Anne Wojcicki with panel discussion by Archon Fung, Jeremy Greene, Sanford Kwinter, and Jonathan Zittrain Moderated by Sheila Jasanoff
Co-sponsored by the Harvard University Center for the Environment, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. More>>
About the Science and Democracy Lecture Series Once a semester, the STS Program, with co-sponsorship from other local institutions, hosts an installation in its Science and Democracy Lecture Series. The series aims to spark lively, university-wide discussion of the place and meaning of science and technology, broadly conceived, in democratic societies. We hope to explore both the promised benefits of our era’s most salient scientific and technological breakthroughs and the potentially harmful consequences of developments that are inadequately understood, debated, or managed by politicians, institutions, and lay publics.... Read more about Deleterious Me: Whole Genome Sequencing, 23andMe, and the Crowd-Sourced Health Care Revolution
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Carolyn McAdams, Mayor, Greenwood, MS; Carl Allen, MPP 2010; and James Solomon, MPP 2012
About the Seminar Since 2008, HKS students have engaged the residents of Baptist Town, a rural community in Greenwood, MS, in local community development efforts. The all student-led Community Development Project has grown in unexpected directions but always offered unique service-learning opportunities along the way. At this seminar, the panel will address topics and themes including Baptist Town’s forthcoming revitalization plan, a crowd-sourced grant program supported by Dreamworks Pictures (who filmed part of The Help in Baptist Town), the intersection between Harvard students and local politics, and what the future holds for CDP.... Read more about Harvard in the Delta: Reflecting on Five Years of the Community Development Project
About the Seminar Recovers.Org provides free software and support to recovering areas immediately after a disaster. In this brownbag presentation, the organization’s co-founders will discuss how the services Recovers.Org provides allows towns to capture the goodwill of people post-disaster – and turn it into action – amidst the chaos that frequently characterizes early relief and recovery efforts. They will speak about their motivations for creating the organization – and the successes and challenges they’ve experienced since Recovers.Org launched.... Read more about Community-Powered Disaster Recovery: A Brownbag Presentation by Recovers.Org
About the Seminar All political orders are subject to decay over time for at least two reasons: first, institutions created to meet one set of environmental circumstances are “sticky” and fail to adapt when the environment changes; second, patrimonialism, the default mode of human sociability that favors friends and family, often reasserts itself in periods of extended peace and stability.
Is the U.S. or China more likely to experience political decay in the coming decades? China builds on a long historical tradition of high-quality centralized bureaucratic government, but never historically developed either rule of law or formal accountability to check executive power. The United States, on the other hand, stands out among modern liberal democracies for the number of checks and balances it imposes on decision making. Both systems display rigidities and signs of creeping patrimonialism. In the end it is Fukuyama’s view that the self-corrective mechanisms built into the US system will make it more sustainable, but only if the nation is able to adapt institutionally.... Read more about Democratic Development and Democratic Decay
Nye A, Taubman Building, Fifth Floor, Harvard Kennedy School
Governance and Economics Moncef Cheikh-Rouhou, Leading Member of the Tunisian Progressive Democratic Party Co-Sponsored by the Moroccan Studies Program at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
About the Speaker Moncef Cheikh-Rouhou is a member of the Tunisian constituent assembly, representing Tunis. He is from the Progressive Democratic Party, arguably the most important opposition party. Cheikh-Rouhou is also one of Tunisia’s most prominent economists. He holds a MBA and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and is a professor of international finance at HEC in Paris. Although he is a member of the opposition, the Nahdha minister of regional development has sought his guidance on economic policy. Before teaching and politics, Cheikh-Rouhou managed a Tunisian-Saudi investment bank and chaired the first merchant bank in the Maghreb.... Read more about Challenges and Opportunities in Tunisia's Democratic Transition
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Donald Horowitz, Duke University
About the Seminar After the fall of Suharto in 1998, Indonesia pursued an unusual course of democratization. It was insider-dominated and gradualist, and it involved free elections before a lengthy process of constitutional reform. At the end of the process, Indonesia’s amended constitution was essentially a radically new and thoroughly democratic document. By proceeding as they did, the Indonesians averted the great conflict that would have arisen between adherents of the old constitution and proponents of radical, immediate reform. Gradual reform also made possible the adoption of institutions that preserved pluralism, mitigated conflict, and pushed politics toward the center. The resulting democracy also has a number of prominent flaws, largely attributable to the process chosen, but it is a better outcome than the most likely alternatives.... Read more about An Inside Job: Indonesia’s Path to Constitutional Democracy
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Joseph Chan, University of Hong Kong
About the Seminar Many people think that Confucian political thought is incompatible with democracy. Professor Joseph Chan argues that this is an overstatement and that there are affinities and tensions between Confucian political values and democratic institutions. According to Chan, the best way to address the complex relationship of these two items is not by rejecting one and accepting the other, but rather by mixing them in ways that strengthen both. In this presentation, Chan will show how in ideal situations democratic elections can be seen as the best institutional means to express the Confucian political ideal. He will also explore ways in which Confucian values and virtues can enhance the quality of democratic governance and participation in non-ideal situations.... Read more about Mixing Confucianism and Democracy
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Richard Rosecrance, Harvard Kennedy School Co-sponsored by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
About the Seminar The United States is a democracy in (relative) decline. But it need not make war to reverse its fortunes or become subject to the attacks of other nations. Economic forces, as outlined in this seminar and Rosecrance’s forthcoming book, The Return of the West: The United States, the European Union and China, will likely mute challenges and also raise the overall power and influence of Western nations.... Read more about The Return of the West: The U.S., EU, and China
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA
Joseph Nye, Harvard Kennedy School Co-sponsored by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
About the Seminar In this Decline of Democracy Seminar, Professor Joseph Nye will draw upon the argument of his recent book, The Future of Power, to discuss what we mean when we talk about decline, what the relevant indicators are, and what difference it makes to our future.
About the Speaker Joseph S. Nye Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor, and former Dean of the Kennedy School. He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, did postgraduate work at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. He has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and Deputy Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology.... Read more about Is America in Decline?
About the Seminar
Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University
Governance and Economics
Donald Horowitz, Duke University
Joseph Chan, University of Hong Kong
Richard Rosecrance, Harvard Kennedy School
Joseph Nye, Harvard Kennedy School