Political Governance Reform in the Era of Globalization and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities
VIEW EVENT DETAILSOff-the-Record President's Circle Dinner with Nicolas Berggruen, Chairman, Berggruen Institute on Governance
Reception at 6:30 pm
Dinner Discussion at 7:00 pm
Close at 9:00 pm
For decades, liberal democracy has been extolled as the best system of governance to have emerged. Today, such a confident assertion is far from self-evident. Democracy, in crisis across the West, must prove itself. In the West today, people no longer live in "industrial democracies" but "consumer democracies" in which the governing ethos has ended up drowning households and governments in debt and resulted in paralyzing partisanship. In contrast, the long-term focus of the decisive and unified leadership of China is boldly moving its nation into the future.
Yet China also faces challenges arising from its meteoric rise. Its burgeoning middle class will increasingly demand more participation, accountability of government, curbing corruption and the rule of law. As the 21st century unfolds, both of these core systems of the global order must contend with the same reality: a genuinely multi-polar world where no single power dominates and in which societies are becoming increasingly diverse.
Nicolas Berggruen is co-author with Nathan Gardels of Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between East and West.
Nicolas Berggruen is Chairman of the Berggruen Institute on Governance, a non-partisan "think and action" tank. He is also the Chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a private company which has operations, real estate and financial investments worldwide. It also serves as the direct investment vehicle of The Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Foundation. Through the Berggruen Institute on Governance, he encourages the study, design and implementation of systems of good governance. He is a founder of the Institute's 21st Century Council, a member of the Think Long Committee for California and a member of the Council for the Future of Europe.
President's Circle dinners are off-the-record and kept small to facilitate greater discussion.