Governance

FSI's research on the origins, character and consequences of government institutions spans continents and academic disciplines. The institute’s senior fellows and their colleagues across Stanford examine the principles of public administration and implementation. Their work focuses on how maternal health care is delivered in rural China, how public action can create wealth and eliminate poverty, and why U.S. immigration reform keeps stalling. 

FSI’s work includes comparative studies of how institutions help resolve policy and societal issues. Scholars aim to clearly define and make sense of the rule of law, examining how it is invoked and applied around the world. 

FSI researchers also investigate government services – trying to understand and measure how they work, whom they serve and how good they are. They assess energy services aimed at helping the poorest people around the world and explore public opinion on torture policies. The Children in Crisis project addresses how child health interventions interact with political reform. Specific research on governance, organizations and security capitalizes on FSI's longstanding interests and looks at how governance and organizational issues affect a nation’s ability to address security and international cooperation.

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Abstract

Recently Ma Ying-jeou called upon Xi to finish Deng Xiaoping's revolution and begin the process of moving to a constitutional democracy.  Is Taiwan a model of Chinese democracy?   How would democratization in China impact the future of ROC-China ties?   How would a democratized China affect US interests in the Asia-Pacific?


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Dan Blumenthal is the director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on East Asian security issues and Sino-American relations.  He is also the John A. van Beuren Chair Distinguished Visiting Professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Blumenthal has both served in and advised the U.S. government on China issues for over a decade.  From 2001 to 2004, he served as senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the Department of Defense.  Additionally, he served as a commissioner on the congressionally-mandated U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission since 2006-2012, and held the position of vice chairman in 2007. He has also served on the Academic Advisory Board of the congressional U.S.-China Working Group. Blumenthal is the co-author of "An Awkward Embrace: The United States and China in the 21st Century" (AEI Press, November 2012).

 

 

Dan Blumenthal Director of Asian Studies The American Enterprise Institute
Seminars
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Christina Schneider, Associate Professor of Political Science, UC San Diego.

Christina Schneider (Ph.D. University of Konstanz) is an associate professor of political science and Jean Monnet Chair at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on international cooperation and bargaining in international organizations with a focus on distributional bargaining in the European Union and multilateral aid organizations. She has published a book on distributional conflict in the European Union with Cambridge University Press and research articles in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of European Public Policy, and Public Choice.

 

Christina Schneider Associate Professor of Political Science and Jean Monnet Chair Speaker University of California, San Diego
Seminars
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Tom Fingar cropped
The pattern and logic of China’s interactions with other countries and the international system as a whole were clear and predictable for 35 years, but developments during the past few years suggest that Beijing may have concluded that it is no longer necessary to follow the strategy articulated by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s.  Is the break with the past more apparent than real, or has Xi Jinping determined that China can (or must) be more demanding and less accommodating than it was when the country was less prosperous and less powerful?  Is what we are witnessing now a temporary aberration or the first indication that we have entered a new phase of China’s rise and integration into the global system?

 

Thomas Fingar is the inaugural Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He was the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford during January to December 2009. 

 

From May 2005 through December 2008, he served as the first deputy director of national intelligence for analysis and, concurrently, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. He served previously as assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (2004–2005), principal deputy assistant secretary (2001–2003), deputy assistant secretary for analysis (1994–2000), director of the Office of Analysis for East Asia and the Pacific (1989–1994), and chief of the China Division (1986–1989). Between 1975 and 1986 he held a number of positions at Stanford University, including senior research associate in the Center for International Security and Arms Control.

 

Fingar is a graduate of Cornell University (AB in government and history, 1968), and Stanford University (MA, 1969 and PhD, 1977 both in political science). His most recent book is Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis and National Security (Stanford University Press, 2011).

 
This event is off the record.

 

Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow
Philippines Conference RoomEncina Hall616 Serra St., 3rd floorStanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305See Map
Lectures
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Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies

Why have Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand proven so recurrently vulnerable to political crises? In their new volume, Incomplete Democracy in the Asia-Pacific, Giovanna Dore, Jae Ku, and Karl Jackson cite the relative absence of participation between elections, the continued influence of traditional social structures, the incomplete emergence of civil society organizations, public opinions of democracy and authoritarian rule, and the persisting weaknesses of political parties. Their book shows how mass attitudes and behaviors enable continued elite control of these electoral democracies, and conclude that although there are substantial differences between them, the chronic problem of democracy in Asia has been the lack of mobilized public demand for good governance.

Karl D. Jackson directs Asian Studies at SAIS and heads its Southeast Asia Studies Program. He has served as the national security advisor to the US vice president, special assistant to the US president, senior director for Asia on the National Security Council, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and the Pacific, and senior advisor to the president of the World Bank. He was a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley (1972–1991). His degrees are from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) and Princeton University (BA).

Giovanna Maria Dora Dore is a fellow in the Asian Studies Program at SAIS. For over a decade, as a political economist in the World Bank Group, she has focused on economic change and institutional development in Asia. She has a PhD in Political Economy and Southeast Asia Studies and an MA from SAIS and a Laurea Magistralis in Philosophy and Contemporary History from the Catholic University of Milan.

Jae H. Ku directs the U.S.-Korea Institute at SAIS. He has taught courses at SAIS, Brown University, and Yonsei University, and Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul. He has a PhD from SAIS, an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA from Harvard University.

Book Presentation
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Philippines Conference Room

Encina Hall 3rd Floor Central

Stanford, CA 94305

Giovanna Maria Dora Dore Fellow, Asian Studies Program, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
Jae H. Ku Director, US-Korea Institute, SAIS, JHU
Karl D. Jackson CV Starr Distinguished Professor, SAIS, JHU
Seminars

Department of History
Stanford University
Stanford, CA  94305-2024
 

(650) 723-1884 (650) 725-0597
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Senior Lecturer in History
Senior Fellow of the WSD HANDA Center for Human Rights and International Justice
k_jolluck_webpage_photo.jpg PhD

Katherine R. Jolluck is Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the Public History/Public Service Track in the Department of History at Stanford University.  She is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Human Rights and International Justice.  She has also taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey.  A specialist on the history of twentieth-century Eastern Europe and Russia, she focuses on the topics of women and war, women in communist societies, nationalism, the Soviet Gulag, and human trafficking. Her books include: Exile and Identity: Polish Women in the Soviet Union during WWII, and Gulag Voices: Oral Histories of Soviet Incarceration and Exile (with Jehanne M Gheith). She has also written articles on Poland in World War II, antisemitism, and human trafficking in Europe.  Jolluck serves on the Faculty Steering Committee of the Haas Center for Public Service, offers service-learning courses, and is active in the Bay Area anti-trafficking community.  She is a Steering Committee member of No Traffick Ahead, a multi-county, multi-disciplinary workgroup dedicated to combating human trafficking in all forms.

 

Affiliated Senior Lecturer at The Europe Center
Affiliated Senior Lecturer at the Program on Human Rights
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Seoul faces challenges that are not very different from other global cities, said Mayor Park Won Soon, the public figure who leads the South Korean city of over 10 million people, concluding that the key to solving them ­is by better engaging and empowering citizens.

“We tore down the silos,” said Park, speaking to a Stanford audience about his efforts to improve Seoul’s bureaucracy and access for citizens.

At McCaw Hall, Park discussed his background as a scholar, civic activist and philanthropist, emphasizing how it provides him perspective as a leader, and the acumen to think differently to address a wide range of issues affecting Seoul, including poverty, climate change and an aging population.

Park’s visit to Stanford University was sponsored by the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center (APARC) in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The event was part of the Asia-Pacific Leaders Forum, a seminar series that brings Asian leaders to Stanford to share their experiences. In 2013, the series hosted Ban-Ki Moon, U.N. Secretary General, and in 2009, then-South Korean assembly member, now president, Park Geun-hye.

[[{"fid":"216091","view_mode":"crop_870xauto","fields":{"format":"crop_870xauto","field_file_image_description[und][0][value]":"Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin welcomes Mayor Park.","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin welcomes Mayor Park.","field_credit[und][0][value]":"Rod Searcey","field_caption[und][0][value]":"Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin welcomes Mayor Park.","field_related_image_aspect[und][0][value]":"","thumbnails":"crop_870xauto","pp_lightbox":false,"pp_description":true},"type":"media","attributes":{"title":"Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin welcomes Mayor Park.","height":948,"width":870,"style":"margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 225px; height: 240px;","class":"media-element file-crop-870xauto"}}]]Mr. Park has long-had a connection to the university, though. He was a visiting professor at Shorenstein APARC in 2005, and continued to collaborate with researchers after leaving.

Gi-Wook Shin, director of Shorenstein APARC, introduced Mr. Park, referencing their connection and past projects to a crowd of nearly 275 people, including Korean community members and media.

“We’ve known each other as colleagues and friends for a number of years," Shin said, "so it is a pleasure to host Mayor Park, and hold a public forum to hear [his] vision."

Shin and Park established a fellowship for Korean NGO leaders, and awarded it to 30 leaders over three years.

Fighting for equality

As a university student in 1975, Park protested against South Korea’s government led by President Park Chung-hee, a military leader who ruled under highly authoritarian law. Mr. Park was imprisoned for his activism and eventually expelled from school, but his enthusiasm for justice and democracy never waned, he said.

He said the political and social chaos during those years in South Korea motivated him to pursue justice through other channels, going on to become a human rights lawyer and into public office as mayor in 2011.

South Korea gradually transitioned into a democracy in the 1980s, influenced in large part by many sweeping civil movements. The country has since stabilized, and now enjoys cultural and economic success in the world today. 

Park speaks to the audience about governance, emphasizing the importance of communication. Park speaks to the audience about governance, emphasizing the importance of communication.

But, there is a “shadow behind the miracle,” said Park, referring to the myriad of societal problems that Seoul still faces, like many cities dealing with the effects of urbanization.

He said the only way to identify and address problems is through a highly participatory system of governance, and one that isn’t afraid to think of new solutions to old problems.

“A city that constantly collaborates and innovates to improve the quality of life for citizens,” he said, those are the efforts that create an environment “where people live in harmony and where people are happy.”

Park said listening to the voices of Seoul citizens is a cornerstone of his administration’s approach. And he has a motto that matches.

“Citizens are the mayor,” is the saying that Park administration attempts to fulfill through a variety of initiatives, including those led by the Seoul Innovation Bureau, a new administrative branch established to bring fresh ideas into the city’s paradigm.

Park’s administration holds town hall meetings and uses some of the latest technology to initiate dialogue with citizens, including SNS text messaging, social media and Wikiseoul, an online blog-style platform, to communicate policies and receive feedback.

[[{"fid":"216092","view_mode":"crop_870xauto","fields":{"format":"crop_870xauto","field_file_image_description[und][0][value]":"Park meets community members and media following his talk.","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Park meets community members and media following his talk.","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Park meets community members and media following his talk.","field_credit[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"Park meets community members and media following his talk.","field_related_image_aspect[und][0][value]":"","thumbnails":"crop_870xauto","pp_lightbox":false,"pp_description":true},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Park meets community members and media following his talk.","title":"Park meets community members and media following his talk.","height":783,"width":870,"style":"margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; padding: 0px; float: left; width: 230px; height: 200px;","class":"media-element file-crop-870xauto"}}]]He said he checks the city’s social media accounts personally because it allows him to keep a close eye on what issues are important to citizens, and often follows-up with constituents who write him “tweets,” messages received via Twitter.

Park says Seoul’s success is because of 10 million citizens and many institutions that have supported the city’s growth. He holds popular support in the city, and was recently reelected for a second mayoral term in June 2014, winning by a wide margin.

He said other countries are beginning to replicate his administration’s model, from e-governance activities to energy policy, calling it the “Seoul effect.”

Closing out the speech, Park said inclusiveness is the essence of good governance.

“If you want to travel fast go alone, but if you want to travel far, go together,” he said, citing a well-known proverb.

Below is the full video and transcript of his presentation.

 

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Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul, gives a speech at Stanford University. | Rod Searcey
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