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CDDRL Students Graduate from Fisher Family Honors Program
Each year the Center offers an interdisciplinary honors program, through which students write a thesis related to the topics of democracy, development and the rule of law. This year’s cohort wrote on a vast range of topics, including electoral reform in Chile, the rise of the far-right in Greece, and public health in Oaxaca, Mexico.
A Victory For Democratic Reform
"In what may be looked back upon as the most important election in the United States in 2018, the voters of Maine rejected political cynicism on Tuesday and preserved ranked-choice voting (RCV) for its future elections.
Anwar in the wings as Malaysia remakes its democracy
"Will the ruse fool the devil? Will renascent Malaysian democracy survive? Bandwagoning is already underway, as venal officials and executives who benefited from Najib’s kleptocratic ways seek political safety by ingratiating themselves with the new government, potentially weakening its ability to clean house," writes CDDRL affiliated faculty Donald K. Emmerson on the latest development in Malaysia. Read here.
CDDRL's Stephen Stedman receives Stanford’s 2018 Dinkelspiel award
CDDRL Deputy Director Stephen J. Stedman received the 2018 Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award For Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Education. Stedman is a Freeman Spogli Senior Fellow, an affiliated faculty member at CISAC, and professor of political science (by courtesy) at Stanford University.
Why We Find Self-Driving Cars So Scary
"Take note, Elon Musk: Even if autonomous cars are safer overall, the public will accept the new technology only when it fails in predictable and reasonable ways," writes Jerry Kaplan in The Wall Street Journal. Read the full article here.
Why Trump’s plans for regime change in Iran will have the opposite effect
"Containing Iran’s belligerent actions abroad should be a high priority for the Trump administration, as well as engaging in arms control to limit Iran’s ballistic missile program and supporting ideas of democracy and human rights," writes Michael McFaul and Abbas Milani in The Washington Post.
The Draper Hills Summer Fellows Class of 2018
Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is proud to announce our 2018 Draper Hills Summer Fellows who were selected from among hundreds of applicants for their path-breaking work to defend democracy. These 27 leaders drawn from 23 countries around the world are pioneering new approaches and models to advance social and political change in some of the most challenging global contexts. Learn more here.
Malaysia’s Democratic Breakthrough
"Malaysia's recent electoral earthquake has opened the way to a transition to democracy. This is a big positive development at a time when democracy globally needs a lift," writes Larry Diamond in this American Interest article.
Beijing’s Building Boom
"Scholars and pundits in the West have become increasingly alarmed that China’s planned Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) could further shift the global strategic landscape in Beijing’s favor, with infrastructure lending as its primary lever for global influence. The planned network of an infrastructure project—financed by China’s bilateral lenders, the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), along with the newly formed and multilateral Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank—is historically unprecedented in scope.
So, Now What? A Way Out of Our Polarized Politics
Of the current climate of political polarization, CDDRL's Didi Kuo writes, "we can hope that citizen dissatisfaction fosters political engagement through activities such as protest, mobilization and pressure on public officials. Democratic institutions are the best, and only, way to resolve crises of democracy." Read the full article here.
Who I Am: The Role of Identity in Modern Politics
"America needs to pull back from the identities favored by liberals and conservatives to an integrative one based on the country’s founding principles," writes Francis Fukuyama in Stanford Magazine. Read the full article here.
Facebook vs. Democracy
Listen to Francis Fukuyama in conversation with Frederic Filloux on the need of regulations of platforms, the preservation of free speech, and the role of Europe here on The Monday Note.
The Imprudence of Unilateral US Withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal
In his article for the The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Abbas Milani writes that "the much-rumored and long-expected announcement by President Trump that he will order the United States to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal—officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA—is arguably the worst policy option for addressing problems in what was the least-bad possible deal when it was signed." Read the full article
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan talks illiberal democracies, election issues
“When you see something wrong, don’t be a bystander,” Annan responded. “You are never too young to lead. Don’t let my generation tell you, ‘Shut up and wait your turn.’ If there’s something you feel that you can do something about, do it. Work across racial, religious and other lines. Don’t accept divisions you see in society,” said former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan in conversation with CDDRL Mosbacher Director Francis Fukuyama.
ARD 2018 Annual Conference Examines Dynamics of Governance and Political Participation in the MENA Region
Under the title “Political Contestation and New Social Forces in the Middle East and North Africa,” the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy convened its 2018 annual conference on April 27 and 28 at Stanford University.
Countering a Kleptocratic Kremlin
"We must remember that predatory authoritarianism is not stamped into the Russian DNA," writes Larry Diamond in this American Interest article.
Former President of Taiwan Talks Democracy and Politics
At an event co-sponsored by the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Hoover Institution, "former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou addressed a crowd of 400 University faculty, students and local community members in his Wednesday talk on democracy, cross-strait relations and future challenges facing Taiwan." Read The Stanford Daily's full coverage of President Ma's visit here.
Facebook and Congress Must Create Regulations Together
Featuring Eileen Donahoe, executive director of the Global Digital
Paul Wise: Saving the Children, on the Frontlines of War
Paul Wise explores and discusses the challenges of wartime pediatrics on the Stanford Radio show.
How Kenya’s Elections Went from Fraud to Hope to Sham
CDDRL senior fellow Larry Diamond talks with Kenyan lawyer and human rights activist Maina Kiai about the state of democracy in Kenya and how it can progress beyond its current flaws. Listen here.
Are People Losing Faith in Democracy?
"Are people merely punishing incumbent parties and politicians, or are they losing faith in democracy itself?" asks Larry Diamond in The American Interest. Read the full article here.
Francis Fukuyama: China’s ‘bad emperor’ returns
"Since 1978, China’s authoritarian political system has been different from virtually all other dictatorships in part because the ruling Communist Party has been subject to rules regarding succession.
Francis Fukuyama: Democracy Needs Elites
CDDRL Mosbacher director Francis Fukuyama spoke with Alexander Görlach for The WorldPost about U.S. President Donald Trump, the populist wave sweeping Europe and “fake news.” Read here.