K12 public school compensation should be reported using accrual as well as cash basis accounting.

GothamGazetteLogoApril 21, 2017
A Constitutional Right to Healthy Schools?
The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s proposed agenda for enhancing social welfare provisions in New York’s Constitution.

JournalOfAmericanPoliticalThoughtLogoApril 12, 2017
Does the World Really Belong to the Living? The Decline of the Constitutional Convention in New York and Other US States, 1776–2015
The Journal of American Political Thought publishes J.H. Snider’s account of the evolving politics of state constitutional conventions over a 240-year span.

HechingerReportLogoMarch 16, 2017

Why is Trump’s ed secretary ignoring the biggest development in education since the printing press? 

The Hechinger Report publishes J.H. Snider’s call for substantial public policy reform to realize the potential of online, course-based educational choice.

GothamGazetteLogoMarch 10, 2017
Needed: Fresh Eyes to Improve New York’s Constitution (Part II)
The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s call for state constitutional innovation: “Implementing First Amendment Values in the 21st Century”

GothamGazetteLogoMarch 3, 2017
Needed: Fresh Eyes to Improve New York’s Constitution–Part 1
The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of “New York’s Mandarin Constitutional Culture.”

FThe Washington Postebruary 17, 2017
Maryland should be truthful in reporting teacher pay
The Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s call on the Maryland State Department of Education to post on Maryland’s Open Data Portal the salaries and methodologies it uses tally its salary statistics.

December 18, 2016
The Washington PostLet’s talk about these emails
The Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of Maryland government officials’ email policies and practices.  This is a shortened version of the op-ed that ran in the online version of the Washington Post on November 11, 2016 (see below).

December 5, 2016
New York Needs a Political Primer on the State Constitutional Convention Referendum
TGothamGazetteLogohe Gotham Gazette reprints J.H. Snider’s introductory essay to the symposium published by the Law & Courts Section of the American Political Science Association.

November 28, 2016
apsa2016-conferencelogoSymposium: The Politics of State Constitutional Reform
The Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association publishes this collection of short essays by leading constitutional scholars, with an introduction by J.H. Snider. Covered in the Election Law Blog.

November 17, 2016
GothamGazetteLogoThe Best Delegate Election Process for a New York Constitutional Convention
The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of New York’s state constitutional convention delegate election process.

The Washington PostNovember 11, 2016
If we’re going to talk about email, let’s talk about Maryland, too
The Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of Maryland’s indifference to the disingenuous email practices of its local government officials.

November 11, 2016
GothamGazetteLogoCould Trump & Sanders Populism Fuel Constitutional Convention Approval?
The Gotham Gazette cites J.H. Snider’s critique of New York State’s constitutional convention delegate election process.

The State Of MarylandNovember 2, 2016
J.H. Snider’s testimony before the Maryland General Assembly’s
Joint Committee on Legislative Information Technology and Open Government, as reported in the Committee’s Annual Report for 2016.

October 31, 2016
The Huffington PostWhy the Media’s Double Standard On Clinton’s Emails?
The Huffington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s explanation of the media’s double standard in covering Hillary Clinton’s email practices.

Education WeekOctober 26, 2016
Education Groups Call for FCC Action on Huge Tech Resource
In its lead cover story, Education Week cites J.H. Snider’s critique of Congress’s giveaway of billions of dollars worth of airwaves rights to Educational Broadband Service licensees.

american-prospect-logoOctober 12, 2016
Spectrum Auction Gives Billions to Billionaires
The American Prospect publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the public airwaves giveaway to TV broadcast licensees contained in the federal government’s ongoing “Incentive Auction.”

October 12, 2016
The Airwaves Belong to Us
Music video based on Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” and designed to be a more accessible version of the American Prospect article above.

October 12,2016
OurAirwaves.info
Launch of an iSolon.org website to provide background information on the federal government’s giveaway of airwaves in its ongoing “Incentive Auction.”

October 5, 2016
The Washington PostFix Anne Arundel’s decennial charter revision process
The Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal for a legislative bypass mechanism in amending county charters analogous to the periodic constitutional convention referendum for state constitutions.

August 31, 2016
A Political Primer on the Periodic State Constitutional Convention Referendum
apsa2016-conferencelogoShort course presented by J.H. Snider at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia Convention Center, 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

July 11, 2016
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Hogan upholds rigged election system
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s appointment of a school board member despite undisputed electoral integrity problems in the formal nomination process.


May 27, 2016

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)‘Mayoral control’ best for our schools
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the debate in Anne Arundel
County, Maryland, between an elected and appointed board of education.

April 19, 2016
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan should veto the Anne Arundel student nomination
The Washington PostThe Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s observation that the Anne Arundel County student council tasked by Maryland statute with nominating a student representative to the County Board of Education violated its own constitution when it did so in 2016.

March 24, 2016
New York’s Coming ConCon Battle
GothamGazetteLogoThe Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed calling for a multi-sided constitutional convention debate to begin early as opposed to the well-established pattern of a one-sided pro convention “debate” followed by a one-sided last-minute anti-convention “debate.”

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)March 7, 2016
School board nominating meetings won’t be broadcast live
The Capital cites J.H. Snider on the need to webcast critical public hearings regarding local governance.

February 25, 2016
Bills seek to boost government transparency, accountability
The Maryland Reporter covers J.H. Snider’s public testimony before the Maryland General Assembly’s Government Operations Committee on a bill to require retention of government email records.

February 24, 2016
The State Of MarylandJ.H. Snider’s testimony before the Maryland General Assembly’s Government Operations Committee on bills amending Maryland’s Open Meetings Act (HB984 and written testimony) and Public Information Act (HB492 and written testimony).

February 1, 2016
Medium LogoThe Open Government Public Policy Implications of Hillary Clinton’s Emailgate

Medium publishes J.H. Snider’s argument for a new enforcement paradigm for transparency policies concerning government official email. The Huffington Post also published this commentary.

JThe Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)anuary 27, 2016
Democrats ask state to investigate School Board Nominating Commission
The Capital cites J.H. Snider’s critique of a local public body’s public record keeping practices.

January 21, 2016
The State Of MarylandJ.H. Snider’s testimony on legislation concerning Maryland’s Open Meetings Act before the Maryland General Assembly’s Senate Committee on Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs (webcast is here).  The concerns he expressed about the retention of public meeting minutes were echoed in a later Capital news article.

January 19, 2016
GothamGazetteLogoCuomo’s Preparatory Commission Should Prioritize
Fixing ConCon Process

The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to spend $1 million for a state constitutional convention preparatory commission.

January 14, 2016
Did the Anne Arundel School Board Nominating Commission violate election law?
The Washington PostThe Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s observation that the Anne Arundel School Board Nominating Commission violated Maryland statute when it nominated to Maryland’s governor four candidates without holding a second public hearing.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

December 27, 2015
Rauner’s best route may be constitutional convention
State Journal-Register LogoThe State Journal-Register publishes J.H. Snider’s argument that although a 2-step constitutional initiative is much harder to pursue than a 1-step one, it may be the best way to implement his constitutional reform agenda, which requires bypassing the Illinois Legislature.  The State Journal-Register published a letter criticizing the proposal.  Bill Daley, former Chief of Staff to President Obama, endorsed the idea in an August 26, 2016 oped.

December 4, 2015

Deterring government officials’ misuse of private email
TheHillLogoThe Hill
publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal to deter government officials from misusing private email for government purposes by focusing on the incentives of receivers rather than senders.

November 29, 2015
New York History Blog LogoNY History Blog, History Community Updates
The New York History Blog reports on both iSolon.org’s constitutional convention history conference on Sept. 24, 2015 at the New York Council for the Humanities and the follow-up event scheduled for Nov. 17-19, 2016 at SUNY Albany under the auspices of the New York State Historical Association.

November 23, 2015
Redistricting jury should pick Florida’s new plan
Sun Sentinel LogoThe Sun Sentinel publishes J.H. Snider’s proposal to use a “redistricting jury” to address Florida’s current redistricting morass in particular and the need for an effective independent redistricting mechanism in general. Also published on November 27 in The Palm Beach Post. A more in depth discussion of this proposal can be found in J.H. Snider’s testimony before the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission.  Covered in the Election Law BlogThe Voting News, and FairDistrictsNow.org.

November 22, 2015
Board, independent of Legislature, key to constitution fix
Times Union Logo with EagleThe Albany Times Union publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the New York State Bar Association’s proposal for a preparatory commission to prepare for New York’s Nov. 7, 2017 referendum on whether to convene a state constitutional convention.

November 7, 2015
StarTribune Masthead Tweeks“We, the weird people”: Petitioning the White House
The Star Tribune cites J.H. Snider’s mixed review of the White House’s We The People petition website.

October 13, 2015
The State Of MarylandJ.H. Snider’s written testimony to the Maryland Redistricting Reform Commission regarding the use of “redistricting juries” to reform Maryland’s legislative redistricting. His testimony was cited in the Maryland Reporter and Baltimore Post-Examiner.

September 24, 2015
iSolon.org constitutional convention history conference at the New York Council for the Humanities.  Reported on in the New York History Blog.

August 25, 2015
Times Union Logo with EagleConvention a basic N.Y. right
The Albany Times Union publishes J.H. Snider’s call for a new type of constitutional convention commission to prepare for New York’s Nov. 7, 2017 referendum on whether to convene a state constitutional convention. Covered in the Election Law Blog.

June 4, 2015
GothamGazetteLogoPreparing for New York’s Next Constitutional Convention Referendum
The Gotham Gazette publishes J.H. Snider’s call for significant advance preparation, including innovative educational activities, for New York’s November 7, 2017 referendum on whether to convene a state constitutional convention.

April 2, 2015
New York’s Struggle for a Living Constitution–1776-2017
iSolonFuturisticLogoiSolon.org launches a new website to provide information about New York’s upcoming referendum on whether to call a state constitutional convention.

April 1, 2015
The Clinton email scandal: a double standard?
Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the current framing of the Clinton email scandal, using Maryland’s Public Information Act as a point of comparison. Reprinted in New Jersey Today.  A similar critique of Maryland’s email retention policies can be found in Snider’s Maryland’s Fake Open Government, Washington Post, April 18, 2010.  Covered by Transparency News.

February 26, 2015
The FCC should require broadcast executives to sign an ethics statement
CommunicationsDailyLogoCommunications Daily cites J.H. Snider’s filing with the FCC seeking policies to deter price collusion and a massive giveaway of public assets in the upcoming “Incentive Auction” for broadcast spectrum. Snider’s FCC filing was cited in Procedures for Competitive Bidding In The Incentive Auction, August 11, 2015 and Incentive Auction Prohibited Communication Guidance, October 6, 2015.

February 6, 2015
Lawmakers want Congress to be able to work from home
Personal LibertyPersonal Liberty
 tracks the history of Congress’s current e-Congress legislation to J.H. Snider’s presentation on that subject at a Congressional caucus meeting shortly after 9/11.  A CRS report from 2002 noted Snider’s contribution to this discussion.

January 9, 2015
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)
Board’s student member lacks independence
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s analysis of how school administrators have compromised the election of the student member of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education.

December 8, 2014
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Gov.-elect Hogan faces K-12 test
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s analysis of the power struggle over membership in both the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and the commission that nominates its members.

November 20, 2014
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)School governance can be fixed
The Capital publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the school governance system in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, including his recommendation for executive branch appointment of the superintendent.

November 8, 2014
A Plea to Improve the State Constitutional Convention Process
iSolonFuturisticLogoiSolon.org working paper by J.H. Snider on how to improve the Achilles’ heel of the constitutional convention process, the enabling act.

November 8, 2014
Post-Mortem
J.H. Snider’s assessment for RhodeIslandConCon.info of the outcome of Rhode Island’s November 4, 2014 Referendum to Convene a State Constitutional Convention.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

November 4, 2014
Constitutional Convention records speak for themselves
WarwickBeaconLogo--PNGThe Warwick Beacon publishes J.H. Snider and Beverly Clay’s critique of a set of state constitutional convention historical arguments being widely published in local Rhode Island newspapers.

October 27, 2014
Should Rhode Island Have Another Constitutional Convention?
GoverningMagazineLogoGoverning Magazine cites J.H. Snider’s analysis why a state constitutional convention is a realistic prospect for Rhode Island.

October 26, 2014
WesterlySunLogoTime to Reframe Question No. 3
The Westerly Sun cites J.H. Snider’s research on the embarrassing drafting history of Question #3 in Rhode Island’s 2014 Voter Information Handbook.

October 24, 2014
Constitutional Convention and the out-of-state-money bogeyman
ProvidenceJournalFrontPageMasthead--BlueThe Providence Journal publishes J.H. Snider and Beverly Clay’s critique of campaign finance claims made in the current advocacy campaign over convening a constitutional convention in Rhode Island.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

October 21, 2014
Constitutional Convention purpose? Democratic reform
ValleyBreezeNewspapersLogoThe Valley Breeze publishes J.H. Snider and Beverly Clay’s critique of arguments concerning the November 4, 2014 state constitutional convention referendum that have been widely published in Rhode Island local newspapers.

October 17, 2014
1787: Vote No Against Convening a National Constitutional Convention
GoLocalProvGoLocalProv publishes J.H. Snider’s satire on the constitutional convention debate currently taking place in Rhode Island.

September 25, 2014
R.I. handbook shows blatant bias
ProvidenceJournalFrontPageMasthead--BlueThe Providence Journal publishes J.H. Snider and Beverly Clay’s critique of Rhode Island’s 2014 Voter Information Handbook and proposal for a different method of providing such information.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

September 23, 2014
Ads by Republican groups criticize Burke over lifted passages in jobs plan
The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel cites J.H. Snider’s comments on the significance of politician plagiarism.

August 2, 2014
R.I.’s poor preparation for convention
ProvidenceJournalFrontPageMasthead--BlueThe Providence Journal publishes J.H. Snider and Beverly Clay’s critique of Rhode Island’s Bi-partisan Preparatory Commission to provide information to voters about Rhode Island’s upcoming state constitutional convention referendum.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

July 16, 2014
Fiscal Times
White House Petition Site Generates More Grievances Than It Redresses
The Fiscal Times cites J.H. Snider’s comments on the White House’s We The People petition website.

June 30, 2014
The Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse
iSolon.org launches a new website to provideiSolonFuturisticLogo information about the fourteen U.S. states with periodic constitutional convention referendums.

June 13, 2014
‘Dark money’ drives R.I. constitutional convention votes
TProvidenceJournalFrontPageMasthead--Bluehe Providence Journal publishes J.H. Snider and Beverly Clay’s critique of Rhode Island’s state constitutional convention campaign finance disclosure laws.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

April 30, 2014
Democratizing our Democracy with Democratic Data 
LookingAtDemocracyContestLogoJ.H. Snider’s proposal in the form of a video to empower citizens to hold their representatives accountable by using new information technology to improve the linkages between existing government databases incorporating conflict of interest related data.

April 23, 2014
AtlanticMonthlyLogoHere’s a Thought: ‘Abolish the Capitalist Mode of Production’
The Atlantic Monthly cites J.H. Snider’s analysis of the democratic function of the White House’s We The People petition website.

March 21, 2014
R.I. needs a constitutional convention
ProvidenceJournalFrontPageMasthead--BlueThe Providence Journal publishes J.H. and Sage Snider’s op-ed providing a historical, political, and democratic analysis of Rhode Island’s November 4, 2014 referendum to convene a constitutional convention. On March 23, 2014, the Sunday edition of the Providence Journal ran a letter commenting on this op-ed.

January 28, 2014
White House goes mum on ‘We the People’ petition site
WashingtonTimesLogoThe Washington Times cites J.H. Snider’s critique of the White House’s We The People petition website.

Baltimore Sun

December 16, 2013
The public, not the courts, should decide
J.H. Snider’s op-ed in the Baltimore Sun on the proper role of the judiciary in limiting voters’ ability to choose among political candidates.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.  On March 26, 2014, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled in agreement with the analysis in this op-ed.

November 6, 2013
The State Of MarylandJ.H. Snider’s written testimony regarding reforming Maryland’s Public Information Act submitted to the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government .

September 25, 2013
The State Of Maryland
J.H. Snider’s public testimony before the Maryland General Assembly’s  Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government concerning material omissions in Maryland’s StateStat, a collection of data to make Maryland government “more accountable and more efficient” (see Snider’s video testimony from 1:02:25 to 1:11:26 for opening remarks,  and 1:11:26 to 1:24:08 for Q & A) .

September 20, 2013
Updating Americans’ First Amendment Right to Petition Their Government
HarvardLawSchoolLogo--JPEGJ.H. Snider’s luncheon presentation sponsored by the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The presentation includes a Powerpoint and webcast (compatible with Apple’s Quicktime).

August 20, 2013
Is Online Transparency Just a Feel-Good Sham?
NationalJournalLogoNational Journal cites J.H. Snider on the intermixing of real and fake participatory democracy as illustrated by the White House’s We The People petition website and the House Majority Leader’s Citizen Cosponsor Project.

August 8, 2013
Think Tanks’ Dirty Little Secret: Power, Public Policy, and Plagiarism
Harvard University's Edmond J. Safra Center for EthicsThe Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University publishes J.H. Snider’s working paper on the incentives for credit taking vs. giving at Washington, DC public policy think tanks.  Covered in Think Tank Watch, August 13, 2013.

August 2, 2013
EyeOnAnnapolisLogoJ.H. Snider writes two commentaries in Eye on Annapolis illustrating the dismal politics of employee compensation transparency in his local school district.  See School Board Pays Maxwell $4,582/Day In July; Maryland Taxpayers Pay Perkins $410,018 Signing Bonus on Top of $249,735 Annual Salary and Maxwell’s Unreported $1 Million Signing Bonus with Prince George’s County, Courtesy of Maryland Taxpayers.

June 27, 2013
Anne Arundel’s Next Superintendent Should Restore Integrity to SMOB Elections
EyeOnAnnapolisLogoJ.H. Snider describes the potential for abuse in an obscure type of election: for student members of boards of education.  In Maryland, more than half the population lives in a school district with a student member of the board with at least partial voting rights.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

3rdWorldConferenceOnResearchIntegrity

May 6, 2013
Alleviating Think Tank Plagiarism
J.H. Snider’s presentation at the 3rd World Conference on Research Integrity, Montreal, Canada.

March 15, 2013
EyeOnAnnapolisLogoShame On Maryland’s State Board Of Elections
Eye on Annapolis publishes J.H. Snider’s Sunshine Week 2013 commentary critiquing the lack of sunshine at the Maryland’s election board.  Covered in the Election Law Blog.

February 7, 2013
The State Of MarylandJ.H. Snider’s testimony on two bills before the Maryland House’ of Delegate’s Committee on Health and Government Operations.  Both bills concern needed reforms to Maryland’s Open Meetings Act.  The first, HB 139, concerns online training; the second, HB 140,  penalties for noncompliance.

Baltimore Sun

January 30, 2013
The Leopold case: bad behavior, vague crimes
The Baltimore Sun publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed on the inequitable enforcement of election law in Maryland.

January 24, 2013
The State Of MarylandJ.H. Snider’s testimony before the Maryland Senate’s Committee on Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs concerning how to make the Anne Arundel County Public School System more democratically accountable.

January 21, 2013
The Huffington PostThe Presidential Inaugural Ticket Sweepstakes
The Huffington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary critiquing the misleading and undemocratic way Congress has been allocating tickets to the presidential inaugural swearing-in.

January 16, 2013
AtlanticMonthlyLogoThe White House Petition Site Is a Joke (and Also the Future of Democracy)
The Atlantic Monthly cites J.H. Snider’s comments on the White House’s We The People petition website.

January 15, 2013
Presidential Inaugural Pork
TheHillLogoThe Hill publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed critiquing the way the President and Congress have been allocating inaugural tickets to their supporters at public expense.

January 14, 2013
When We the People Talk It’s Not Always Pretty
NextgovNextgov, a publication of the National Journal Group, Inc., cites J.H. Snider on the merits of the White House’s We The People petition website.

January 11, 2013
WashingtonTimesLogo
Obama online petition site: Direct democracy or empty gesture?
The Washington Times cites J.H. Snider’s critique of the White House’s We The People petition website.

Education Week

January 4, 2013
In the Dark About Early School Buses
Education Week publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on the need for greater transparency concerning public K12 school bus schedules.  Reprinted in the February issue of School Transportation Director.

January 3, 2013
White House’s ‘We The People’ Petitions Find Mixed Success
NPR LogoNPR’s All Things Considered interviews J.H. Snider about the strengths and weaknesses of the White House’s We The People petition website.  For J.H. Snider’s most recent Huffington Post commentary on the We The People website, see The White House’s We The People Petition Website: First Year Report Card.

December 18, 2012
Legislature launches new website
MarylandReporter.com cites J.H. Snider on the deficiencies of Maryland’s updated legislative information website.

December 12, 2012
Washington’s Evolving Think Tanks

PoliticoPolitico publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on what Senator DeMint’s move to the Heritage Foundation reveals about Washington’s evolving think tanks.  Covered in Think Tank Watch.

The State Of MarylandDecember 4, 2012
J.H. Snider’s written Testimony concerning needed reforms to Maryland’s Public Information Act submitted to the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government.

November 6, 2012
Maryland manipulates ‘majority’ vote
MarylandReporter.com publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary critiquing the procedures of the Maryland State Board of Elections.

November 2, 2012
Casinos to ‘frankenfood’: Big-money referendums
The Wall Street Journal‘s Marketwatch cites iSolon.org’s data on Maryland’s statewide referenda.

October 18, 2012
The PatchSpending on ballot questions highest in Maryland’s history
Local Patches publish J.H. Snider’s article on the extraordinary spending on Maryland’s statewide ballot questions.

October 17, 2012
J.H. Snider’s prepared Testimony concerning needed reforms to Maryland’s Open Meetings Act before the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government. Covered in the MarylandReporter.org‘s Committee asks for recommended changes in Open Meetings Act, October 18, 2012, and Joint Committee’s 2012 Interim Report.

October 8, 2012
VotersEdge.org/Maryland
iSolon.org and Maplight.org launch a new website to track referenda on Maryland’s November 6, 2012 statewide ballot.  The website provides voters with one-stop access to nonpartisan information about the statewide referenda.  For Maplight’s election wrap-up for VotersEdge.org, see Fall 2012 Newsletter.

September 23, 2012
Baltimore SunOn gambling vote, what is meant by a ‘majority’?

The print edition of the Baltimore Sun publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary arguing that Maryland’s General Assembly, depending on its political self interest, has inconsistently interpreted majority clauses in Maryland’s Constitution.

September 23, 2012
The Huffington PostThe White House’s We The People Petition Website: First Year Report Card
The Huffington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s 1st year report card on the White House’s We the People petition website.   Covered in Benton HeadlinesLiberal Roundup, and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium’s December newsletter.  Responded to in White House press release.

September 1, 2012
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University releases names of 2012-13 fellows
J.H. Snider appointed a non-residential Lab Fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics for the 2012-2013 academic year.

August 31, 2012
The PatchAACPS Creates Online Video Archive of BOE meetings
The Severna Park Patch publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on the accessibility of the local public school system’s public meetings.

August 5, 2012
General Assembly committee discusses open government
Maryland’s Kent County News cites J.H. Snider’s testimony before Maryland’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government.

July 19, 2012
The PatchMaryland General Assembly Releases Beta Legislative Website 2.0
Patches in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, publish J.H. Snider’s coverage of the most recent meeting of the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government.

July 18, 2012
J.H. Snider’s prepared Testimony concerning the future of the General Assembly’s legislative information website before the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government.  A video of the testimony, including Q&A with the legislators, can be found here, starting at 1:06:20.

June 12, 2012
WYPR Radio’s Midday Show on Maryland’s evolving system of citizen referendums and voting
Baltimore Sun columnist and Midday host Dan Rodricks moderates an hourlong discussion on the pros and cons of online referendum petitioning and online voting with iSolon.org President J.H. Snider.

May 30, 2012
TR DailyNTIA Sets Framework for Industry-Agency Review of 1755-1850 MHz Band
TRDaily cite’s J.H. Snider’s critique of the NTIA’s open government practices.

May 8, 2012
The Huffington PostThe Real Meaning of the GSA Scandal

J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article critiquing public’s fixation on a scandal involving negligible waste.  TR Daily reports on the comparison drawn between the GSA and NTIA-FCC.

March 30, 2012
How to fix Maryland’s D-minus in corruption
The Washington ExaminerThe print edition of the Washington Examiner publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary, How to fix Maryland’s D-minus in corruption, arguing that convening a state constitutional convention is the most politically realistic way of addressing a certain class of democratic reform issues where incumbent legislators have a blatant conflict of interest in proposing and implementing reform.

March 18, 2012
The PatchWrap-up on Maryland’s 10 Year Redistricting Cycle
Patches in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, publish J.H. Snider’s commentary explaining the different press incentives for covering Maryland’s Congressional versus General Assembly redistricting.

March 11, 2012
Here’s why Maryland politicos must convene a constitutional convention
The Washington ExaminerThe print edition of the Washington Examiner publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary observing that, when the issue involves a “political question,” Maryland has one standard for upholding the law for average citizens and another for the politically powerful. Cited in a March 12, 2013 Washington Examiner editorial, Trashing the democratic process in Maryland.

March 12, 2012
Secrecy and Corruption at the NTIA
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article critiquing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s management of spectrum, including its culture of secrecy.

February 29, 2012
Spectrum Auction Deal May Haunt Congress
Roll Call cites J.H. Snider’s critique of the broadcast auction legislation passed by Congress.

February 23, 2012
The Huffington PostOn Behalf of the 1%, the Best Bargain Since Manhattan
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article critiquing the spectrum giveaways contained in the fine print of the recently passed Congressional legislation promoted as extending the payroll-tax cut for the middle class.

February 12, 2012
It will take a con-con to untangle Maryland’s gerrymanders
The Washington PostThe print edition of the Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary arguing that the Maryland General Assembly has a conflict of interest in solving the gerrymander problem, which is the type of democratic reform problem constitutional conventions were invented to address.  It is covered in the print edition of the Washington Post‘s  letters-to-the-editor, and by the Campaign for a Stronger DemocracyThe Media Briefing, and the Benton Foundation.

January 19, 2012
Baltimore SunState ignores voters on constitutional convention; Majority voted in favor of con-con in 2010, yet it hasn’t been convened
The Baltimore Sun publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary arguing that the refusal of Maryland’s Governor and General Assembly to convene the con-con voters supported violates Maryland’s Constitution.  Paul Jacob’s Common Sense covered it under the headline Constitutional Coup d’état?  For more information, see Marylanders for a State Constitutional Convention at MarylandConCon.org.

January 18, 2012
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Senator pushes for elected school board, again
The Capital cites J.H. Snider’s testimony calling for more local electoral transparency before the Maryland General Assembly’s Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.

January 17, 2012
Personal Democracy Media, including TechPresidentEvery Bill Coming Before the House Should Soon Be Available Online in Machine-Readable Format
Personal Democracy Media’s TechPresident cites J.H. Snider on the U.S. House of Representatives’ new legislative information website.

January 8, 2012
Severna Park Split Into Three Legislative Districts
The PatchThe Severna Park Patch publishes J.H. Snider’s written comments to the Governor of Maryland’s Redistricting Advisory Committee regarding the transparencyt of its proceedings.

December 15, 2011
Transparency committee starts talking
MarylandReporter.com cites J.H. Snider’s testimony at the inaugural meeting of the Maryland General Assembly’s Transparency Committee.

December 8, 2011
Government-wide Information Sharing for Democratic Accountability
The Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution publishes J.H. Snider’s paper on why the politics of using unique identifiers to track powerful political players across government databases may be less dismal than widely believed.  The Open Government Coalition gave it the lead spot in its weekly newsletter.  It was also covered in the U.K.’s Great Emancipator, the Campaign for a Stronger Democracy’s December Newsletter, and American City & County‘s December Newsletter.

November 19, 2011
Update on the White House’s new petition website
J.H. Snider’s latest ruminations published on the National Coalition For Dialogue and Deliberation’s community news website.  The Campaign for a Stronger Democracy gives it the lead spot in its November Newsletter.

October 31, 2011
The Case of the Missing White House Petitions
The Huffington PostJ.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article on the frustrations, including technical glitches, citizens experience using the White House’s new We The People petition website.  Daily Candy featured two quotes from the article, and Techpresident.com cited it when reporting on the White House’s subsequent announcement that it was working to fix the technical glitches.

October 31, 2011
White House responds to marijuana and God petitions
NextgovNextGov quotes from J.H. Snider’s October  20, 2011 article, What Is the Democratic Function of the White House’s We The People Petition Website?

October 27, 2011
The Huffington PostWhither Journalistic Ethics?  Why Politico has fallen short in its coverage of spectrum issues
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article on the material but undisclosed conflicts of interest Politico has in covering spectrum policy issues.

October 24, 2011
The Huffington PostThe Broadcast Industry’s Free TV Scam Redux: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article on the newly announed Free TV and Broadband Coalition.

October 20, 2011
The Huffington PostWhat Is the Democratic Function of the White House’s We The People Petition Website?
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article critiquing the October 18, 2011 front page article in the Wall Street Journal, which is bereft of understanding the democratic purposes of a petition website.  America Speaks reposted it on its blog Campaign for a Stronger Democracy commented on it.

October 17, 2011
The Huffington PostCould Federal Government Privacy Policy Kill Online News?
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article discussing an underappreciated linkage between privacy policy and media policy.

October 11, 2011
The Huffington PostThe White House’s New We the People Petition Website
J.H. Snider’s Huffington Post article critiquing the White House’s new website facilitating the public’s First Amendment right to petition its government. The Wall Street Journal reposted it on its blog, and a week later ran a similar story on its front page.

October 5, 2011
The Huffington PostSoaking the Rich in Obama’s Jobs Plan?  Its multi-billion dollar spectrum giveaway undercuts the president’s populist message J.H. Snider’s article, published in the Huffington Post and reposted on the Wall Street Journal‘s blog, criticizes the tacit spectrum giveaway contained in the American Jobs Act of 2011.  TR DailyTR Daily reports on the article.

September 6, 2011
A proposal to modernize public meeting spaces across Federal agencies
The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation publishes J.H. Snider’s letter to senior White House officials regarding the future design of public meeting spaces at Federal agencies.

August 30, 2011
Maryland’s Congressional Redistricting: Let’s Make it Transparent and Accountable 
The PatchThe Severna Park Patch publishes J.H. Snider’s written comments to the Governor of Maryland’s Redistricting Advisory Committee regarding the transparencyt of its proceedings.

August 16, 2011
Multichannel ‘may not win online war’ 
Inside Retail
cites J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn’s 1992 book (Future Shop: How New Technologies Will Change The Way We Shop and What We Buy, St. Martin’s Press)as a landmark in the emerging field of ecommerce.  Similar recent press: Spark of Hope and The History of Online Shopping in Nutshell.

July 6, 2011
Making Public Community Media Accessible
The Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution publishes J.H. Snider’s paper on the need to rethink public policy regarding local public media, especially the design and use of public meeting rooms.  The paper is covered in the the Deliberative Democracy Consortium’s newsletter and National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation’s monthly update.

June 9, 2011
Information Needs of Communties: The changing media landscape in a broadband age
Federal Communications CommissionIn its report on the future of public media, the FCC cites J.H. Snider in the text and six times in the footnotes–more than at least one think tank that received millions of dollars in foundation funding to help move this debate forward.

May 26, 2011
Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics announces fellows
J.H. Snider appointed a non-residential Network Fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics for the 2011-2012 academic year.  The annual report can be found here (search for “Snider”).

May 5, 2011
Rosetta Stone for corporate IDs would simplify accountability
Federal Computer Week
cites iSolon.org’s years of work addressing the need for governmentwide organizational identifiers.

April 20, 2011
General Assembly moves forward with more transparency, but there’s still a long way to go 
The Maryland Reporter cites J.H. Snider on the Maryland General Assembly’s transparency agenda and accomplishments during its recently completed 2011 session.

April 4, 2011
Open Government Advocate Blasts NTIA on Transparency
TR DailyTRDaily (Telecommunications Reports) cites J.H. Snider’s case study of federal agency compliance with the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative at the National Telecommunications and Information Administation (NTIA).

March 23, 2011
Maryland’s Open Meetings Act
Maryland Senate testimony by J.H. Snider on House Bill 48.

March 15, 2011
Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government Act
Maryland Senate testimony by J.H. Snider on Senate Bill 644.

Sunshine Week

March 15, 2011
Maryland’s Public Information Act
Maryland Senate testimony by J.H. Snider on Senate Bill 740, an amended version of House Bill 37 (see February 1, 2011 below).

February 17, 2011
Maryland’s Open Meetings Act
Written comments to Maryland House of Delegates by J.H. Snider on  House Bill 48.

February 1, 2011
Maryland’s Public Information Act
Maryland House of Delegates testimony by J.H. Snider on House Bill 37.

November 14, 2010
Give Marylanders the constitutional convention they voted forThe Washington Post
The Washington Post publishes  J.H. Snider’s op-ed on the implications of the results of the Nov. 2 Maryland constitutional convention ballot referendum.  The online version, with a different title and URL, was published on the afternoon of Nov. 13 under the title Con-con promise comes due for O’Malley.

Baltimore Sun

November 3, 2010
Maryland constitutional convention uncertain
The Baltimore Sun cites J.H. Snider on the November 2, 2010 Maryland ballot referendum on whether to convene a state constitutional conveniton.

November 1, 2010 
WYPR Radio’s Midday Show on Maryland’s November 2, 2010 ballot referendum on whether to convene a constitutional convention.
Baltimore Sun columnist and Midday host Dan Rodricks moderates an hourlong discussion on the three statewide propositions on the November 2, 2010 ballot. Leading off the program and discussing the Maryland state constitutional convention question was iSolon.org president J.H. Snider.

Baltimore SunOctober 24, 2010
Voters will decide whether to call a constitutional convention
The Baltimore Sun cites J.H. Snider on the November 2, 2010 Maryland ballot referendum on whether to convene a state constitutional conveniton.

October 22, 2010
The National Press ClubConnecting the Dots for Democratic Accountability
iSolon sponsored event at the National Press Club, 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.  At the event, J.H. Snider presented his working paper: Connecting the Dots for Democratic Accountability: Semantic Web-Based Information Sharing Policy and the Future of Investigative Reporting.  An updated draft was posted here on Thursday, October 28, 2010.  The Powerpoint presentation of the paper can be found here.

October 22, 2010
The National Press ClubIs Con-Con Phobia Justified?
iSolon sponsored event at the National Press Club, 3:00 pm to 4:30.   The accompanying press release, featured late breaking news from Maryland’s two gubernatorial candidates: O’Malley and Ehrlich Endorse “Yes” Vote On Nov. 2 Maryland Con-Con Ballot Referendum. The event was reported on in the October 25, 2010 issue of the Daily Record: Experts: Md. constitutional convention unlikely.

October 13, 2010
Pro and Con: A state constitutional convention comes up for a vote—whether politicians, or voters, want it or not
The Baltimore City Paper cites J.H. Snider on the November 2, 2010 Maryland constitutional convention ballot referendum.

October 13, 2010
Rewriting Maryland constitution is up to voters, but not many know
The Maryland Reporter cites J.H. Snider on the November 2, 2010 Maryland constitutional convention ballot referendum.

 October 12, 2010
A Historic Year for State Con-Cons
The Huffington PostThe Huffington Post publishes this article co-authored by J.H. Snider and G. Alan Tarr on why 2010 is a historic year for state con-cons, a much ignored and misunderstood mechanism of democratic reform.

October 11, 2010
The Pew Charitable TrustsFour States to weigh calls for constitutional convention
Stateline cites J.H. Snider on state constitutional conventions.  Governing Magazine runs the same story.

September 22, 2010
The road to term limits in Maryland:  A constitutional convention is the state’s best chance for reform
Baltimore SunThe Baltimore Sun publishes J.H. Snider’s oped arguing that a state constitutional convention may be the best way to pass democratic reforms, such as term limits, where the legislature has a blatant conflict of interest with voters.  For more information on Maryland’s November 2, 2010 ballot item to convene a state constitutional convention, see www.MarylandConCon.org.

August 3, 2010
The New America FoundationThe Challenge of Writing a New Constitution with Direct Democracy, panel presentation at the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy
J.H. Snider describes the role state constitutional conventions should play in the democratic process, with a focus on Maryland’s state constitutional ballot item on November 2, 2010.

The Washington PostJuly 5, 2010
Md. to vote in November on whether to hold constitutional convention
The Washington Post features J.H. Snider in a front page article on the merits of changing Maryland’s Constitution by voting yes to convene a convention on the November 2, ballot.  For details, see Marylandconcon.org.

June 24, 2010
Maryland to webcast more hearings, meetings over Internet
The MarylandReporter.com describes J.H. Snider’s critique  of yesterday’s announcement by Maryland’s Governor and other state leaders concerning government transparency

June 15, 2010
A year of digital TV: who won the transition?
Ars Technica (a division of Wired Magazine) cites J.H. Snider’s reflections on the DTV transition on its one-year anniversary.

June 14, 2010
Education WeekIt’s the Public’s Data: Democratizing School Board Records
Education Week publishes J.H. Snider’s article on using new information technology to enhance accees to public school board records.

June 3, 2010
Experts Debate Federal Spectrum Leasing, Transparency Proposals
TR DailyTRDaily (Telecommunications Reports) cites J. H. Snider on the lack of transparency within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)May 30, 2010
Troublemaker’ fights secrecy in government The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) publishes an article on J.H. Snider’s local open government efforts.

May 24, 2010
Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade Commission Staff Discussion Draft: Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism
The FTC discussion draft cites iSolon.org’s conflict-of-interest automation proposal six times (see March 10, 2010 presentation and working paper below).  The draft will be discussed at the FTC’s June 15, 2010 National Press Club event on the Future of Journalism.

May 20, 2010
Bloomberg BusinessweekHow Craig McCaw Built a 4G Network on the Cheap: The mobile pioneer’s Clearwire controls airwaves worth $20 billion or more
Bloomberg Businessweek cites J.H. Snider’s work on media policy.

May 8, 2010
2010 Freedom of Information Summit
The National Freedom Of Information CoalitionJ.H. Snider presents on Transparency in the Digital Age.  WikiFOIA summarized the summit here.

April 29, 2010
House transparency caucus vows to regain public’s trust in government 
NextgovNextgov
, a publication of the National Journal Group, Inc., cites J.H. Snider on the political implications of the lack of Democratic leadership support for the new Congressional Transparency Caucus.

April 20, 2010
FedInsider LogoHow Open Is Open Government? It’s Getting There
FedInsider cites J.H. Snider’s Washington Post commentary in discussing the Obama Administration’s open goverrnment policy.

April 18, 2010
Maryland’s Fake Open Government
The Washington PostThe Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on what’s wrong with open government in Maryland and how to fix it.  One proposal is to update Maryland’s Constitution.  For information on how that might happen, see MarylandConCon.org

April 6, 2010
Spotting Holes in OpenGov Plans for Public Engagement
Steve Buckley from U.S. Transparency interviews J.H. Snider about his essay, Deterring Fake Public Participation

April 4, 2010The Washington Post
A hotbed of techie agents of government transparency
The Washington Post cites J.H. Snider on the recent “TransparencyCamp” held in Washington, DC.

March 26, 2010
Parent school group picks new leaders
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Capital article on J.H. Snider’s election as vice chair of Anne Arundel County, Maryland’s Countywide Citizen Advisory Committee with a mandate to use new information technology to improve democratic deliberation among public school parents.

March 14, 2010
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Sunshine Week:  Experts say access to online public records must expand
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) quotes J.H. Snider on Anne Arundel County’s compliance with not only only the letter but the spirit of Maryland’s right-to-know laws.  The Capital quotes Snider again in Open government for more than just a week, March 18, 2010.

March 10, 2010
How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?
Federal Trade CommissionJ.H. Snider presents his proposal for using semantic web technologies to automate conflict-of-interest reporting at this FTC workshop.  The proposal consisted of a presentation (an audio recording of the presentation starts at 143:20) and accompanying working paper, both with the same title, “Automating Conflict-of-Interest Reporting.”

The Stennis CenterMarch 1, 2010
How can we strengthen two-way communication with the public and improve governing in the new media environment?
J.H. Snider’s presentation before the 111th Congress Stennis Congressional Staff Fellows Program.

March 1, 2010
Scholars look to increase research on open government
NextgovNextgov, a publication of the National Journal Group, Inc., cites J.H. Snider on how elected officials’ agendas can set academic and foundation agendas, and the lag time between open government innovation and scholarly assessments of it.

February 19, 2010
Deterring Fake Public ParticipationInternational Association of Public Participation
The International Journal of Public Participation publishes J.H. Snider’s essay on the growing plague of fake public participation in America.

February 9, 2010
WYPR Radio’s Midday Show on Maryland’s November 2, 2010 ballot referendum on whether to convene a constitutional convention.
Baltimore Sun
columnist and Midday host Dan Rodricks moderates an hourlong discussion on the pros and cons of a Maryland constitutional convention with iSolon.org President J.H. Snider, Maryland Senate Minority Leader Allan Kittleman, and Maryland Legislative Counsel Dan Friedman.

February 5, 2010
Religious education at statehouse an example of what the public doesn’t knowThe Iowa Independent
The Iowa Independent cites J.H. Snider’s work on a rarely disclosed but important legislative perk.

February 4, 2010
Baltimore SunRewrite state constitution?  It’s a question for voters
The Baltimore Sun cites J.H. Snider’s Baltimore Sun op-ed in describing the Maryland Senate’s debate over SB26: Maryland Constitutional Convention – Sense of the Voters.

January 22, 2010
Open Government: Defining, Designing, and Sustaining Transparency
Princeton UniversityJ.H. Snider presents his arguments on how the open government public policy debate should be framed at this two-day workshop sponsored by Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy.   The video of Snider’s presentation begins at 38:00.

Baltimore SunJanuary 8, 2010
Md’s Ballot Surprise: Voters in November will have a rare opportunity to shape the state’s constitution
The Baltimore Sun publishes J.H. Snider’s op-ed on Maryland’s 2010 ballot item to call a constitutional convention.

December 18, 2009
Debate the News:  Summarizing the Comments Submitted to the FTC
Free PressFree Press’s SaveTheNews.org includes iSolon.org’s comments in its roundup of comments submitted for the  Federal Trade Commission’s workshop on the future of journalism.

November 30, 2009
Think Tanks
The Voice Of AmericaFor a TV broadcast aired throughout the Middle East, the Voice of America interviews J.H. Snider on the lack of think tank accountability in the United States.

September 5, 2009
If Men Were Angels….: Should the Checks & Balances System Include Electoral Reform Juries?

Paper presented at the Representation and Electoral Systems Division’s theme panel, Citizens’ Assemblies and Deliberative Democracy, at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Toronto, Canada.

July 28, 2009
Public more satisfied with agencies that pursue transparency online, study says
NextgovNextgov, a publication of the National Journal Group, Inc., cites J.H. Snider’s methodological critique of a market research firm’s report on the benefits to Federal agencies of improved transparency.

July 22, 2009
Automating Watchdog Reporting
Harvard Veritas LogoHarvard’s Nieman Watchdog publishes J.H. Snider’s article arguing for the development and implementation of a Bias Modeling Language to automate watchdog journalism.  This article launches iSolon.org’s BML Semantic Web Project.

July 9, 2009
Citizens Assembly News Digest — Special Edition — July 2009
This special edition of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest provides an analysis of the referendum results on the recommendations of the f British Columbia’s Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform.

July 4, 2009
Come On and Take a Free Ride
The Rumpus, an online magazine, discusses J.H. Snider’s Nieman Watchdog article on media free riding.

June 27, 2009
Harvard Veritas LogoTaking steps to deal with media parasitism
Harvard’s Nieman Watchdog publishes J.H. Snider’s second article in a two-part series on  the problem and solution to media free riding.

June 22, 2009
Harvard Veritas LogoFree riding: a deeply embedded media tradition
Harvard’s Nieman Watchdog publishes J.H. Snider’s first article in a two-part series on  the problem and solution to media free riding.

June 12, 2009
Harvard Veritas LogoThe switch to digital TV—an early bailout that went awry
Harvard’s Nieman Watchdog publishes J.H. Snider’s critique of the digital television transition on its final day.  The transition began more than 20 years ago.

June 11-14, 2009
Annual Convening of the National Institute on Money in State Politics
J.H. Snider argues for Redistricting Juries and other related democratic reforms at the annual convening of the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

June 4, 2009
See full size imageShowMeTheSpending.org Coalition News
ShowMeTheSpending.org features J.H. Snider’s work on public school budget transparency.

May 20, 2009
Democratize School Budget Data
Education WeekEducation Week, the leading trade publication in K12 public education, publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on how to use new information technologies to democratize public access to school budget data.

May 12, 2009

Turkeys, Thanksgiving and Roll Call Voting Records

The Thicket At State LegislaturesKarl Kurtz,  the National Conference of State Legislatures’s expert on legislative institutions,  discusses J.H. Snider’s turkey paper in The Thicket at State Legislatures.

May 11, 2009
Journal of Information Technology & PoliticsWould You Ask Turkeys to Mandate Thanksgiving? The Dismal Politics of Legislative Transparency
The Journal of Information Technology & Politics publishes the final version of J.H. Snider’s working paper researched during the Spring of 2008 while Snider was a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

May 5, 2009
Senate to Expand Transparency of Senate Votes: DeMint thanks Rules Committee for quick response
Following up on his May 1 press release (see below), Senator DeMint thanks the Senate leadership for acting so quickly on his recommendation.  The XML link, tucked inconspicuously and without explanation on the page for Senate floor roll call votes on the Senate, not Thomas website, can be found here.

May 4, 2009
Eye on Redistricting: Florida’s Where the Early Action IsCQ PoliticsCongressional Quarterly article on the the Hudson/iSolon conference on redistricting reform.

May 4, 2009
Hudson InstituteReforming American Redistricting:  Lessons from British Columbia
Conference on redistricting reform cosponsored by the Hudson Institute and iSolon.org.

May 4, 2009
Hudson InstituteThe Case for Redistricting Juries: Lessons from  British Columbia’s Revolutionary Experiment in Democratic Reform
J.H. Snider’s Working Paper presented at the Hudson/iSolon conference on redistricting reform.

May 1, 2009
DeMint Leads Bipartisan Effort To Make Senate Votes More Transparent: Democrats and Republicans urge modernizing Senate website with easily searchable XML vote database
In a press release announcing a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration seeking to make U.S. Senate roll call votes available to the public using the XML format, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint cites iSolon.org’s work on this issue.

April 27, 2009
Online voting records user unfriendly
CQ PoliticsPolitico‘s Victoria McGrane cites J.H. Snider’s work on public access to legislators’ voting records. For more information, see Would You Ask Turkeys to Mandate Thanksgiving?  The Dismal Politics of Legislative Transparency (SSRN prepublication working paper version).  On May 6 McGrane wrote a follow-up story, Senate picks up the slack on data, mentioning the impact of her earlier story in getting the Senate to post its roll call votes in XML format.

April 25, 2009
Citizens Assembly News Digest — April 2009
The latest issue of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest.

March 18, 2009
The Washington ExaminerPublic School Systems Should Post Compensation Data Online
The Washington Examiner publishes J.H. Snider’s Sunshine Week commentary on the need to proactively disclose public expenditure data.

March 9, 2009
See full size imageShowMeTheSpending.org Coalition Partners
ShowMeTheSpending.org names iSolon.org a coalition partner.

February 26, 2009
The New America FoundationMixing Advocacy, Scholarly Research and Journalism: Can the New America Foundation Square the Circle?
The Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch publishes J.H. Snider’s article on the ethical tensions in a successful, state-of-the-art, public policy think tank.

February 18, 2009
The Washington ExaminerOpen Government Rhetoric Versus Reality
The Washington Examiner publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on the politics of the recently passed digital TV legislation.

February 8, 2009
Need Teachers? Show Them the MoneyThe Washington Post
The Washington Post publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on the need for better public disclosure of teacher compensation data.  For a related commentary published in Education Week, see America’s Million-Dollar Superintendents.

February 3, 2009
PoliticoStrengthen Think Tank Accountability
Politico publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on the need for better public disclosure of think tank ethics and ethical conflicts.

January 21, 2009
Don’t Delay the Digital TV Transition
See full size imageArs Technica publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary critiquing U.S. House and Senate bills seeking to delay the digital TV transition.

December 2, 2008
Future Shop CoverFuture Shop One-Page Flyer
Publicity for Future Shop.

November 18, 2008
Future Shop Praise and Preface
Publicity for Future Shop.

November 14, 2008
Future Shop: How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy
Future Shop CoverAuthors Guild backinprint.com reprint of the J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn book on e-commerce published by St. Martin’s Press in 1992.  The book features a new preface analyzing the growth of e-commerce during the past two decades and forecasting that the changes in the consumer marketplace over the next twenty years could be even greater.

November 12, 2008
Voting for Glass Houses
In the November/December issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, Michael Schudson and Danielle Haas report on J.H. Snider’s “Would You Ask Turkeys to Mandate Thanksgiving?”  On May 11, 2009, the Columbia Journalism Review followed up with another story on the same topic, Senate Goes XML: A quiet shift is hailed.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)October 1, 2008
School board’s TV debut delayed
The Capital quotes J.H. Snider’s critique of excessively costly and undemocratic televised school board coverage.

September 27, 2008
Spectrum Policy Panel at the 2008 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference
The J.H. Snider’s serves as moderator and discussant.

September 21, 2008
Democracy 2.0 Grant Summit – Money in Politics
J.H. Snider serves as a grant contest judge for this event co-sponsored by Mobilize.org, the Sunlight Foundation, and Common Cause.

August 18, 2008
Americans for Redistricting Reform Advisory Committee Member Organizations
Americans for Redistricting Reform names iSolon.org as an Advisory Committee Member Organization.

July 19, 2008
Annual meeting of the National Online Legislative Associates (NOLA)
J.H. Snider presents the findings of his Shorenstein Center working paper and conducts a discussion on the future of technology enhanced legislature procedure, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, July 18-19, 2008. NOLA is the trade association of online legislative information providers.

July 14, 2008
Would You Ask Turkeys To Mandate Thanksgiving?  The Dismal Politics of Legislative Transparency
The Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy publishes J.H. Snider’s Working Paper #1.  Published in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, May 2009.

July 14, 2008
Would You Ask Turkeys To Mandate Thanksgiving?  Using Citizens Assemblies to Reform the Process of Democratic ReformThe Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy publishes J.H. Snider’s Working Paper #2.

June 28, 2008
Harvard Hosts 2-Day Citizens Assembly Conference; New Zealand Parliament Allocates $4.3 million for a Citizens Assembly
The latest issue of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest.

June 27, 2008
iSolon.org Launches Citizens Assembly Facebook Group
The Citizens Assembly Facebook group provides an online place for academics and practitioners interested in citizens assembly based democratic reform to come together as a community to pursue their common interests.

May 30, 2008
The Role of News Media in the Governance Agenda
J.H. Snider serves as workshop discussant at this joint event sponsored by the Communication for Governance and Accountability Program at the World Bank and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, May 29-31, 2008.

May 17, 2008
Crackpot or Genius?  Canada Steps onto the World Stage as a Democratic Innovator
The Journal of Public Deliberation publishes J.H. Snider’s concluding remarks at the Harvard University Canada Program’s conference on democratic deficits and citizens assemblies, May 8-10, 2008.

May 14, 2008
See full size imageDesigning Deliberative Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
The Journal of Public Deliberation publishes J.H. Snider’s review of the first major book to be written about citizens assemblies.

April 14, 2008
RockwoodJ.H. Snider selected to be a Rockwood Foundation Fellow in Media, Communications, and Information Policy
Snider will be a Rockwood Foundation Fellow for the 2008-2009 fellowship year.

March 20, 2008
The Quest to Protect Creative Policy Ideas
The Chronicle of Philanthropy publishes J.H. Snider’s commentary on the problem of rewarding innovative public policy ideas when it isn’t practical to patent such ideas.

March 17, 2008
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Online contract access would let in more sunshine In an editorial, the Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) cites J.H. Snider’s critique of government databases that are not integrated with each other.

March 13, 2008
The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)Councilmen want county contracts published on Web: Say move will increase government transparency
In a front page story, the Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) cites J.H. Snider’s critique of government databases that are not integrated with each other.

February 29, 2008
J.H. Snider on Spectrum Policy (half hour segment, with Snider segment beginning at 18:50)
Counterspin, a radio program run on NPR affiliates, interviews J.H. Snider about his Nieman Watchdog article (see below).

February 28, 2008
OpenTheGovernment.org Coalition Partners
OpenTheGovernment.org names iSolon.org a coalition partner.

February 21, 2008
Harvard Veritas LogoIs the spectrum just too complex for reporters?
Nieman Watchdog publishes a commentary summarizing J.H. Snider’s Kennedy School presentation.

February 19, 2008
The Government’s $19.3 Billion Auction of Spectrum (as of Round 61 on February 12, 2008) Why don’t you know more about the government’s allocation of this vital natural resource?
J.H. Snider argues at a Kennedy School dinner sponsored by the Shorenstein Center that spectrum politics has become a paradigmatic example of special interest politics and that the quality of spectrum journalism is a major cause of the problem.

January 28, 2008
Four Spring Fellows Named
Editor & Publisher reports on the appointment of the four new Harvard Kennedy School of Government Shorenstein Center fellows for Spring Semester 2008, including iSolon.org’s J.H. Snider.

January 17, 2008
Saskatchewan Premier and Citizens Assembly Advocate Defeated; New Zealand Parliament Debates and Defeats Citizens Assembly Legislation
The latest issue of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest.

January 16, 2008
iSolon.org Launches Citizens Assembly Forum (beta version)
The Citizens Assembly Forum provides an online place for academics and practitioners interested in citizens assembly based democratic reform to come together as a community to pursue their common interests.

November 1, 2007
Ontario Citizens’ Assembly Proposal Down But Not Out
The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation’s Amy Lang summarizes and reviews the latest issue of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest.

October 19, 2007
Ontario Citizens Assembly Referendum Defeated; Addendum: Saskatchewan Premier Promises a Citizens Assembly if Re-Elected on November 7
The latest issue of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest.

October 11, 2007
New Voting System Goes Down To Defeat
The Ottawa Citizen quotes J.H. Snider, in a front page story, on the significance of Ontario’s experiment with a citizens assembly.

October 5, 2007
School Board Backs TV Idea
Baltimore Sun
quotes J.H. Snider’s critique of local school system’s use of technology to cover itself.

September 14, 2007
Ontario’s Public Education Campaign Launches; U.K.’s Prime Minister Explores Creating a Citizens Assembly
The latest issue of iSolon.org’s Citizens Assembly News Digest.

June 19, 2007
The National Academies Of ScienceCitizens Assemblies: A Mechanism for Enhancing Legislative Transparency and Accountability
iSolon.org policy brief prepared for the workshop, “Toward More Transparent Government,” held at the National Academies of Science on June 19, 2007.

June 15, 2007
From Dahl to O’Leary: 36 Years of the ‘Yale School of Democratic Reform’
See full size imageJ.H. Snider’s book review essay tracing the history of the citizens assembly proposal from Dahl’s 1970 After the Revolution (Yale University Press) to O’Leary’s 2006 Saving Democracy (Stanford University Press).