Liberal democracy can deliver peace and prosperity, but what happens if peace and prosperity aren’t enough? Evan Goldstein asks in The Chronicle of Higher Education:
It’s a question Francis Fukuyama returns to in a new book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The answer, he suggests, is all around us: A global surge of identity politics, which has in turn fueled populist nationalism, authoritarianism, religious conflict, and democratic decline.
“Demand for recognition of one’s identity is a master concept that unifies much of what is going on in world politics today,” adds Fukuyama, a board member of the National Endowment for Democracy. RTWT
Thinking Democratically is one of two new sections added to the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs’ extensive online Education Section, including lessons, worksheets, activities, and more, designed to stimulate student thought about what it means to be a part of a democracy.
The Council is also sponsoring an International Student Essay Contest: Is it Important to Live in a Democracy? This contest is open to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students of all nationalities. The essay should include a definition/explanation of the concept of democracy and an explanation of why democracy is or is not important. Length: 1,000-1,500 words. Deadline: December 31, 2018. For more details, go here.
