most of the white students were being pepper sprayed so there were these moments. i hear that you can t say some are legitimate and others aren t. i guess for me there are when i think about what a college campus is, the relationship between students and administrators is one part of it but there is also universities also contract. they contract with food service workers and janitorial workers. they have relationships with the communities in which they find themselves. some of these student movements are very much addressing those and many in fact also are not. i think that s a good point which is that our lives are connected. by lifting all boats i think it is very important that we look across these different movements and we think about how these movements are conjoined. the faculty for example in california are protesting that the fact that they haven t had wage increases since 2006. in those very same protests
on many issues, the supreme court is composed of nine unelected men and women. the american senate is the most unrepresentative upper house in the democratic universe, with the exception of britain s house of lords, which is utterly powerless. california s 38 million people have the same representation in the senate, as do wyoming s 576,000. state and local governments battle federal power. private businesses and other nongovernmental groups are part of this mix. there are aspects of this system that many americans don t like. i think the senate in general is a broken institution, from its representation to its silly rules about filibusters. but the system of checks and balances has in general worked well. the form of government that came out of the french revolution by contrast, is one of absolute sovereignty. centralizing all powers at the top. since that revolution, france
why is this important as we look at the world today? well, in so many of these cases, what we are watching are democratic governments elected freely and fairly that are abusing individual rights, ignoring minority parties and eroding checks and balances. observing the early flowering of this phenomenon in the mid-19 s mid-1990s, i described it as ill liberal democracy and this is the problem we confront in the arab world and so many other developing countries. the good news is that other elements within society are fighting against this kind of illiberal democracy. political groups, student movements, even the clash between the egyptian military and the muslim brotherhood could be useful in the long run because it resembles the clashes between kings and lords, the church and the state, the aristocracy and the eleets. it can look very messy while it s happening. neither side hasnopoly of
have the same representation in the senate as do by only s 576,000. state and local governments battle federal power. private businesses and other nongovernmental groups are also part of this mix. now, there are aspects of this system that many americans don t like. i think the senate in general is a broken institution from its representation to its absurd rules about filibusters. but the system of checks and balances as the famous phrase goes has in general worked well. the form of government that came out of the french revolution, by contrast, is one of absolute sovereignty. centralizing all powers at the top. since that revolution, france has had many upheavals and changes in regime, going through two monarchies, two empires, one cryptofascist dictatorship and five rep ix. the united states has had a continuous constitutional existence.
has had many upheavals and changes in regime, going through two monarchies, two empires, one crypto fascist dictatorship and five republics, the united states by contrast has had a continuous constitutional existence. why is this important as we look at the world today? well in so many of these cases, what we are watching are democratic governments elected freely and fairly, that are abusing individual rights. ignoring minority parties and eroding checks and balances. observing the early flowering of the phenomenon in the mid 1990s, i described it as, ill liberal democracy and this is the problem we confront in the arab world and in so many other developing countries. the good news is that other elements within society are fighting against this kind of ill liberal democracy. political groups, student movements, even the clash between the egyptian military and the muslim brotherhood could be useful in the long run.