Rt. Hon. Robert L. Stanfield Conversations

The 2024 Stanfield Conversation:
The US Election and Democracy’s Global Fate

2024 has been dubbed the Year of Elections, with more of the world’s people participating in nation-wide votes than during any previous year in history. It comes at a time when “democratic backsliding” – the persistent erosion of democratic values and institutions - has become alarmingly widespread. With both electoral outcomes and the quality of democratic processes on trial, attention has gravitated towards the climax of this unprecedented flurry of elections: the contest for the US presidency. What will this election signal for the trajectory of democratic processes worldwide? Will it reflect a decisive tilt towards democratic decline, democratic renewal, or some indeterminate middle ground?  And will it reinforce or reverse the declining standing of the United States among the world’s struggling community of democracies? This year’s Stanfield Conversation, taking place two weeks after the US presidential vote and featuring speakers: Globe and Mail international affairs columnist Doug Saunders and Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies and Associate Professor of Political Science at McGill University Dr. Debra Thompson, promises a timely and illuminating assessment of these prospects.

This year's guest moderator will be Piya Chattopadhyay, the host of CBC’s The Sunday Magazine. 

Learn more about this year's featured speakers and moderator

Talking Democracy

“WHERE IS DEMOCRACY TODAY?”  is the over-arching focus of the series. Conversations will address themes of both urgent contemporary and enduring importance. Topics may be national or international in scope and explore issues such as populism and the new authoritarianism, ethics in politics, inequality and democracy or accommodating division and diversity. The series will highlight diverse political orientations, while honouring Stanfield’s enduring contributions to public policy and public service grounded in decency and integrity.

Speakers will be chosen from the ranks of distinguished academics, past or present politicians, non-elected political practitioners, journalists, public service, civil society and private sector leaders and public intellectuals. In selecting speakers and topics, the aim will be to meet the highest standards of academic and public interest.

Governance

The series is supported by the Friends of the Stanfield Conversations - a group of respected Canadians from across the country, including many prominent practitioners and scholars of democratic politics, led by co-chairs the Rt. Hon. Joe Clark and the Hon. Anne McLellan (former Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively). Operational activities are managed by a Dalhousie-based organizing committee, supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Department of Political Science, the President’s Office, the Office of Advancement, and Communications, Marketing & Creative Services.

Please contact rlsconv@dal.ca if you have any questions about the Stanfield Conversations. 

Fundraising Goal

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the events and conversations, we are working to guarantee this important series is endowed with sufficient capital to provide annual funding in perpetuity.

The annual income on the prospective endowment will cover the costs of presenting high quality programming in a modern format that is suitable for wide distribution on various audio, video and social media platforms, as well as in print publications.