By Major Cox#

 This column is about a voter resource; Alabama Issues 1998. The Center for Government Services (CGS) at Auburn University publishes Alabama Issues every four years during statewide elections. The stated purpose of the publication is; "to inform the 1998 election debate and provide guidance and direction to those who take office in January 1999." The book is sent to all candidates for the state legislature and other statewide offices.

Alabama Issues 1998 discusses 10 issues relevant to Alabama at end of the 20^th Century. Each article focuses on an issue of immediate and vital concern to Alabama policy makers. Authored by experts in the area, the ten articles provide useful information to both voters and the candidates hoping to win their votes.

I want to briefly discuss three of these issues in my limited space. At the end of my 500-word distillation, I will provide information on how to obtain a copy of this valuable publication.

An Agenda for Leadership in Alabama is a thought-provoking article by Dr. Bailey Thomson, University of Alabama Department of Journalism. He leads off with a virtual tour around the State Capitol complex and points out the physical and metaphysical contrasts between of the Capitol and the structures surrounding it.

He contrasts "the Confederacy's columned birthplace" and "the Baptist church where Martin Luther King Jr. began [the] civil rights crusade." He also points out other, more insidious, contrasts. For example, the modern Business Council of Alabama building with a staff of hundreds and a helicopter landing pad on its roof, across the street from the legislature, where men and women labor on the peoples' business with "shared secretaries" and "cramped meeting rooms."

In the essay, Ethics and Values in Alabama, Dr. Wayne Flynt treats this subject as if he was teaching his history students at Auburn University. He provides voters with the right questions about their candidates. Flynt says voters must not only know if the "candidate [is] trustworthy, honorable, honest, [and] faithful to his vows, commitments, and promises," but must also consider issues of social morality. He writes that voters need to know: "[Does] the candidate engage in demagogic rhetoric on matters of race, religion or other issues? (That is, does the candidate emotionalize and oversimplify difficult and complex issues, appeal to prejudice or ignorance, divide and polarize the electorate, [or] try to find scapegoats for widely perceived problems?)"

In their article, 1998 Alabama Policy Issues Survey, Professors Karen Khodadidi and Russell Foushee of Auburn's CGS discuss the biannual survey. This survey queried a random sample of 402 Alabama residents and found that they believe the number one problem facing the state is inadequate education.

We have heard a lot about an Alabama lottery from candidates in the gubernatorial election. You will find the facts about Georgia's lottery in this article. For example, Georgia's lottery generated $370 million for education in 1994 after all winnings and associated administrative costs were paid. In biannual CGS surveys conducted since 1994, a majority of Alabama citizens responding said they would support a lottery to fund education. Support for a state lottery was 75% in 1994, 68% in 1996 and 66% in 1998.

Other CGS survey findings tell us that while no one likes taxes, some taxes are more popular than others. For example, respondents' first choice for a tax increase was the tax on beer and liquor. The least-favored tax is the income tax. I found it interesting to note that the second most favored tax for increase was the State Property Tax.

The title of the other articles are listed here in the remaining space I have allotted for this column:

This book is a valuable citizenship resource. It identifies the real political choices that voters have before them in the upcoming elections. I recommend that every Alabama citizen become familiar with its contents prior to voting in the November elections.

You can get your copy of Alabama Issues 1998, by sending a check for $5.00 to Auburn University, Center for Governmental Services, 2236 Haley Center in Auburn, Alabama 36849-5245.

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Originally Published:  15 October 1998, Montgomery Advertiser

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