Democracy's Triumph: Advantages and Drawbacks

World Affairs Council: Nor Cal





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Partner:: World Affairs Council: Nor Cal
Location:: World Affairs Council of Northern California
San Francisco, CA
Event Date:: 10.17.07
Speakers:: Harry Kreisler,; Michael Mandelbaum
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Summary: Michael Mandelbaum discusses Democracy's Triumph: Advantages and Drawbacks.

In 1900, only ten countries could be counted as democracies. By 1975 there were thirty. Today, 119 of the world's 190 countries have adopted democracy, and it is by far the most celebrated and prestigious form of government.

In Democracy's Good Name, Michael Mandelbaum, one of America's leading foreign policy thinkers, explores the reasons for democracy's extraordinary surge in the twentieth century. Mandelbaum delves into many pressing questions: How did democracy acquire its good name? Why do important countries remain undemocratic? What accounts for the fact that the introduction of one of democracy's defining features - free elections - has sometimes led to political repression and large-scale bloodshed? Why do efforts to export democracy so often fail and even make conditions worse?

Mandelbaum will also share with the Council his assessment of establishing democracy in Russia, China, and the Arab world and why the US has found it so difficult to foster democratic governments in other countries - World Affairs Council

Bio

Harry Kreisler

Harry Kreisler is Executive Director of the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. In that role, he shapes, administers, and implements interdisciplinary academic and public affairs programs that analyze global issues.

Michael Mandelbaum

Michael Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. He has also held teaching posts at Harvard and Columbia Universities, and at the United States Naval Academy.

Professor Mandelbaum is the associate director of the Aspen Institute's Congressional Project on American Relations with the Former Communist World. He serves on the board of advisors of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington-based organization sponsoring research and public discussion on American policy toward the Middle East. A graduate of Yale College, Professor Mandelbaum earned his Master's degree at King's College, Cambridge University and his doctorate at Harvard University.