NATIONAL PROGRAM WILL AIM TO REDUCE NEGATIVE POLITICKING AND VOTER
CYNICISM
BY SHOWING HOW ETHICAL CAMPAIGNING CAN PRODUCE WINNERS

         CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 19 -- The University of Virginia
will
develop and test a national training program for state and local
political
candidates to teach them that they can win elections without resorting
to
negative or unethical campaigning.
        The unique intensive course in campaigning will be designed by
U.Va.'s Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, which has been
awarded
a $410,000, two-and-a-half-year grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts
to
consult a wide range of experts and elected officials and test a pilot
version with Virginia candidates.  An easily teachable curriculum
would
then be distributed to groups nationally.  The program, aimed at
helping
reduce widespread cynicism about politics by bringing a higher tone to
campaigning, was announced by the foundation today.
        "Our premise is that most people who go into politics really
want
to do what's right," said William H. Wood, director of the Sorensen
Institute. "The program would be designed to teach candidates how to
do
well and win elections, while doing good and protecting the democratic
system.  You can win by campaigning ethically and voters would be a
lot
less cynical about the process."
        The Sorensen Institute, established in 1993, is a bipartisan
center
for political leadership that runs programs for public spirited
business,
civic and educational leaders in Virginia who want to become actively
involved in the political process.  One of the few such centers in the
country, it maintains a strong focus on ethics.
        The pilot program on campaigning will be designed using
nationally
known ethicists and
over
political experts, including University of Virginia faculty, campaign
consultants and officials to lay out realistic fundamentals of good,
fair
campaign conduct and prepare real-life case studies of ethically run
campaigns.  The resulting product, Wood said, would aim to help
candidates
"learn how to handle their handlers -- the consultants, party
officials,
pollsters and others who often value winning above all else.
        "By intercepting candidates before they become veterans of
negative
campaigning, the program would seek to build a commitment to the
highest
standards of campaign conduct as America's next generation of leaders
move
upward in their careers. It would be designed for state and local
candidates because that is where the greatest number of campaigns for
office occur and where most of the nation's national leaders begin
their
careers." The curriculum, with a manual, case studies and possibly a
video,
could be sponsored for potential candidates by civic and other groups,
across the country.
        To design the training program, in-depth discussions will be
held
with potential candidates to see if they would be more interested in
running for office if they knew they could be prepared to run
principled
campaigns, said Wood, a former editorial page editor of the Norfolk
Virginian Pilot and longtime Virginia political reporter.  Other
initial
discussions would be with elected officials to explore the challenges
of
running in today's political climate.
        Other steps would include:
       * Establishing criteria for what constitutes a "good campaign."
Research and a national political-ethics conference to be held in
Charlottesville would help define norms and standards of fair
campaigning.
      * Developing an easily teachable training program.  The
two-and-half
day training program would include case studies of winning campaigns
that
displayed good campaign conduct. The institute will develop 10 cases
based
on real elections, covering such issues as advertising, campaign
finance,
and the hiring and oversight of campaign professionals.
        Versions of the program will be pilot-tested in Virginia by
the
summer of 1998 to ensure that
over
materials are useful for candidates and easily taught by program
leaders.
        If the curriculum is effective, the Sorensen Institute will
test
whether there is a market for it nationally by seeing if public policy
schools, civic leagues and other groups would be interested in
administering it to potential candidates.
        "I believe that, despite widespread cynicism about politics
and low
turnouts on election day, voters will react enthusiastically to
positive
campaigns," Wood said.  "This is particularly true at the local and
state
level, where the the electorate is closest to the elected."
         Based in Philadelphia, the Pew Charitable Trusts support
nonprofit
activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health
and
human services, public policy and religion.  Among the nation's
largest
philanthropies, the Trusts support a broad range of strategically
targeted
social investments designed to advance knowledge and to translate it
into
effective action in the public interest.
        ###

June 18, 1997
        William Wood may be reached at the Sorensen Institute for
Political
Leadership at (804) 982 5698 or 982-5522.  For additional information
about
the grant please contact Jim Bornemeier at the Pew Charitable Trusts
public
affairs office at (215) 575-4818. Television reporters please contact
U.Va.'s TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.