Events Detail

The Center for American Common Culture and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation present

Identity, Democracy, and the Nation-State

Hudson Institute - Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center
1015 15th Street, NW - Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005

Click here to watch video of this event

Event Description

There has been much debate within the academic community about whether a strong national core identity is necessary to democracy, or whether it is ultimately subversive.

An eminent panel addressed this issue by asking important questions. Do immigrants have the right to redefine the culture of their new homeland? What requirements, if any, should Western societies demand of non-Western immigrants?

Can secularism and scientific rationalism—with obeisance to globalism and multiculturalism—be enough to perpetuate democracy and Western civilization, or are religious virtues and traditional Western values of critical importance to the survival of democracy?

  (Standing) Berman, Caldwell, Fonte, Ceaser

                   (Seated) Novak and Pera

Panelists included Italian philosopher, Senator, and former President of the Italian Senate Marcello Pera ; leading American Catholic political thinker Michael Novak; renowned scholar of American politics James Ceaser; and Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University Paul Berman. Prominent journalist Christopher Caldwell of the Weekly Standard and Financial Times moderated the event.

Program and Panel

11:45 a.m.
Registration, Lunch buffet

12:00 p.m.
Welcome by Hudson Institute President and CEO Kenneth Weinstein

Introduction by John Fonte , Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for American Common Culture

12:15 p.m.
Panel discussion

Paul Berman, Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University

James Ceaser, Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia

Michael Novak, Professor and Trustee at Ave Maria University

Marcello Pera, Italian Senator and Hudson Institute Visiting Fellow

Christopher Caldwell, Senior Editor at the Weekly Standard (Moderator)

1:10 p.m.
Question-and-answer session

2:00 p.m.
Adjournment

Hudson's Center for American Common Culture is grateful to The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation for its generous support of this event.

Transcript Information

Download a transcript here