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Sept. 17, 2003

Luther College Professor Gardner to present Text and Issues Series Lecture on 'For the Powerless and the Different: A Case for the Universality of Liberal Democracy'

Paul Gardner, professor of political science at Luther College, will present a Luther College Paideia Text and Issues Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 25, 7:30 p.m., in the Recital Hall of the Luther Center for Faith and Life.

Gardner's lecture, titled "For the Powerless and the Different: A Case for the Universality of Liberal Democracy," is the first in a yearlong series.

The lecture is open to the public with no charge for admission.

In his lecture, Gardner makes an argument for the superiority of liberal democracy - characterized by regular elections, checks and balances, independent judiciary and the guarantees of civil liberties - over other forms of political organization, particularly with respect to liberal democracy's proven capacity to protect the powerless and the different.

To support his argument, Gardner rebuts two common claims made against the universality of democracy: the claim that not all peoples are capable of democracy and the claim that democracy is a form of cultural imperialism.

Gardner began at Luther in 1985. He holds the bachelor's degree from Saint Ambrose College, the master's degree from Iowa State University and the doctoral degree from the University of Kentucky.

Two trips to Northern Ireland in 2000 and 2002 sparked Gardner's interest in investigating a socio-political phenomenon: how difficult it is for people to work their differences out peacefully. This Text and Issues Lecture is part of a larger research project exploring the relationship between human nature and democracy by drawing upon the insights of history, political philosophy, psychology and evolutionary biology.

Gardner will host a Brown Bag Forum Friday, Sept. 26, 12:30 p.m., in the Mott Room, Centennial Union, in conjunction with his lecture.

Future Text and Issues Lectures include: Robert Shedinger, "Are We at War with Islam? Conservative Muslim Resistance to the American Democratic Ideal," on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 8 p.m.; Melanie Johnson-Debaufre, "New Jerusalem or Whore of Babylon? Reading American Empire with the Book of Revelation," on Thursday, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m.; and Nick Gomersall, "The Wretched of the Earth: Frantz Fanon and Political Violence," Thursday, March 11, 7:30 p.m. All Text and Issues Lectures in the series are held in the Recital Hall of the Center for Faith and Life.

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