Pondering Politics

"That’s some politics being played by Hillary Clinton," the candidate yelled, shirt-sleeves rolled up and smiling on the stump in Pennsylvania. In the middle of an intense campaign for the Democratic nomination in the spring of 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was responding to Clinton’s charges that the Illinois senator was not as agreeable to Western Pennsylvania voters as she was given remarks Obama made about their being "bitter" and "clinging to guns and religion."

At a contextual level, Obama’s invocation of the "playing politics" phrase is most likely a claim that Clinton’s comments were disingenuous; instead of expressing honest concern for the average Pennsylvania hunter, Obama seems to accuse Clinton of deceiving voters by acting as if she is more preoccupied with gun rights than she actually is. Yet, at a more textual level, Obama makes an interesting assumption: "politics," as it appears in Obama’s statement, is a game in which one retains the option to participate. Obama also paints it as being negative in nature. Thus, Obama appears to argue that Clinton, by playing politics, should be perceived as less valuable to the voters.

Obama’s not alone in his view of politics. One can observe this definition at work on the comments streams following news reports on many news websites. One recent comment on an online forum’s bulletin board declared, "To be honest, I think the way Obama has been approaching this debate has been wrong. The guy is great and intelligent, but he's being too political." Glenn Beck, a Fox News political commentator, provides another example of this contemporary connotation of politics: "They're playing politics with the national security of the United States." We repeatedly define politics as a negative activity in which one can opt to participate.

Interestingly, in its original Greek form, the definition of politics carries less baggage; with polis meaning "city state," politikos roughly translates to “of the citizen,” signaling a citizen-centered view of politics with a focus on those things concerning city or state affairs. Aristotle argues that politics consists of the interplay between people from different backgrounds and interests, holding different views, while aiming to complete a task. In other words, politics is a constant that citizens cannot ignore; in fact, political involvement and engagement ("playing politics") forms the heart of democracy.

In 2010, the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute created "Pondering Politics," a dialogue series for Miami students, because we believe politics is anything but a game that people periodically join. Politics is at work in everything we do, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. This realization attributes a new importance, then, to developing listening, thinking, and communication skills within ourselves, the hallmarks of a liberal arts education. Given Miami’s liberal arts foundation, this particular university is well-positioned to challenge students to think about politics and current issues and to mutually exchange these ideas with their peers.

In the fall of 2010, Pondering Politics will be composed of eight sessions, each with a different focus, and each with a different campus or community partner. A typical session will allow students and other participating community members to introduce themselves and get to know each other. Following this opening period, a facilitator will provide a brief introduction to the process of dialogue and to the topic being discussed, setting the context for the discussion; following this, the facilitator will pose a question to the group to commence the dialogue.

The schedule for the Fall 2010 edition of Pondering Politics is provided below. Please e-mail Craig Berger (bergercr@muohio.edu) with any questions.


Wednesday, Sept. 1st - 8:00 p.m. - Introduction
(Benjamin Harrison Room, Shriver Center)

Wednesday, Sept. 15th - 8:00 p.m. - Miami’s Government Relations Network
(Stanton Hall Living Room)

Wednesday, Sept. 29th - 8:30 p.m. - Exploring Power and Privilege in Politics with the Office of Diversity Affairs
(Center for Black Culture and Learning, Shriver Center)

Wednesday, Oct. 13th - 8:00 p.m. - Midterm Elections: What Do They Mean for Us? Conversations with Political Science Faculty
(Bystrom-Reid Room, Shriver Center)

Wednesday, Oct. 20th - 8:00 p.m. - Talking with Student Party Leaders on Campus
(Benjamin Harrison Room, Shriver Center)

Wednesday, Oct. 27th - 7:00 p.m. - How Do Regional Issues Impact Students?
(Wilks Conference Center, Miami University Hamilton)