Center for Political Participation
Programs
Law & Policy Program
The Center for Political Participation is the home of Allegheny College’s Law & Policy Program, which connects students with practical learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Through this program, we connect students with leading scholars and political practitioners we bring to campus. We also connect students with research opportunities and internships.
Research on Politics
The Center for Political Participation is Allegheny’s hub for public opinion research on the challenges facing American democracy. Our most recent research efforts have focused on why citizens sometimes sacrifice democratic norms for political gain. We are also interested in understanding how citizens can identify shared interests across lines of partisan and ideological difference. To advance our research, we are currently developing our capacity to train students in data analysis and involve them in projects with faculty.
Civic Engagement and Community Partnerships
The Center for Political Participation is Allegheny College’s primary resource for voter registration and electoral participation. In collaboration with the Andrew Goodman Foundation, the CPP helps students register to vote and get to the polls in every election cycle. The CPP is also building relationships with non-profit partners in our local community that serve the public good while also helping students gain hands-on, practical experience.
Center for Political Participation Fellows
The Center for Political Participation relies heavily on student involvement. Several work-study students are hired each semester to do important research. Also, a Student Fellowship Program has been established. These fellows are selected to help run the Center, from organizing various events and implementing programs, to creating innovative strategies for promoting politics and the democratic process.
Allegheny Votes
We encourage everyone to exercise your right to vote and to be engaged citizens in our political process. We also recognize the importance of both intellectual and emotional processing of elections. This website offers a central place to find information and activities for general elections.
Quigley Town Hall
The Quigley Town Hall (QTH) was established by the CPP in 2013. The idea was to provide the campus and the community multiple, ongoing opportunities to learn about and explore contemporary policy issues, debates, and key events. The QTH series is run entirely by CPP Fellows; they develop the topics that are to be explored in the series, choreograph the events, and arrange for policy experts to help facilitate the discussions. We try to hold one QTH per month during the academic year.
Recent Quigley Town Hall Topics:
- When Do Human Right Violations Get Media Attention?
- The War in Ukraine: Why did Russia Invade? How have the Ukrainian People Responded?
- Politics of the Pandemic
- Civic Values and Public Discourse
- Citizens Take to the Streets in Chile: What is going on in South America?
- That’s What Xi Said: What’s Happening in China?
- The Daily Me: Algorithms and Political Preferences
Constitution Day
The Allegheny College Center for Political Participation hosts an annual event to encourage the Allegheny Community to learn more about the Constitution and it’s impact on American life. Constitution Day (or Citizenship Day) recognizes the ratification of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. It is observed on September 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787. You can learn more at the National Endowment for the Humanities’ at the Constitution Day site.
Remembering John Lewis
Upon hearing the news of the death of John Lewis, Rick Momeyer ’64 wrote this reflection describing his experience as student who was actively involved in the civil rights movement and his personal friendship with John Lewis, American politician, statesman, and civil rights activist and leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. He was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963 to 1966.
