The Democratic Piece

We are holding a symposium on Thursday called Assessing the State of Democracy in America: Is This the Best We Can Be?

Panelists from the academic, democracy promotion and U.S. political reform communities will discuss current work by Freedom House on American democracy, the presidential nominating system and what types of political reform the next administration should champion.

Keynote: Tom Melia, Freedom House

Panelists:
Algernon Austin, Economic Policy Institute
Patrick Basham, Democracy Institute/Cato Institute
Doug Chapin, electionline.org/Pew Charitable Trusts
Ryan O’Donnell, Common Cause
Rob Richie, FairVote
Mark Rom, Georgetown Public Policy Institute

Moderators:
Dan Brumberg, Georgetown Democracy & Governance
Barak Hoffman, Center for Democracy and Civil Society

Join us at the Carnegie Endowment off Dupont Circle on April 3 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Come a little earlier for continental breakfast.

For more information and the RSVP address, see the listing on Georgetown’s site.

Charles Tilly has indefinitely postponed his visit originally scheduled on the 17th.

Instead, join us on Wednesday, January 16 at the US Institute of Peace for Rethinking Democracy Promotion in the Middle East.

Rethinking Democracy Promotion in the Middle East

Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Location: U.S. Institute of Peace
2nd Floor Conference Room
1200 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

*Overview*

Once lauded as a new but vital keystone of American foreign policy, the promotion of democracy in the Middle East is now seen by many as a costly endeavor that has brought few positive benefits for the region or for the United States. As security challenges escalate, and as enduring regional conflicts receive renewed attention, there is a real possibility that democracy promotion will be demoted among the priorities of U.S. foreign policy.

To assess the possible consequences of such a development and to suggest some alternative scenarios, Cairo-based scholar and writer Hugh Roberts will lead a discussion entitled “Rethinking Democracy Promotion in the Middle East.” The former director of the North Africa Project at the International Crisis Group, Dr. Roberts has published widely on Algerian, Sahrawi, Egyptian, Mauritanian and Jordanian politics. A noted scholar who has taught at Berkeley, the London School of Economics, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, among other institutions, Dr. Roberts is the author of The Battlefield: Algeria 1988-2002. Studies in a Broken Polity.

This event is co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace, Georgetown University’s Democracy and Governance Studies program and Maghreb Center, and the Moroccan American Center.

Speakers

Hugh Roberts
Consultant

Daniel Brumberg, Co-chair
United States Institute of Peace and Georgetown University

Stephen King, Co-chair
Georgetown University

Dina Shehata, Discussant
United States Institute of Peace

Matthew Frumkin, Discussant
National Democratic Institute

RSVP

To RSVP, please send your name, affiliation, and daytime phone number to rgrace@usip.org

The National Endowment for Democracy’s Carl Gershman comes to Georgetown on January 30 at lunch hour. Please RSVP using the information on the school’s event page.

Gershman co-founded the International Forum for Democratic Studies, the NED’s think tank arm, and its quarterly Journal of Democracy. He has been active at the United Nations, Freedom House and Social Democrats USA.

Columbia University’s Charles Tilly comes to DC on January 17. Click the link for details.

If you’re in the area and free at lunchtime, meet the author who wrote, “War made the state, and the state made war.”

Brought to you by the Democracy and Governance grad program at Georgetown.

Three more days until Larry Diamond (NED, Stanford, Hoover Institution) lectures at Georgetown. The public is invited. 6 to 8 PM at the ICC building on campus. If you’ll be in the DC metro area on October 25 and are interested in democracy, join us.