Democracy Project

By Vince Lovato, Pathfinder Editor

SEELEY LAKE – Though Republicans control Montana politics today, that wasn't always the case, retired journalist Mike Dennison told Seeley Swan High School students Nov. 1.

Up to about 30 years ago, Montana was a so-called Blue State, he said.

Dennison, who covered Montana politics as a print and TV journalist for the last 40 years, is a guest lecturer for the Humanities Montana Democracy Project.

According to the website, the privately funded Democracy Project is, "...a teen-led initiative supported by local libraries, community partners, and Humanities Montana. This program gives teens the resources to effect change and know their role in an evolving democracy through direct civic participation. Students work for six months on projects they feel are vital to their community, ending with a public showcase."

Campus Librarian Carrie Benton, who coordinates the program for SSHS, said AP History Teacher Trace Stone's students will divide into groups of three or four to work on the long-term project based on the Democracy Project's program.

It was the first time the Democracy Project presented a speaker at SSHS.

Benton said the AP students begin a journey where they will discuss issues confronting the state, decide which ones to research and provide some possible solutions.

Those solutions will be presented during a showcase for the entire county in the spring, Benton said.

"The students get to decide what topics to pursue and be the energy behind this project," Benton said. "They get to use their creative juices, it's very hands on and proactive."

The impetus for bringing the project to Seeley Lake comes from the state.

"Our state is trying to get more civics involved in the schools," said SSHS principal Shawn Holmes. "They want to get more kids involved in government and civics. Not enough kids are interested in politics and we hope to get them more involved."

As for Dennison's lecture, he said Republicans control statewide politics today but, "...forty years ago, Democrats dominated politics in Montana."

The party's strength came through the high number of organized labor groups who thrived in labor-intensive industries like logging and energy.

"In the 70s and 80s, there was an erosion of those jobs, largely through environmental interests," he said.

In fact, the Democrats only controlled the state legislature once since 1992, he said.

He believes former president Donald Trump's two campaigns drew a larger number of conservatives to the polls, especially with the widening divide between urban and rural politics.

He also said Montanans are pro-business.

"They believe the free market will solve economic problems," Dennison said. "But Democrats use government to fix problems of abuse in business."

That belief often pits liberals against strong coalitions such as oil, gas and real estate," Dennison said.

"If they go up against you, you can be in big trouble," he said.

He used the crisis of a lack of affordable housing as being a good example of the rift between the parties.

Gov. Greg Gianforte's Affordable Housing Task Force recently reported on its findings and presented a list of ways Montana might solve the problem.

The more conservative recommendations usually called for fewer regulations on developers and homebuilders while liberal recommendations leaned toward government subsidies.

Another issue is the budget surplus, he said.

Again, Republicans mostly favor returning money to taxpayers while Democrats favor using the extra funds for mental health and subsidized housing.

"We will see how those differences play out," Dennison said.

After he spoke for about 30 minutes, he asked students questions.

They answered one question that they get most of their news from social media and the radio.

The students generally thought news outlets are biased.

"Cable news today is really more about opinions than facts," Dennison said. "But a reporter in the field is not as biased."

Students are also happy with the news they receive probably because Internet site algorithms are effective at serving users with news about topics they want to know about.