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22 March 2012 | Hertie School of Governance

27.03.2012 | Hertie School in the Media, Research

Radio report and article about the Symposium in Honour of Claus Offe [more]

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Democracy – as promise and reality – once again finds itself at the center of public discourse and politics across the globe. In the United States, the financial crisis has increasingly left citizens disappointed with political leaders and decision-making processes. The democratic deficit of the European Union is highly contested.

In the Middle East and North Africa, citizens accomplished the unexpected by standing up against authoritarian regimes. The effects of globalization, especially the global finance system, are putting representative democracy to a test; and the demand for greater transparency and accountability as well as calls for a new deal of responsibilities and responsiveness may imply fundamental changes to how we approach governance.

The Hertie School is proud to welcome some of the most renowned and distinguished scholars of modern political thought. Together they will discuss the development of modern democracies, their forms and performance as well as governance innovations and approaches to rethink the future of democracy in the global age of the 21st century, all issues that have characterized Professor Claus Offe’s research and academic career.