Outreach activities by La Follette School faculty span the globe, and help improve policy decisions in Wisconsin communities. Here are a few of the projects:

Taxing and Spending Limits in Wisconsin
Methods for controlling state government spending were explored on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at  a conference sponsored by the La Follette School of Public Affairs. The conference brought together experts, including by La Follette School faculty, to explore alternatives for limiting public spending in Wisconsin and the consequences of doing so.

Environmental Law in a Connected World
Environmentalists, policy-makers and business representatives came together in a rare three-way exchange to explore best environmental policy practices in a conference on Jan. 31, 2005, in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. The conference, Environmental Law in a Connected World, is part of a three-year study of environmental regulatory innovations in Wisconsin. The study will examine how experiments in one region can be transferred to other parts of the world. Graham Wilson of the La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science is the project leader.

New Legislators Training
La Follette School professors share their knowledge about welfare, government finance, environmental regulation and manufacturing in the Midwest with legislators elected in November to the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly. This outreach project to train new legislators is part of a partnership with the Wisconsin Joint Legislative Council.

Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development
The Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development is the only leadership training program exclusively for Midwestern legislators. It helps newer legislators become effective leaders, informed decision-makers and astute policy analysts. More than 30 legislators from 11 states and three Canadian provinces gather in Madison for five days in July of intensive leadership and professional development training offered by the La Follette School of Public Affairs in partnership with the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments.

Faculty share expertise
Here are examples of how the La Follette School and its faculty practice the Wisconsin Idea:

Menzie Chinn presented a paper entitled “Macroeconomic Management and Financial Stability: The Implications for East Asia,” at a conference sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Japanese Ministry of Finance’s Policy Research Institute. The conference, which took place in Paris in June 2004, focused on “The Impact and Coherence of OECD Country Policies on Asian Developing Economies.”

Professor Chinn presented a paper at the Centre for Economic Policy Research’s European Summer Institute conference on “The European Union As an Economic Entity.” The meeting took place in September 2003 at the Deutsche Bundesbank’s conference center outside Frankfurt, and brought together academics and central bank policy-makers.

Professor Chinn presented a paper on the determinants of financial asset returns across countries at the International Monetary Fund’s conference on “Global Linkages” in January 2003. In 2003, he also made presentations at the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

Dennis Dresang is organizing the fifth year of a mid-career management and leadership development program for the Wisconsin Women in Government. More than 20 women in state, business and non-profit agencies spend two weekends and a series of evening classes on topics ranging from organizational culture to management techniques.

Professor Dresang is also working on the 10th year of the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development, with the Midwest office of the Council of State Governments. The weeklong, intensive leadership and policy training is for specially selected legislators to get them up to speed on issues they will face in leadership positions. More than 300 legislators from 12 states and two Canadian provinces have participated over the years.

The La Follette School has sponsored a yearly public seminar series on selected topics for many years. State and local government officials, as well as the public have attended talks on the future of hunting in Wisconsin, the changing demographics of the state, art and public policy, status of women, bioethics and safeguarding our food supply.

The La Follette School offers management and policy programs for new legislators every two years, just before their inauguration. Public policy modules on a variety of topics are offered, including leadership, economic development, taxation and school funding.

La Follette also helps bring political writers-in-residence to campus and before the public. Noted political writers from all over the country are invited to speak to students, attend classes and give lectures. Writers have included editorial cartoonist Matt Davies in fall 2004; Ed Fouhy of Pew Charitable Trusts in fall 2003; Peter Harkness of Governing magazine in spring 2003; Jesse Eisinger of the Wall Street Journal in spring 2003; Chuck Todd of Hotline in fall 2002; Richard Berke of the New York Times in spring 2002; and Ross Ramsey of Texas Weekly in fall 2001.