Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is part of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Leopoldo López expressed fear about the global rise of a “network of autocracies." He encouraged Stanford students to champion democracy and freedom across the globe.
Today’s headlines are filled with arguments over restrictions on the right to vote and attempts to expand it. But what if we leapt over the current argument, and made a commitment to a ‘100% Democracy’, an election process where every citizen has the right to vote and full opportunities to do so—but also the duty to vote, a requirement to participate in our national choices?
In 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting, co-authors E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport argue for just that, and it’s not as far out as it sounds at first hearing. Twenty-six countries around the world require participation in elections including Australia, which has required citizens to cast a ballot since 1924 and had over 90% voter turnout in their last major election. The U.S. on the other hand lags behind other democracies, with only 66.8% of eligible voters participating in the record-turnout election of 2020. If Americans are required to pay taxes and serve on juries, why not ask—or require—every American to vote?
Join us on Tuesday, April 5, for a conversation with Dionne and Rapoport about 100% Democracy, universal voting, and how it might be implemented. Is it time for the United States to take a major leap forward and recognize voting as both a fundamental civil right and a solemn civic duty?
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Charles is a Research Scholar at the Global Digital Policy Incubator of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society, and a board member of the International Centre for Trade Transparency and Monitoring. Charles served as an elected member of the Legislative Council in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, representing the Information Technology functional constituency, for two terms from 2012 to 2020. In 2021, he founded Tech for Good Asia, an initiative to advocate positive use of technology for businesses and civil communities. As an entrepreneur, Charles co-founded HKNet in 1994, one of the earliest Internet service providers in Hong Kong, which was acquired by NTT Communications in 2000. He was the founding chair of the Internet Society Hong Kong, honorary president and former president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, former chair of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association, and former chair of the Asian, Australiasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO) of ICANN. Charles holds a BS in Computer and Electrical Engineering and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.
During this multimedia course, Clayborne Carson, the editor of The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the director of the World House Project, will examine the lives of Martin and Coretta Scott King. We will follow Dr. King’s unexpected emergence as an internationally known nonviolence and human rights advocate. We will learn about the successes and challenges he experienced as the preeminent leader of the civil rights movement, and we will discuss the central role that Coretta Scott King played as a partner and activist during Martin’s life and afterward.
This course will highlight the crucial events that influenced Coretta’s and Martin’s lives, such as the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 1960 sit-ins, the 1963 Birmingham Campaign and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, as well as the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March. Further, we will look at the Kings’ involvement in the 1966 Chicago Freedom Movement Campaign and their effort to mobilize the 1968 Poor People's Campaign, which brought Martin to Memphis in the Spring of 1968. Finally, we will examine Coretta’s transformation from Martin’s partner into a leader of the movement to shape his legacy. In each session, Mira Foster, the director of education for the World House Project, will provide rich and rarely seen historical material, on-location filming, and other audiovisual documents, to help us understand what inspired and motivated these two remarkable people.
Available through Stanford Continuing Studies, "American Prophet: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr." will run online for eight weeks on Thursdays from January 20 through March 10, 2022.
For the 2022 King Holiday, the World House Project will host a free, four-day webinar and virtual film festival, from the evening of January 14 through January 17, 2022. This virtual event will feature over 30 documentaries, musical performances, interviews, and panel discussions that speak to Dr. King's vision of the World House.
The webinar will consist of daily Zoom meetings with the World House Project director Dr. Clayborne Carson who will speak with guests and webinar registrants on a range of topics, from the history of the civil rights movement to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the African American freedom struggles.
The films and performances cover a variety of themes, from the history of the civil rights and anti-apartheid movements to James Baldwin and Martin Luther King's global visions. A full list of featured films and short descriptions will be available shortly.
The festival is produced in partnership with the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center, California Newsreel, Clarity Films, the Camera as Witness Program (Stanford Arts), the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life at Stanford, and the Kunhardt Film Foundation.
Online via Zoom. Register Now
On October 1, 2021, Dr. Clayborne Carson and his team hosted an open house to officially inaugurate The World House Project and its new office located at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).
The new project, which builds on the work of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford, notably the King Papers Project and the Liberation Curriculum, develops innovative and authoritative educational resources. The project’s goal is to make these resources freely available to all peoples of the world to illuminate the past, speak to the present, and empower them to build a more just and peaceful future.
“The idea of using nonviolent means to achieve human rights is one of the central ideas that we have to get across,” said Dr. Carson, director of The World House Project, to the faculty, staff and community members in attendance at the launch event. “But that’s not going to mean very much in the world unless we find ways of making that strategically effective. That’s what we’re here to do.”
Dr. Carson is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor Emeritus at FSI. He has been a member of the Stanford Department of History and director of the King Papers Project, as well as the author of numerous books and articles about the King legacy.
Selected in 1985 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King to edit and publish the papers of her late husband, Dr. Carson has devoted most of his professional life to the study of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the movements King inspired.
"We're delighted that you're here as part of the institution at Stanford that is at the nexus of studying international issues," said FSI Director Michael McFaul to Dr. Carson and those gathered in the project’s new space in Encina Hall. “I think of this 'house' and your initiative as part of the redefinition of how we think about international studies at Stanford.”
In addition to offering educational resources, The World House Project is also home to The World House Global Network, which facilitates communication and collaboration among people working on local and global levels for peace and justice. The network aims to build solidarity and grow the sense of community among all people defending human rights nonviolently and realize King's vision of peaceful coexistence.
“The World House Project is about growing a global network who have been inspired by Dr. King’s vision of a world house,” said Johnny Mack, the project’s associate director. “There’s no one else doing this, and we do have an unprecedented opportunity and organization to carry out that vision.”
In his remarks to attendees, Dr. Carson encouraged the community to see the project’s new space as their own.
“This World House is your World House,” said Dr. Carson. “You are all welcome here anytime.”
Led by Clayborne Carson, the new project works to realize King's vision of the world as a large house in which "we must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.”
This event is co-sponsored by the "Ten Years on Project" and the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University.
Online, via Zoom: REGISTER
The Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is deeply saddened by the loss of beloved Draper Hills alumnus José Luis Martín C. (“Chito”) Gascón, who passed away after a short battle with COVID-19 on October 9, 2021, at the age of 57.
A Filipino lawyer, human rights activist, and civil organizer, Gascón served as the Chair of the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights from 2015 to 2021, having been appointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III. Prior to this, he also served as a member of the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board and as a member of the Philippine Congress, where he helped to pass monumental legislation to promote the prevention of human rights abuses. He contributed to the founding of the International Center for Innovation, Transformation, and Excellence in Governance; the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, and Democracy; and the Asian Policy Network. Gascón’s career also included teaching law and political science at Ateneo de Manila University and De la Salle University.
Reacting to the news of Chito's death on Twitter, FSI Director Michael McFaul called him “a true hero for human rights.” Larry Diamond also paid tribute, noting that “he was eloquent, fearless, humble, and deeply devoted to democracy” and one of the Philippines’ “great civil society leaders.”
In 2005, Chito was a member of the first class of CDDRL's Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program, which trains global leaders working on the front lines of democratic change. Kathryn Stoner, Mosbacher Director of CDDRL, noted that he was "a pioneer with us and with all that he did."
In addition to his time as a Draper Hills Summer Fellow, Chito Gascón was a Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in 2007. Former NED president and frequent Draper Hills contributor Carl Gershman shared that “Chito was a brilliant and dedicated democracy activist, a gentle personality with a tough inner core and immense courage. He will be sorely missed by countless friends, myself included, and by people around the world who are fighting for democracy and human dignity.”
A member of the inaugural Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program cohort in 2005, Chito died from COVID-19 on October 9, 2021.
This panel will examine the evolving political conflicts in Tunisia since the July 25 power grab executed by President Kais Saied that has been widely characterized as a step toward cementing authoritarian rule. Our panelists will examine the challenges recent developments have posed to Tunisia’s struggling democracy and the prospects for building consensus around an inclusive process of political reform.
This event is co-sponsored by the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at CDDRL, Stanford University's Center for African Studies, and the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies.
Online, via Zoom: REGISTER
