Join us in celebrating the launch of the Democracy Action Lab (DAL) at Stanford University.

The Center for International Studies at El Colegio de México and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford University are pleased to host keynote lectures by:

• Dr. Adam Przeworski, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, New York University
• Dr. Beatriz Magaloni, Graham H. Stewart Professor of International Relations, Stanford University

The session will explore urgent questions at the heart of today’s global democratic challenges:

• What have we learned — through political science and lived experience — about how democracies emerge, erode, and can be renewed?
• What knowledge, strategies, and collective action are needed now to halt democratic backsliding and spark a new wave of democratization worldwide?

Open to the public. Especially geared toward those dedicated to strengthening democracy.
 

Únete a nosotros para celebrar el lanzamiento del Laboratorio de Acción en Democracia (LAD) de la Universidad de Stanford.

El Centro de Estudios Internacionales de El Colegio de México y el Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) de la Universidad de Stanford tienen el gusto de invitarlos a las conferencia magistrales a cargo de:

• Dr. Adam Przeworski, Profesor Emérito de Ciencia Política, Universidad de Nueva York
• Dra. Beatriz Magaloni, Profesora Graham H. Stewart de Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad de Stanford

El evento abordará preguntas urgentes sobre los desafíos democráticos globales actuales:

• ¿Qué hemos aprendido —a través de la ciencia política y de la experiencia vivida— sobre cómo surgen, se erosionan y pueden renovarse las democracias?
• ¿Qué conocimientos, estrategias y acciones colectivas se necesitan hoy para detener el retroceso democrático e impulsar una nueva ola de democratización en el mundo?

Evento abierto al público. Especialmente dirigido a quienes se dedican a fortalecer la democracia.

Adam Przeworski is the Carroll and Milton Professor Emeritus of Politics and (by courtesy) Economics at New York University. Previously, he taught at the University of Chicago, where he was the Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor, and held visiting appointments in India, Chile, France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. He is a member of the US National Academy of Arts and Sciences. Among his numerous awards, in 2010, he received the Johan Skytte Prize for "raising the scientific standards regarding the analysis of the relations between democracy, capitalism, and economic development."  He has studied political regimes, democracy, autocracy, and their intermediate forms, as well as the conditions under which regimes survive and change, and their consequences for economic development and income equality. His focus is on the role of elections as a mechanism of managing societal conflicts. His current projects concern the phenomenon of "democratic backsliding" and the historical evolution of constitutional rules for electing chief executives.

Adam Przeworski es Profesor Emérito Carroll and Milton de Ciencia Política y (por cortesía) de Economía en la Universidad de Nueva York. Anteriormente, fue profesor en la Universidad de Chicago, donde ocupó la cátedra distinguida Martin A. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor, y tuvo nombramientos visitantes en India, Chile, Francia, Alemania, España y Suiza. Es miembro de la Academia Nacional de Artes y Ciencias de Estados Unidos. Entre sus numerosos premios, en 2010 recibió el Premio Johan Skytte por "elevar los estándares científicos en el análisis de las relaciones entre democracia, capitalismo y desarrollo económico." Ha estudiado los regímenes políticos, la democracia, la autocracia y sus formas intermedias, las condiciones bajo las cuales los regímenes sobreviven y cambian, así como sus consecuencias para el desarrollo económico y la igualdad de ingresos. Su enfoque se centra en el papel de las elecciones como mecanismo para gestionar los conflictos sociales. Sus proyectos actuales se refieren al fenómeno del "retroceso democrático" y la evolución histórica de las normas constitucionales para la elección de jefes de ejecutivo.

Beatriz Magaloni is the Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, where she holds affiliations with the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) and the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). She leads the Poverty, Violence, and Governance Lab (PovGov) and co-directs the Democracy Action Lab. In 2023, she was awarded the Stockholm Prize in Criminology for her research on police violence and how it can be reduced, and in 2024, she received the Boris Mints Institute (BMI) Prize for her work on authoritarianism and its return as a global challenge. Her research focuses on the study of authoritarian regimes; violence, public security, and human rights; “non-state” forms of governance; distributive politics and the provision of public goods in Latin America.

Beatriz Magaloni es Profesora Graham Stuart de Relaciones Internacionales en el Departamento de Ciencia Política y Senior Fellow en el Freeman Spogli Institute, donde mantiene afiliaciones con el Centro sobre la Democracia, el Desarrollo y el Estado de Derecho (CDDRL) y el Centro para la Seguridad Internacional y la Cooperación (CISAC). Dirige el Laboratorio de Pobreza, Violencia y Gobernanza (PovGov) y co-dirige el Laboratorio de Acción en Democracia. En 2023 fue galardonada con el Premio de Estocolmo en Criminología por su investigación sobre la violencia policial y cómo puede reducirse, y en 2024 recibió el Premio del Instituto Boris Mints (BMI) por su trabajo sobre el autoritarismo y su retorno como desafío global. Su investigación se centra en el estudio de los regímenes autoritarios; la violencia, la seguridad pública y los derechos humanos; las formas de gobernanza "no estatales"; la política distributiva y la provisión de bienes públicos en América Latina.

Media: please reach out to cisacevents@stanford.edu

About the Event 

Jill Hruby will be this year's Drell Lecturer presenting on, "The Future of Nuclear Deterrence". The Drell Lecture is an annual public event sponsored by CISAC. By tradition, the Drell lecturer addresses a current and critical national or international security issue that has important scientific or technical dimensions.

About the Speaker

Jill Hruby served as the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration from July 2021 to January 2025.  Since early 2025, Jill has joined the Lawrence Livermore Board, the Anthropic National Security and Public Sector Advisory Committee, the Science and Security Advisory Board for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and will join the Atomic Weapons Establishment Board in January 2026.

Prior to being a political appointee, Hruby had a 34-year career at Sandia National Laboratories retiring in 2017 as the Laboratories Director. At Sandia, Hruby held roles of increasing responsibilities in nuclear weapons systems and component design, nuclear non-proliferation, defense and homeland security technologies and systems, renewable energy, materials science, engineering sciences, and microsystems technology.

After retiring from Sandia, Hruby served as the inaugural Sam Nunn Distinguished Fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiative from 2018-2019 and continued as a nonresident Distinguished Fellow until her appointment. In addition, she was a member of the Defense Science Board and the National Academy Committee for International Security and Arms Control. Hruby earned her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and her master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, both in mechanical engineering. She has received honorary doctorate degrees from Purdue University and Michigan State University. In 2022, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Jill has received the Department of Energy Secretary’s Exceptional Service Award, the National Nuclear Security Administrator’s Distinguished Service Gold Award, and Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.

Please join us for refreshments in Oksenberg Hall following the conclusion of the lecture from 5:00 - 6:00 PM.  All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

This event is expected to be at full capacity. Seating is available on a first-come basis.

Join us for a book talk and signing with Professor Michael McFaul, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, New York Times bestselling author, and former U.S. ambassador to Russia. 

Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder is a clear-eyed look at how the rise of autocratic China and Russia are compelling some to think that we have entered a new Cold War—and why we must reject that thinking in order to prevail. 

Amid the constant party divisions in Washington, DC, one issue generates stunning consensus—China—with Republicans and Democrats alike battling over which party can take the most hawkish stance toward the ascendant superpower. Indeed, far from trying to avoid a new Cold War with China, many have embraced it, finding comfort in the familiar construct, almost willing it into existence. And yet, even as politicians and intellectuals race to embrace this Cold War 2.0, many of the perils we face today are distinctly different from those of the Cold War with the Soviets. The alliance between the autocracies of China and Russia, the nature of the ideological struggle, China’s economic might, the rise of the far right in the United States and in Europe, and the growing isolationism and polarization in American society—taken together these represent new challenges for the democratic world. Some elements of the Cold War have reappeared today, but many features of the current great power competition have no analogy from the past century.

For decades Michael McFaul, former ambassador to Russia and international affairs analyst for NBC News, has been one of the preeminent thinkers about American foreign policy. Now, in this provocative work, he challenges the encroaching orthodoxy on Russia and China, arguing persuasively that the way forward is not to force our current conflict into a decades-old paradigm but to learn from our Cold War past so that democracy can again emerge victorious. Examining America’s layered, modern history with both Russia and China, he demonstrates that, instead of simplistically framing our competition with China and Russia as a second Cold War, we must understand the unique military, economic, and ideological challenges that come from China and Russia today, and the develop innovative policies that follow from that analysis, not just a return to the Cold War playbook.

At once a clarion call for American foreign policy and a forceful rebuttal of the creeping Washington consensus around China, Autocrats vs. Democrats demonstrates that the key to prevailing in this new era isn’t simply defeating our enemies through might, but using their oppressive regimes against them—to remind the world of the power and potential that our democratic freedoms make possible. 

Mary Elise Sarotte received her AB in History and Science from Harvard and her PhD in History from Yale. She is an expert on the history of international relations, particularly European and US foreign policy, transatlantic relations, and Western relations with Russia. Her book, Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate, was shortlisted for both the Cundill Prize and the Duke of Wellington Medal, received the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize Silver Medal, and won the Pushkin House Prize for Best Non-Fiction Book on Russia. Not One Inch is now appearing in multiple Asian and European languages, including a best-selling and updated version in German, Nicht einen Schritt weiter nach Osten. In 2026, Sarotte will return to Yale for a joint appointment as a tenured professor in both the Jackson School of Global Affairs and the School of Organization and Management.

Kathryn Stoner is the Mosbacher Director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), and a Senior Fellow at CDDRL and the Center on International Security and Cooperation at FSI. From 2017 to 2021, she served as FSI's Deputy Director. She is Professor of Political Science (by courtesy) at Stanford, and she teaches in the Department of Political Science, in the Program on International Relations, as well as in the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy Program. She is also a Senior Fellow (by courtesy) at the Hoover Institution.

Each year, more than ten million students across China pin their hopes on the gaokao, the nationwide college entrance exam. Unlike in the United States, where standardized tests are just one factor, in China college admission is determined entirely by gaokao performance. It is no wonder the test has become a national obsession.

Drawing on extensive surveys, historical research, and economic analysis, and informed by Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li’s own experiences of the gaokao gauntlet, The Highest Exam reveals how China’s education system functions as a centralized tournament that serves the needs of the Chinese Communist Party and drives much of the country’s economic growth. The book examines the gaokao’s far-reaching effects on China’s society and beyond. As Chinese-American families bring the expectations of the highest exam with them, their calls for objective, transparent metrics in the education system increasingly clash with the more holistic measures of achievement used by American schools and universities.

About the Authors
 

Hongbin Li is the Co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, and a Senior Fellow of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Li obtained his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 2001 before joining the economics department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He was also one of the two founding directors of the Institute of Economics and Finance at the CUHK. He taught at Tsinghua University from 2007 to 2016 in the School of Economics and Management and was the founder and Executive Associate Director of the China Social and Economic Data Center. 

Li’s research has been focused on the transition and development of the Chinese economy, and the evidence-based research results have been both widely covered by media outlets and well read by policy makers around the world. He is currently the co-editor of the Journal of Comparative Economics and co-author of the book, The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China, published by Harvard University Press.
 

Ruixue Jia is a professor of economics at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. She also serves as Co-director of the China Data Lab, executive secretary of the Association of Comparative Economic Studies (ACES) and co-chair of the China Economic Summer Institute (CESI). 

Jia’s research lies at the intersections of economics, history and politics, with a focus on how power structures evolve and shape economic development. Her recent work examines the political economy of idea formation and diffusion, including the interplay between the state, education, science and technology. She is the co-author of The Highest Exam, a book that explores how China’s education system both mirrors and molds its society.
 

Claire Cousineau  is a writer and former researcher at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, she is currently pursuing her MBA at Duke University.

Since studying and working in Beijing and Kunming, Claire is passionate about fostering a deeper public understanding of China’s role on the global stage and creating cross-cultural relationships. Claire is the co-author of the book, The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China, along with Hongbin Li and Ruixue Jia, published by Harvard University Press in 2025. 
 

Skyline Scholars Series

Tuesday, June 3, 2025 | 1:00-2:30 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way

Post–Cold War Consensus and Strategic Dilemmas: The United States, China, and the Future of the World Order

The world is at a crossroads. What is happening in world politics today—and the changes that are about to unfold—can be roughly compared to major events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, or the end of World War II in 1945 and the formation of a world order centered on U.S.–Soviet competition. Although many unconventional policies since President Donald Trump’s second term have accelerated the arrival of this moment and increased uncertainty in world politics and the global economy, the roots of these developments are long-standing. They are the result of a series of major and gradual structural changes.

The purpose of this lecture is to provide a new theoretical perspective and cognitive framework for the academic community to understand the structural transformations of the world order from the post–Cold War era to the present, and thereby to initiate a dialogue with the global academic community. At the same time, it is hoped that political decision-makers will also find in this framework a useful tool to reflect on their own choices—encouraging more prudent and responsible decisions for their countries and for humanity in the long run.
 

About the Speaker
 

Gangsheng Bao is a Professor of Political Science at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He is also currently appointed as a Skyline Scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, Stanford University.

Professor Bao earned his Ph.D. from Peking University in 2012. His research interests include political theory, comparative politics, and political history, with a particular focus on theories of political modernization and democratization. He has published numerous journal articles and authored several books. His major works include: The Fate of Civilization States: From Political Crisis to Modernization (2024), Political Evolution: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century (2023), Crises and Solutions: Reflections on Political Thought in Early China (2023), Politics of Democratic Breakdown (English version, 2022; Chinese version, 2014), The Logic of Democracy (2018), and The Common Sense of Modern Politics (2015).

Professor Bao’s book Politics of Democratic Breakdown was awarded the "Best Social Science Book of the Year" in 2014 by The Beijing News and was listed among the “Nineteen Recommended Chinese Books of the Year” in 2014 by The New York Times (International Chinese Network). In 2023, Political Evolution: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century was honored as one of the “Ten Best Chinese Original Books in Humanities and Social Sciences of the Year” by Tencent and as one of the “Ten Best Books of the Year” by The China Business Network. Similarly, The Fate of Civilization States: From Political Crisis to Modernization was selected as one of the “Ten Best Books of the Year” in 2024 by the Nanfang Daily. Additionally, his work The Logic of Democracy earned him the title of "Best Author of the Year" in 2018 from The Economic Observer.

Questions? Contact Xinmin Zhao at xinminzhao@stanford.edu
 

Due to high interest for this event, we have met our space capacity and registration is now closed.

Skyline Scholars Series

Wednesday, May 28, 2025 | 1:00-2:30 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way

China's Economic Development From a Perspective of Modernization

China’s economic success can be attributed to its leadership’s pragmatic approach and its respect for grassroots initiatives. The near double-digit average GDP growth during the first three decades after 1978 was achieved through bottom-up industrialization, without fundamentally altering the “ancient regime.” With industrialization largely completed—as evidenced by massive excess capacities—the country faced an urgent need to shift its growth engine from investment to innovation, a transition that demands a very different set of institutions. Delays or failures in making this shift—namely, in modernizing its institutions—may lead to the so-called “middle-income trap” and diminish hopes of becoming a leader in the global race for cutting-edge technologies. This talk explores China’s developmental trajectory through the lens of modernization theory, highlighting both the achievements and the institutional challenges that lie ahead.

About the Speaker
 

Dr. Xiaonian Xu is Professor Emeritus at CEIBS, where he held the position of Professor of Economics and Finance from 2004 to 2018.  In recognition of his contributions, he was named an Honorary Professor in Economics from September 2018 to August 2023. He is also Skyline Scholar at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions from 2024-25 at Stanford University.

Between 1999 and 2004, Dr. Xu served as Managing Director and Head of Research at China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC). Before joining CICC, he was a Senior Economist at Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong from 1997 to 1998, and worked as a World Bank consultant in Washington DC in 1996. Dr. Xu was appointed Assistant Professor of Amherst College, Massachusetts, where he taught Economics and Financial Markets from 1991 to 1995. Earlier in his career, he was a research fellow at the State Development Research Centre of China from 1981 to 1985.

Dr. Xu earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Davis, in 1991, and an MA in Industrial Economics from the People's University of China in 1981. In 1996, he was awarded the distinguished Sun Yefang Economics Prize, the highest honor in the field in China, for his research on China’s capital markets. His research interests include Macroeconomics, Financial Institutions and Financial Markets, Transitional Economies, China’s Economic Reform, Corporate Strategy and Digital Transformation. His publications include: Freedom and Market Economy (《自由与市场经济》), There has Never been A Savior (《从来就没有救世主》), The Pendulum Swinging Back (《回荡的钟摆》), The Nature of the Business and the Internet (《商业的本质和互联网》), and The Nature of the Business and the Internet, 2nd Edition (《商业的本质和互联网》第二版).

A dedicated educator, he has been recognized with the CEIBS Teaching Excellence Award in 2005 and 2006, as well as the esteemed CEIBS Medal for Teaching Excellence in 2010.

Questions? Contact Xinmin Zhao at xinminzhao@stanford.edu