Meet Our Founding Members/Editorial Board

For more information contact: debrajanecampbell@gmail.com

DEBRA CAMPBELL

Board Member
debrajanecampbell@gmail.com​

Dr. Debra J. Campbell has been a full-time faculty member in the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department of Mesa Community College since 1992.  Debra has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Arizona State University.  Her research interests are centered around promoting Direct Deliberative Democracy.  Her dissertation advocated for the idea of empaneling "Legislative Juries" to allow citizens to discuss initiatives (the one form of direct democracy we practice in America today) before they are placed on the ballot.  She hopes to see Legislative Juries used in America in the near future.

JACK CRITTENDEN

Board Member
​crit@asu.edu

Jack Crittenden, professor emeritus, taught political science at Arizona State University for nearly 30 years.  A political theorist by training and temperament, Jack focused his teaching and research on democratic theory and practice.  He is the author of four books, all of them dealing in some fashion with an historical and normative analysis of democratic ideas and institutions and with recommendations for new forms of democracy, especially democratic education, in the 21st century.  He continues to write about democracy, but has also branched out into new areas of research--such as on states of consciousness and on science, spirituality, and psychology.  Jack received his formal degrees from Tufts, Harvard, and Oxford Universities (in that order) and received his informal degree in WTF!? from the Electoral College in November 2016.  He is a founding member and currently on the Board of Directors of the Integral Institute (now known as Integral Life).  Along with a group of former students (and now friends), he started this non-profit organization, the 3-D Politics Institute, which plots different ways that citizens can be engaged in making laws directly.  Jack remains skeptical of most things, including biographical blurbs.

TARA LENNON

Board Member
​

Dr. Lennon's academic training is in political philosophy and international relations.  She earned her BA in Government and Psychology at Wesleyan University in CT and MA and PhD in Political Theory and International Relations here at ASU.  Her studies focused on theories of political representation.
After her doctorate, for a decade, she evaluated the effectiveness of state agencies and school districts for the Auditor Generals Office—the objective research branch of the Arizona State Legislature.  She testified before legislative committees about policy issues and managed ongoing research projects on education funding and academic achievement.  She loved seeing policy-making at work, but is happy to back at the university discussing how issues, such as freedom and justice, are reflected in current policy decisions and in various forms of political participation.  For example, she sees citizenship and patriotism not as abstract concepts, but as how we choose to treat each other in this country every day, in every conversation.