Four-time presidential nominee, lawyer and author Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein, associate attorney general under the Reagan administration, addressed civic responsibility, American corporatism and consumerism as well as the Obama administration in an event in Gaston Hall on Wednesday.

Nadar, who was once named by Time Magazine one of the “100 Most Influential Americans of the Twentieth Century,” began by focusing on what he sees as the difference between personal and civic freedom. Civic freedom, he noted, comes from having a choice on the ballot. He strongly urged citizen and student participation as a method of changing society and politics as a whole.

“Students at universities in this country can dramatically change the political complexion of this country,” Nader said. “You just need the fire in the belly to do it.”

Fein also emphasized the importance of Americans exercising their rights as citizens.

“Democracy is a collective exercise – at the ballot box and with the public opinion,” Fein said. “The thrill of the United States is in participation. The highest office of the land is citizen, not president.”

Nader, one of the most well-known American consumer advocates, also spoke on the United States’ current budget, speaking on the government’s lack of demonstrated fiscal restraint.

“The priorities of our federal budget are insane,” Nader said.

He supported this claim by highlighting that the current federal Environmental Protection Agency budget is not far from that of the Missile Defense Agency.

Fein, a critic of the Bush administration, later commented on the current Obama administration. He stated that many Americans had expected President Obama to be the “messiah who would put the Cheney and Bush aberrations to rest.” Obama, however, has dealt with issues such as military commissions and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in similar ways as the Bush presidency, according to Fein.

The event, titled “Corporate Control, Official Lawlessness and What’s Left of Democracy,” was sponsored by The Lecture Fund.

“The event was actually just organized within the last two weeks. [Nader] was eager to come speak [at Georgetown],” Sean Keady (SFS ’13), member of The Lecture Fund who organized the lecture, said.”