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ARD scholar on resurgence of authoritarianism in Egypt

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On the fourth anniversary of Egypt's January 25 Revolution, Hesham Sallam, associate director of CDDRL's Program on Arab Reform and Democracy and Jadaliyya co-editor, remarks on the return of authoritarianism in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Sallam argues that the ruling military regime has become more repressive than that of President Hosni Mubarak, highlighting growing victimization of civil society members. Listen to Sallam's interview with KPFA 94.1 Berkeley below.

 

 

 

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Women in Policy

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Event Description

Join us to hear from female speakers with experience at all levels of policy-making, learn about the challenges that women face in the political arena, and explore solutions to gender inequality. 

This panel will be moderated by Professor Shelley Correll.

This event is sponsored by the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law; Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Stanford in Government; and the Women's Community Center. 

 

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Bechtel Conference Center, Encina Hall

Congresswoman Jackie Speier United States Representative 14th Congressional District, California
Kimberly Ellis Executive Director EMERGE California
Karina Kloos Stanford Department of Sociology
Shelley Correll (moderator) Director Clayman Institute for Gender Research
Seminars

Arab Reform and Democracy Speaker Series

The Program on Arab Reform and Democracy (ARD) speaker series seeks to promote critical discussions around questions of political change, social and economic rights, power and resistance in the countries of the Arab world. Scholars from across disciplines are invited to present new, innovative research that sheds light on the nuances of ongoing, salient developments and trends in the Arab world, while situating them in a rich historical context.

Embittered Authoritarianism: Contemporary Malaysia in Comparative Perspective

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ABSTRACT

Malaysia has long had an authoritarian (UMNO/BN) regime strong enough to allow it to concede democratic reforms without conceding electoral defeat. Unlike its authoritarian counterparts in Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and now Burma/Myanmar, however, Malaysia’s regime has thus far eschewed this surprisingly common Asian strategy of “democracy through strength.” Professor  Slater will discuss how and why Malaysia’s rulers have responded to their regime’s gradual decline with the rhetoric but not the substance of democratic reform.

 

SPEAKER BIO

Dan Slater is an associate member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago, in addition to his professorship in Political Science. He is the author of "Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia" (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics, 2010) and co-editor of "Southeast Asia in Political Science: Theory, Region, and Qualitative Analysis" (Stanford, 2008). He has also published articles in journals including the American Journal of Political Science, the American Journal of Sociology, Comparative Politics, Critical Asian Studies, International Organization, the Journal of Democracy, Perspectives on Politics, and World Politics.

 

                                               ** This event is co-sponsored with the South East Asia Program **

Associate Professor
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Okimoto Conference Room

Encina Hall 3rd Floor, East Wing

616 Serra Street, Stanford University

Dan Slater Associate Professor University of Chicago
Seminars

John Githongo on Africa’s new autocrats

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On Feb. 5, Kenyan journalist and anti-corruption leader, John Githongo, delivered the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor Lecture on Public Service at Stanford University. Githongo, who will also be in residence at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, discussed a new generation of autocrats in Africa who are using violence as a political tool across the continent. 
 
To read more on John Githongo's visit, please click here. 
 

 

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John Githongo delivers his talk, "Africa (Up)Rising: Confronting the New Authoritarianism," to a large audience at Stanford University. 5 Feb. 2015.
David Gonzales
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Douglas Rutzen, president and CEO of ICNL, speaks on defending civil society

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Douglas Rutzen, president and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), and adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., gave a talk on defending civil society for the Stanford Program on Human Rights’ Winter Speaker Series, “U.S. Human Rights NGOs and International Human Rights,” on January 7, 2015.

Rutzen sounded the alarm of today’s disturbing trend of governments around the world using the rule of law to restrict civic spaces of congregation and protestation. Highlighting that national governments are constitutionally committed to a rule of law, Rutzen claimed this is not being applied in the interests of the citizen but rather to restrict citizens’ criticism of government. Rutzen emphasized that this misuse of the rule of law to restrict civil society is a tool of manipulation utilized not just by nations with a history of civic control, such as Cuba and Russia, but also by liberal democracies, including the United States.

Rutzen noted that the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) established in 2000 were dramatically altered by the attacks of September 11, 2001. NGOs were targeted as potential terrorist organizations, while at the same time recognized for their potential to fight terrorism. This contradiction shows the tension in the role of NGOs in civil society. The challenge now lies in a long-term transformation of the relationship between NGOs representing civil society and national governments.

The talk continued with a discussion with Helen Stacy, director of the Program on Human Rights, and Rutzen. Stacy posed provocative questions that challenged Rutzen to defend his stance with questions on U.S. cultural imperialism; “good” and “bad” civil society groups; and the need to understand domestic civil society engagement with human rights issues as part of international human rights activism. 

-Dana Phelps, Program Associate, Program on Human Rights

 

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