SOSS 15th Anniversary Seminars | The Crisis of American Democracy: What is it, and is there a Way Out? by Stephen Macedo

The Crisis of American Democracy: What is it, and is there a Way Out?

The current crisis has many sources, and while are some rooted in our constitutional and democratic institutions, many seem more directly traceable to the wider economic, social, and cultural contexts, which are themselves partly traceable to past policy choices with vast but unintended consequences, including concerning race and immigration. I describe what I think are the leading sources of our dysfunction in the US, drawing on my own past work and that of others on populism, immigration and globalization, the media environment, liberalism, and democratic theory. In light of our current deep dysfunction and its multiple sources, I ask what we might do to improve our prospects.

SPEAKER

Stephen Macedo

Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values

Stephen Macedo is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2013, he is also immediate past-President of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy. His books include, Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage (2015); Diversity and Distrust: Civic Education in a Multicultural Democracy (2000); Liberal Virtues: Citizenship, Virtue, and Community in Liberal Constitutionalism (1990); and 20 other co-authored, edited, or co-edited books. His current projects concern the pressures on social justice exerted by various forms of globalization, especially immigration, as well as the nature and sources of America’s current democratic dysfunction.

MODERATOR

Chandran Kukathas

Dean, School of Social Sciences
Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Political Science

Professor Chandran Kukathas is Dean and Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Political Science at School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. He was Head, Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) from 2015 to 2019. He also served as the Chair of Political Theory in the Department of Government and as Warden of High Holborn and Grosvenor House Halls of Residence at LSE. Before his appointment at LSE, Chandran was Neal A. Maxwell Professor of Political Theory, Public Policy and Public Service at the University of Utah and has taught at the University of New South Wales, Oxford University and the Australian National University. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science at the Australian National University and his Master of Arts in Politics at the University of New South Wales before going on to complete his Doctor of Philosophy in Politics at Oxford University.

DISCUSSANTS

Christine Henderson

Associate Professor of Political Science

Christine Dunn Henderson is Associate Professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University. She has published extensively on Tocqueville, Beaumont, French liberalism, and politics and literature. Her edition, as translator and editor, of Tocqueville’s Memoirs on Pauperism and Other Writings has recently been published by University of Notre Dame Press. She is presently working on Tocqueville and gender.

Rahul Sagar

Global Network Associate Professor of Political Science
NYU Abu Dhabi

Rahul Sagar is Global Network Associate Professor of Political Science at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. He studies executive power with a focus on the United States, Singapore, and India. His books include Secrets and Leaks (2013), The Big Ideas of Lee Kuan Yew (2015), and The Progressive Maharaja (2022).

Remarks:

i. Due to limited seats, registration is on a first come first served basis.
ii. Attendees are required to keep their face masks on for the duration of the event.