Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik

An independent international centre for advanced studies

22 | THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY

Duration
03 Apr 2018 - 05 Apr 2018
Language
English
Status
REGULAR
Course directors :
Garry Lawrence Jacobs , World Academy of Arts and Science, United States
Winston Percival Nagan , University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
Goran Bandov , Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy, Zagreb, Croatia
Alberto Zucconi , Person-Centered Approach Institute, Italy, Italy
Course description:

Democracy is under siege. Traditional bastions of liberal democracy are faltering. Young democracies are reverting to their authoritarian pasts. Populism, corporatization of the media, fake news, retreat from globalism, oligarchy, corruption and other perils are undermining fairness, effectiveness and truthfulness. Just when it appeared that the world was converging on a universal set of values and standards for governance at the national and international level, fundamental questions are being raised regarding the viability and sustainability of democratic institutions. Recent events raise fundamental questions regarding the institutions of governance and also about the underlying social, psychological, cultural and evolutionary processes that determine how these institutions function.

Is democracy in its current form really the most viable and effective system of governance? Are human beings sufficiently rational and selfless to govern themselves justly and effectively? Is the future of democracy at the national level compatible with the persistence of non-democratic institutions at the international level? By what process has the distribution of social power shifted from army, monarchy, aristocracy to democracy and how is that process likely to evolve further in future? To what extent are the institutional problems confronting democracy today reflections of underlying social, psychological and cultural factors and processes? What proven and potential safeguards and remedies are available toaddress the failures and insufficiencies of contemporary democracies? Is democracy the best possible system or merely a stage in the evolution of governance toward something more stable, an effective and equitable system? These are a few of the questions to be explored during this three-day meeting.

* This programme offer ECTS credits.

Course lecturers:
Goran Bandov , Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy, Zagreb, Croatia
Jerome Binde , UNESCO Paris, France
John M.F.D. Bunzl , International Simultaneous Policy Orgnaisation, United Kingdom
Joao Caraca , Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal
Elif Cepni , Nisantasi University, Türkiye
Rodolfo Fiorini , Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy
Erich Hoedl , European Academy of Sciences, Austria
Garry Lawrence Jacobs , World Academy of Arts and Science, United States
Adam Koniuszewski , The Bridge Foundation, Switzerland
Margo Koniuszewski , The Bridge Foundation, Switzerland
Zlatko Lagumdžija , University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Grazyna Lesniak Lebkowska , Warsaw School of Economics, Poland
Alexander Likhotal , Self Employed, United States
Michael Mulvey , ICUK Independent Constitutionalists UK, United Kingdom
Winston Percival Nagan , University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
Nebojša Nešković , World Academy of Arts and Science, United States
Thomas Reuter , University of Melbourne, Australia
Kakha Shengelia , Causasus University Tbilisi, Georgia
A.Nuri Yurdusev , Middle East Technical University , Türkiye
Alberto Zucconi , Person-Centered Approach Institute, Italy, Italy