As the United States gears up for another intense presidential election season leading up to November, this spring’s Janus Forum will dive into the controversial debate on how voting rights and election integrity are influenced by both the influx of large amounts of money and diverse attitudes towards free speech. 

Addressing the issue will be Mick Mulvaney, chief of staff of former President Trump, and Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United and Let America Vote. They will both meet on stage for “Bought and Paid For? Money, Speech, and Elections in America” on Monday, April 15 at the Shriver Center’s JDOL A/B room at 6:30 p.m. A public reception will follow.

As always, the Janus Forum is free and open to the public.

The Janus Forum is sponsored by the Department of Political Science thanks to the generous support of Thomas W. Smith  ’50, the Menard Family Center for Democracy, and the Jack Miller Center.

“We feel very fortunate to bring both Mick Mulvaney and Tiffany Muller to Miami University to discuss the role of money and speech in American elections,” said Patrick Haney, professor of Political Science. “The Citizens United case is seen by many as having opened the floodgates to huge sums of ‘dark’ and even foreign money, while others see it as having leveled the playing field and standing up for free speech around elections. We look forward to our guest speakers coming together in a civil and fascinating conversation.”

“In a pluralistic democracy like ours, it is essential that people — even those with sharply different ideas about politics and the role of government — engage with one another with civility, good will, and mutual respect,” added John Forren, director of Miami’s Menard Family Center for Democracy.  “This month’s Forum promises to provide exactly that kind of robust exchange of ideas, and we are excited to bring these two nationally prominent thought leaders to our Oxford campus.”

Mick Mulvaney is the former Ambassador and Special Envoy to Northern Ireland who resigned January 6, 2021 in response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. More famously, he was President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff during both an impeachment and the first days of the Coronavirus pandemic. He is also the former director of the Office of Management and Budget as well as a former U.S. Representative from the state of South Carolina.

Mulvaney is also a political and economic contributor to NewsNation and SkyNews Australia and appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg, the BBC, CNN, CBS, and FoxBusiness. His work has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Tiffany Muller is president of the anti-corruption group End Citizens United and the voting rights group Let America Vote, together boasting more than 4 million members and 1 million grassroots donors. She is also the former deputy political director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as well as the former chief of staff to two Democratic members of Congress.

Notably, Muller began her career in government and politics as the first openly gay public official in Kansas in 2004 as a member of the Topeka City Council, where she led successful efforts to expand anti-discrimination protections. She also worked for former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

This spring’s Janus Forum moderator will be junior Political Science, Individualized Studies, and Women and Gender Studies major Grace Gaston. Political Science and Business Analytics major Cameron Tiefenthaler, a senior graduating this spring, is finishing out her term as the Janus Forum student president.

The Janus Forum offers a place for members of the community to come together and discuss opposing views freely and passionately. We provide a forum where students can explore the multitude of views that exist, and then arrive at their own opinions.