New Directions at IOP

The American political system is in the grips of big money and bureaucratic machinery, the seven new fellows of the Institute of Politics (IOP) said last night, discussing their perspectives on politics.

The group of politicians and journalists, who will be spending the semester at Harvard, introduced themselves to an audience of about 150 at the Kennedy School. They stressed a populist philosophy of government--the idea that an individual can make a difference in the system--as they described their decisions to enter the political fray.

"Big money is on the ballot, and that has to change," said IOP fellow Bella Abzug, a former Democratic Congresswoman from New York and outspoken advocate for liberal causes.

Republican Julie Belaga, shared the same viewpoint as Abzug. "The big machine is there and mostly it's called money," said the Connecticut politician who lost her bid for governor last November.

Larry McCarthy, a media consultant for Republican, defended the amount of money candidates spend for television advertising. When asked to justify the vast sums candidates often spend, McCarthy said that exorbitant spending is not always the key to victory and pointed to the recent success of many Democratic senatorial candidates.

Television advertising and the media have personalized campaigns while avoiding discussion of the issues, said Wesley Pippert, political correspondent for United Press International, who is studying journalistic ethics. "The t.v. ads are not really any sort of discussion of the issues involved," he said.

The Fellows

The IOP fellows, who have backgrounds ranging from education to law enforcement and civil rights activism, include a balanced roster of two Republican politicians and two active Democrats, as well as a pair of journalists and a media consultant. This semester they will pursue independent research, lead study groups and interact with K-School students.

Last night's forum provided the fellows a chance to explain the motivations for their involvement with politics.

A longstanding commitment to activism spurred Jonathan Schell '65 to develop an interest in politics and public policy. The New Yorker editor and prize-winning author, who described himself as an "apolitical" Kirkland House student during his undergraduateyears at Harvard.

But Schell translated his activist impulse tojournalism, not the public sector. "I felt a greatneed to write about this. It was a reality thatwas not reflected in what I would read, which wasboth incredibly shocking and startling to me," hesaid.

William Lucas, an unsuccessful Republicancandidate in the 1982 Michigan gubernatorial race,said that even a thwarted political campaignprovides opportunities to express politicalconvictions.

"I was able to get my message out. During thecampaign, I was able to have a forum," Lucas said."The chance to be involved was a risk well worthtaking," added Lucas, who gave up his career as alaw enforcement and Democrat to run for governoron the Republican ticket.

After a successful career in government whichincluded a stint with the State Department, AlbertCantril decided to become a public policy analyst.His experiences in government "underscored thedifference for me between being a political personand partisan" and made him skeptical of thegovernmental decision-making process