EVENT: The Age of Ethnic Conflict Versus the Age of Democratization, a talk by Arend Lijphart of the University of California San Diego

Arend Lijphart, professor of political science at the University of California San Diego, will be giving a talk on "The Age of Ethnic Conflict Versus The Age of Democratization" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 19, in the Welles-Brown Room in Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester River Campus.

The talk will cover two important trends of the 21st century: the spread of democracy and increasing ethnic tensions. Lijphart will assess the conflict of these trends, their impact, and a possible solution: power-sharing democracy.

Power-sharing democracy is characterized by the participation of the representatives of all major ethnic groups in governing a country and can accommodate and ameliorate ethnic conflict to a large extent. Instructive recent examples are South Africa, Fiji, Belgium, and Northern Ireland.

Lijphart is the author of several books, the most recent of which is Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performances in Thirty-Six Countries. His research has focused on the prospects of democracy in ethnically divided societies and on different patterns of democracy. He is also a former president of the American Political Science Association.

His talk is presented by the Phi Beta Kappa Iota Chapter of the University of Rochester and is co-sponsored by the political science department and the Office of the Dean of the College.

The talk is free and open to the public.