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Patrick Basham
Adjunct Scholar, Center for Representative Government
Patrick Basham is founding director of the Democracy Institute and an adjunct scholar with Cato's Center for Representative Government. Prior to joining the Cato Institute, Patrick Basham served as the founding director of the Social Affairs Center at the Fraser Institute, Canada's leading free market think tank. He has edited and written on a variety of policy issues including campaign finance, term limits, and election law. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, Newsday, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Baltimore Sun, Canada's National Post and the Globe and Mail. Basham has also appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, PBS, NPR, BBC, and Radio Free Europe. Basham has studied political science at the University of Houston and Cambridge University.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
Books and Book Chapters
Butt Out! How Philip Morris Burned Ted Kennedy, the FDA & the Anti-Tobacco Movement (April 2009)
Diet Nation: Exposing the Obesity Crusade, by John Luik, Patrick Basham, and Gio Gori (December 2006)
"Taxpayer Financing in Comparative Perspective," Chapter from Welfare For Politicians? Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns (2005).
"Does Cleanliness Lead to Competitiveness: The Failure of Maine's Experiment," by Patrick Basham and Martin Zelder, Chapter from Welfare For Politicians? Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns (2005).
Gambling with Our Future? The Costs and Benefits of Legalized Gambling, by Patrick Basham and Karen White (2002).
Cato Studies
"Uncompetitive Elections and the American Political System," by Patrick Basham and Dennis Polhill, Policy Analysis no. 547, June 30, 2005.
"Can Iraq Be Democratic?," Policy Analysis no. 505, January 5, 2004.
"Defining Democracy Down: Explaining the Campaign to Repeal Term Limits," Policy Analysis no. 490, September 30, 2003.
"This Is Reform? Predicting the Impact of the New Campaign Financing Regulations," Briefing Paper no. 78, November 20, 2002.
"Does Cleanliness Lead to Competitiveness? The Failure of Maine's Experiment with Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns," by Patrick Basham and Martin Zelder, Policy Analysis no. 456, October 16, 2002.
Articles and Newsletters
"Is the Obesity Epidemic Exaggerated? Yes," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, British Medical Journal, February 2, 2008.
Opinion and Commentary
"A Bleary-Eyed Attitude to Alcohol Research," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, Spiked (Online), February 3, 2010
"The Myth of an "Obesity Tsunami"," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, Spiked (Online), January 19, 2010
"In Defense of Santa," TownHall.com, December 24, 2009
"Can the UK Avert a Smoking Irish Failure?," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, politics.co.uk, October 29, 2009
"NYC: The City That Never Smokes," by Patrick Basham and John Luik, Spiked (Online), October 26, 2009
Events
"Incumbents, Uncompetitive Elections and American Democracy," June 30, 2005 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
Multimedia
Patrick Basham discusses foreign, economic, and social policy in the next decade on BBC's The World Today January 5, 2010 [Flash Audio, 03:48]
Patrick Basham gives a post election analysis on BBC Radio November 8, 2008 [Flash Audio, 01:00]
Patrick Basham gives a post election analysis on CNBC ASIA November 6, 2008 [Flash Video, 08:02]
Patrick Basham discusses the election on France 24 November 3, 2008 [Flash Video, 02:25]
Patrick Basham discusses the election on BBC America October 28, 2008 [Flash Video, 04:22]
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