Croft Visiting Speaker: Democracy in China?

Thursday, September 25 - 7 p.m. - The Joseph C. Bancroft Conference Room (Croft 107)
Dr. Andrew J. Nathan - Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University

The Croft Institute is very honored to welcome Dr. Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University as the first speaker in our 2014-2015 Visiting Speaker Series.  Dr. Nathan will speak about the possibilities for democratization in China.  The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 25, in the Joseph C. Bancroft Conference Room (Croft 107).

Twenty-five years after the student pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, China has not democratized and the authoritarian regime appears strong and confident.  Yet a large middle class has emerged, state-society relations are increasingly turbulent, and the regime shows signs of internal strain. Does the Chinese case challenge the well-established theory that modern societies eventually adopt democratic forms of rule? If China democratizes, what path might it take? What would a Chinese form of democracy be?

Dr. Nathan's research interests include Chinese politics and foreign policy, the comparative study of political participation and political culture, and human rights.  His degrees are from Harvard University (B.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1971) and has been at Columbia University since 1971.

300 Croft Dollars will be Awarded