What lessons can be drawn from Europe's historical process of democratization? In an age when democratic reversals, backsliding, and competitive authoritarianism are rampant among new democracies, taking a "long-run" view of democracy's own long-run history in today's stable democracies provides insight into the determinants of settled and unsettled paths of democracy more generally. Presenting the findings of a research project in progress, Daniel Ziblatt will discuss how the difficulties of Germany's own democratization (1871 onwards) might shed new light on one of the most pressing issues facing new democracies today: the intersection and potentially disruptive effects of economic inequality on the institutionalization of political equality.
Daniel Ziblatt is the Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy in the department of government at Harvard University. He is currently writing a book entitled Conservative Political Parties and the Birth of Modern Democracy in Europe, 1848-1950, that offers a new interpretation of the historical democratization of Europe. Ziblatt is on the editorial board of the journal German Politics and Society, and has held visiting positions in Berlin, Konstanz, and Cologne.
Moderated by Wolfgang Merkel, Director of the WZB Research Unit "Democracy: Structures, Performance, Challenges".
Information on participating / attending:
The WZB provides child care during the lecture. If you are interested, please respond by May 5, 2010, indicating the number of children and their age.
To register, please reply by May 14, 2010, to Marie Unger: marie.unger@wzb.eu, fax: 030/25491-680.
Date:
05/18/2010 17:00 - 05/18/2010 20:00
Registration deadline:
05/14/2010
Event venue:
Reichpietschufer 50, Raum A 300
10785 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
international
Subject areas:
Law, Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Entry:
04/19/2010
Sender/author:
Dr. Paul Stoop
Department:
Informations- und Kommunikationsreferat
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event30993
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