Stanford University

Institutional Legacies and the End of Egypt’s Second Republic

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Abstract:

The coup of July 3, 2013 brought a decisive end to Egypt’s brief experiment with elected civilian governance that followed the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Early attempts to understand the downfall of the “Second Egyptian Republic” focused largely around the events that immediately preceded the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. This presentation adds historical depth to these discussions by analyzing the role of institutional legacies in contributing to that outcome. Specifically, decades-old state interventions have structured Egypt’s political field in ways that encourage defections from pacted transitions in the present moment.

 

Speaker Bio:

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Hesham Sallam is a research associate at CDDRL and serves as the associate director of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy. He is also a co-editor of Jadaliyya ezine and a former program specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace. His research focuses on Islamist movements and the politics of economic reform in the Arab World. Sallam’s research has previously received the support of the Social Science Research Council and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Past institutional affiliations include Middle East Institute, Asharq Al-Awsat, and the World Security Institute. He is editor of Egypt's Parliamentary Elections 2011-2012: A Critical Guide to a Changing Political Arena (Tadween Publishing, 2013). Sallam received a Ph.D. in government (2015) and an M.A. in Arab studies (2006) from Georgetown University, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Pittsburgh (2003).

Hesham Sallam Associate Director, Program on Arab Reform and Democracy
Seminars
Arab Reform and Democracy Speaker Series

How New is the “New” National Front?

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*Please note room changed to CISAC central*

 

Abstract:

mlp prise aux mots couverture seuil
Will Marine Le Pen be the next French President in 2017?

Since she took over the National Front in 2011, Marine Le Pen has carried the far right party to first place, winning an unprecedented 30% of the votes in France’s latest December 2015 elections. What does she say that resonates with French voters so strongly? And how did she manage to turn the once infamous “FN” into an almost mainstream party that claims to be the last champion of French republican values?

Using text mining software and textual analyses, Cécile Alduy has ciphered more than 500 speeches and texts by Jean-Marie and Marine Le Pen to pinpoint exactly how, and on what topics, the daughter’s discourse differs from that of her father.

In this talk, literary studies meet digital humanities and political science to crack the new National Front rhetorical code and uncover the deeper ideological and mythological structures beyond the stylistic polishing.

 

Speaker Bio:

cecile alduy
Cécile Alduy is Associate Professor of French literature and culture at Stanford University. She is the author of Marine Le Pen prise aux mots. Décryptage du nouveau discours frontiste (Seuil, 2015) and Politique des “Amours” (Droz, 2007) and co-editor of the special issue “The Charlie Hebdo Attacks and their Aftermath” for Occasion, a Stanford University online peer-reviewed publication. A specialist of the National Front and French political discourse, she is a contributor to Politico, The Nation, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Al Jazeera America, The Boston Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Rue89 and Le Monde.

Cécile Alduy Associate Professor, Stanford University
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Election Ethics: Fair Play & Due Process

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Abstract:

Electoral competition, like athletic competition, requires its own norms of fair play. While the rules of the game, and the institutional umpire to enforce those rules, are important components for achieving the goal that the competition be fair, they do not suffice. The participants themselves must have their own standards of fair play apart from the rules and the referee. This need is particularly acute with respect to negative campaign ads, since the First Amendment bars the government from umpiring the fairness of those ads. But the same problem applies to other aspects of electoral competition, including compliance with campaign finance rules. What are these norms of fair electoral competition? Are they only intuitive, or can they be systematized? More specifically, insofar as incumbent candidates are officeholders, does due process constrain the use of their power to attain an unfair advantage in their race for reelection?

 

Speaker Bio:

foley
Edward Foley directs Election Law @ Moritz at Ohio State’s law school, where he also holds the Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law. His book Ballot Ballots: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States, published by Oxford University Press, was available as of December 2015. Ned also serves as the reporter for the American Law Institute’s Election Law Project, which is developing nonpartisan rules for the resolution of disputed elections. (The American Law Institute is the well-respected professional society responsible for the Restatements of Law and the Model Penal Code, among many other projects.) While Ned has special expertise on the topics of recounts, he is conversant in all topics of election law, including redistricting and campaign finance, and recently co-authored a casebook Election Law and Litigation: The Judicial Regulation of Politics (Aspen 2014), which covers all aspects of election law. He and his casebook co-authors also have a contract with Oxford University Press to write a treatise on election law—remarkably the first of its kind in the United States in over a century. He is also a co-author of From Registration to Recounts: The Ecosystems of Five Midwestern States (2007).

Edward B. Foley The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
Seminars

The Case for Compulsory Voting

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Abstract:

Compulsory voting reinforces the distinctive and valuable role that elections play in contemporary democracy. Some scholars have suggested that mandatory voting laws can improve government responsiveness to members of poor and marginalized groups who are less likely to vote. Critics of compulsory voting object that citizens can participate in a wide variety of ways; voting is not important enough to justify forcing people to do it. These critics neglect the importance of voting’s particular role in contemporary democratic practice, though. The case for compulsory voting rests on an implicit, but widely shared, understanding of elections as special moments of mass participation that manifest the equal political authority of all citizens. The most prominent objections to mandatory voting fail to appreciate this distinctive role for voting and the way it is embedded within a broader democratic framework.

 

Speaker Bio:

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Emilee is an assistant professor of Political Science at Stanford. Her current research project examines the distinctive value of voting in contemporary democratic practice, and its significance for electoral reform and the ethics of participation.

 

 

 


Emilee Chapman Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford
Seminars

How Nations Succeed: Reducing Extreme Violence

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Abstract:

From El Salvador to Pakistan, high levels of internal violence characterize a growing number of poorly consolidated electoral democracies. Gangs, violent criminals, insurgents, and low-intensity conflict seem to entrench in many of these countries for decades. But some countries have managed to reduce extreme levels of violence. How did they succeed? And why were other, similarly situated countries unable to achieve similar success? Based on current and historical case studies, this upcoming book identifies continuities that suggest why these countries are so violent, and commonalities in the paths countries have taken to reduce violence. The findings are policy-focused and unexpected, even undesired. But they offer ideas to policy-makers based on the reality of what has worked, rather than the hopes of what might be achieved.

 

Speaker Bio:

kleinfeld rachel
Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld is a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she focuses on the rule of law, security, and governance. She previously served for nearly ten years as the founding CEO of the Truman National Security Project, a movement to promote U.S. security policies that advance stability, security, and human dignity worldwide, for which Time Magazine named her one of the top 40 under 40 political leaders in the United States. From 2011-2014 she was chosen by Hillary Clinton to serve on the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, which advises the Secretary of State quarterly. Rachel has consulted on governance, security, and the rule of law for the U.S. and other governments, and international, nonprofit, and private organizations. She appears regularly in national and international media, and is the author of multiple books and articles, including Advancing the Rule of Law Abroad: Next Generation Reform, which was named one of the best foreign policy books of 2012 by Foreign Affairs magazine. She received her M. Phil and D. Phil from St. Antony’s College, Oxford, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and her B.A. from Yale University. Rachel was born in a log cabin on a dirt road in her beloved Fairbanks, Alaska.

Rachel Kleinfeld Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Seminars

The Politics of Higher Education in India

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Abstract:

India has the third largest system of higher education in the world, with many expecting this system to drive India's economic development going forward. And yet there is profound variation across this system, as some public universities perform admirably even as others suffer from endemic problems that we associate with weak states: absenteeism, bribery, and the like. What explains why some public universities seem to function so well even as others struggle? I argue that the presence or absence of meritocratic practices explains this variation, and in this talk, we shall examine the conditions under which meritocracy comes about. This research brings together five years of archival work, more than one-hundred interviews, as well as data from a large survey I conducted.

 

Speaker Bio:

dinsha mistree

 

Dinsha Mistree is a Postdoctoral Fellow at CDDRL, where he studies governance in developing countries. He is currently working on a book project examining India's higher education sector. Dinsha's previous work has appeared or is forthcoming at Comparative Politics, Springer Press, and Cambridge University Press. Dinsha holds a PhD in Politics from Princeton as well as Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from MIT.

 

 

 

Dinsha Mistree Postdoctoral Fellow at CDDRL Postdoctoral Fellow at CDDRL Postdoctoral Fellow at CDDRL
Seminars

Education Policy as an Optimal Procurement Problem

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A wealth of research has been conducted on optimal procedures for government procurement of services and the best use of public resources. However, education policy is almost never discussed in these terms, even though many governments in developed countries spend more on education services than any other good or service, with the exception of healthcare. In order to establish an optimal procurement system for education services, features such as performance incentives should be considered. While we move towards developing the optimal education procurement system, simple reforms should allow governments to avoid waste and improve equity. 

Derek Neal is a Professor in the Department of Economics and on the Committee on Education at the University of Chicago.

Derek Neal in front of bookshelves

He researches the design of incentive systems for educators, exploring design flaws in performance pay and accountability systems, and highlighting the advantages of providing incentives through contests among schools. He is currently involved in research projects on increasing student learning in China and Uganda. He is a past President of the Midwest Economics Association and a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists. He is a former editor of the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Labor Economics, and the Journal of Human Resources. 

Professor of Economics
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Philippines Conference Room

Encina Hall 
616 Serra St.
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

Derek Neal Professor of Economics University of Chicago
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Non-communicable Diseases Control and Prevention in Zhejiang province, China

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The lecture aims to introduce the prevalence of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Zhejiang Province in China, and also share experience of Control and Prevention of NCDs. The lecture is composed by five parts. Firstly, NCDs surveillance system in Zhejiang will be introduced, including its establishment history and system coverage. Then, epidemiological characteristics of major NCDs (such as diabetes, cancer, stroke, and acute coronary heart disease events) will be presented, as well as NCDs related behavioral risk factors and hospital-based injury surveillance. Next, current work of NCDs prevention and control in Zhejiang Province will be described, including work network, human resources, community management and pilot programs for NCDs. Fourthly, economic cost of diabetes will be illustrated. Finally, countermeasures for NCDs Prevention and Control will be discussed.

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Min Yu is deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He was awarded as New-Century 151 Talents of Zhejiang Province, China. He is a committee member of Epidemiology Branch of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association. He is the leader of key discipline of Non-Communicable Diseases epidemiology (NCDs), and led the establishing of NCDs and behavioral risk factor surveillance system in Zhejiang province.  

Yu got Medical degree in Zhejiang University and Master degree of Public Health in Peking Medical University. Now his research focuses on epidemiology of NCDs, strategy for NCDs control and prevention, and disease burden.

Min Yu Deputy director of Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Seminars

The Effects of Early-Life Exposure to Pollution on Children's Human Capital Formation: the Case of Indonesia

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Co-sponsored by the Asia Health Policy Program & the Southeast Asia Program
 
This paper analyzes the effects of an early-life shock in Indonesia on children’s human capital formation and parental responses to these shocks. We exploit the geographical variation of Indonesia’s forest fires during the El Nino phenomenon in 1997, as well as cohort variation in exposure. Children affected by these shocks in utero and in early years have worse health outcomes relative to children not exposed to these shocks. We find that the health effects persist, but other factors mitigate the initial effect on cognitive skills.
 
My main research interest lies at the intersection of development and health economics. I am particularly interested in how social policies affect health outcomes for the poor, early health investments, and health-seeking behavior in limited resource settings, focusing on the evaluation of different strategies that seek to promote health investments and the effects of these interventions. Specifically, I have analyzed the effects of Indonesia’s household conditional cash transfer program on health outcomes, local health care price, and quality of care. I have also analyzed the long-term effects of a large-scale midwifery program in Indonesia. Current projects study the effects of early life shocks on children’s human capital outcomes in Indonesia and the Philippines.
 
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Margaret Triyana is currently Assistant Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Triyana graduated from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She was previously the Asia Health Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center in 2013-14.
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Margaret Triyana Assistant Professor of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Seminars

Book Launch: "Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies"

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-This event is now full and we are no longer able to accept RSVPs-
 

Image of the front cover of Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies
Please join us as we celebrate the publication of David Laitin and co-authors Claire Adida (UC San Diego) and Marie-Anne Valfort's (Paris School of Economics and the Sorbonne) recent book Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies which will be released in January 2016 by Harvard University Press.  

Amid mounting fears of violent Islamic extremism, many Europeans ask whether Muslim immigrants can integrate into historically Christian countries. In a groundbreaking ethnographic investigation of France’s Muslim migrant population, Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies explores this complex question. The authors conclude that both Muslim and non-Muslim French must share responsibility for the slow progress of Muslim integration.

Book signing to immediately follow.  Copies of the book will also be available for sale.

 

David D. Laitin is the James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. His specialty is comparative politics. In that field he conducts research on political culture, ethnic conflict, and civil war. His field expertise spans Somalia, Nigeria, Catalonia, Estonia and France.

David Laitin

Department of Political Science
Stanford University
Encina Hall, W423
Stanford, CA 94305-6044

(650) 725-9556 (650) 723-1808
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James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science
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David Laitin is the James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science and a co-director of the Immigration Policy Lab at Stanford. He has conducted field research in Somalia, Nigeria, Spain, Estonia and France. His principal research interest is on how culture – specifically, language and religion – guides political behavior. He is the author of “Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-heritage Societies” and a series of articles on immigrant integration, civil war and terrorism. Laitin received his BA from Swarthmore College and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Affiliated faculty at the Center for International Security and Cooperation
Affiliated faculty at The Europe Center
James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science Speaker Department of Political Science
Associate Professor of French and Director, Department of French and Italian Discussant Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
Amalia Kessler Lewis Talbot and Nadine Hearn Shelton Professor of International Legal Studies Discussant Stanford Law School
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