On Wednesday, November 1, 2006, at 6:00 p.m. the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will host the third annual Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World. The lecture will be held at NED in Washington, DC, and will be delivered by democracy activist and scholar Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim on the topic Toward Islamic Democracies.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim is founder and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies and professor of political sociology at the American University in Cairo. Dr. Ibrahim has been an outspoken advocate of democracy and human rights in the Arab world and his arrest in 2000 and subsequent seven-year sentence for accepting foreign funds without permission and “tarnishing” Egypt’s image sparked a loud outcry from the international community. In 2003 Egypt’s highest appeal court, the Court of Cassation, declared his trials improper and cleared him of all charges. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than 35 books in Arabic and English, including Egypt, Islam, and Democracy: Critical Essays (2002). He has written more than 100 scholarly articles, some of which have been translated into as many as 13 languages. Dr. Ibrahim also serves as secretary general of the Egyptian independent Commission for Electoral Review and president of the Egyptian Sociologists Association.
The Lipset lecture is named for one of the great scholars of democracy and public intellectuals of the twentieth century. “Marty Lipset’s scholarship on themes like the conditions for democracy, political parties, voting behavior, and public opinion constitutes one of the most prolific and insightful bodies of work on democracy ever produced by a single author,” said NED President Carl Gershman. Lipset has also been one of the most important comparative analysts of the two great democracies of North America, and a strong advocate for US-Canadian cooperation. The lecture, which is jointly sponsored by the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies, provides an opportunity for influential audiences in both countries to hear and discuss a major intellectual statement on democracy each year and serves as a catalyst for further cooperation between Canada and the United States in the promotion of democracy and democratic ideas around the world.
Dr. Ibrahim will deliver his lecture at the University of Toronto on November 2. Previous lectures were delivered by Fernando Henrique Cardoso (2004) and Francis Fukuyama (2005). Support for this year’s lecture has been generously provided by the Albert Shanker Institute and the American Federation of Teachers.
For more information on the National Endowment for Democracy, please visit www.ned.org.
This event is open to the media.
What: Third Annual Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World
Where: National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F St., NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC, 20004
When: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Contact: Jane Jacobsen (202) 378-9700; jane@ned.org
