Esteemed Colleagues: Civility and Deliberation in the U.S. Senate

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments vii as with any collaborative effort, Esteemed Colleagues owes many debts. The largest goes to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which, through its public policy program, funded the conference that commissioned these papers. In particular, I am indebted to Paul Light, Michael Delli Carpini, and Rebecca Rimel for supporting an examination of Senate deliberation. The Pew grant was administered by the Aspen Institute, and Aspen’s Deborah Both was a delight to work with. The University of Kansas’s Robert J. Dole Institute for Public Service and Public Policy hosted a conference, “Civility and Deliberation in the U.S. Senate,” July 16, 1999, in the Senate’s Hart Office Building. The offices of Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback proved instrumental in easing our path to using the Hart Building as the venue. Special thanks go to Senator Robert J. Dole and his law firm colleague Harry McPherson for providing wonderful sets of remarks at that conference. Heather Hoy, Dole Institute program assistant, and Chad Kniss were invaluable in setting up the conference. In addition, Sheila Burke, Richard Cohen, Keith Kennedy, Richard Baker, Bob Dove, and Wendy Schiller offered excellent commentaries on the papers and more generally on the nature of civility and deliberation in the Senate. In addition to writing one of the articles for this volume, Jim Thurber, director of American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, gave us excellent advice on organizing a Washington conference . The Dole Institute is grateful for his assistance. At Brookings, Nancy Davidson, Chris Kelaher, and Bob Faherty have welcomed this project, all the while offering constructive advice, even as we developed the conference program. They have been partners in this endeavor from the beginning. Moreover, the Press obtained the services of conscientious, insightful reviewers, whose comments helped improve our final collection of articles. On behalf of the Press, Vicky Macintyre edited the book, Carlotta Ribar proofread it, and Julia Petrakis indexed the pages. Finally, and most profoundly, I want to thank the authors of the pieces that appear in this volume. They have produced an excellent, accessible grouping of original reflections and analyses on civility and deliberation in the Senate. They have turned a good idea for a conference into a firstrate book. As the initial book from a Dole Institute initiative, Esteemed Colleagues is dedicated to Senator Robert J. Dole, whose thirty-six years of legislative experience demonstrate that one can stand strong as an individual and as a partisan, all the while practicing civility and promoting fruitful deliberation. viii acknowledgments E S T E E M E D COLLEAGUES ...