April 19th, 12pm | Hughes Formal Lounge

 

The governance of diverse societies is not only at the top of research agendas but also exceptionally salient in an age of rising tensions related to diversity. The American University School of Public Affairs invites you to a roundtable on “Governing Diverse Societies: Challenges and Institutional Responses” on April 19, 2017, 12-2 pm. Our roundtable will cover institutional responses, including electoral systems, ethnoregional parties, consociational agreements, and decentralized governance arrangements. Speakers bring to the table insights from around the world, including Pakistan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Ireland. 

Featured Speaker:
Muhammad Mushtaq: Managing Ethnic Diversity in Parliamentary Federations - Evidence from Pakistan
Professor Muhammad Mushtaq is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Gujrat, Pakistan. He studies how political institutions contribute to the state’s capacity to manage diversity in parliamentary federations. Based on evidence from Pakistan, Prof. Mushtaq will share insights from his research on the capacity and limitations of parliamentary institutions when it comes to managing diversity in order to discuss appropriate institutional arrangements for effectively governing diverse societies. Prof. Mushtaq is currently on visit with the AU School of Public Affairs.
 
Roundtable Discussion:
The following speakers will share their expertise during our roundtable discussion:
  • David Lublin: Electoral Systems, Decentralization and Ethnoregional Parties
  • Kimberly Cowell-Meyers: The Decline of Consociational Agreements: The Case of Northern Ireland
  • Khaldoun AbouAssi: Institutional Arrangements of Development and Governance in Diverse Societies
  • Diane Singerman: Subnational Institutional Design in Cairo: Centralized Local Control?
Moderator: Sonja Walti
The Roundtable discussion will focus on institutional responses to governance challenges in diverse societies. The speakers will survey and discuss key mechanisms to solving governance challenges in diverse societies, including electoral systems, ethnoregional parties, multienthic federalism, consociational agreements, as well as safeguards of diversity in local government through decentralization and subnational democratization.
With conflicts related to diversity on the rise in the American context, our discussion will also explore lessons for the United States, by focusing on domestic diversity challenges and potential institutional responses to those challenges.
 
Lunch will be provided