With tomorrow’s big conference on Democracy That Delivers, things are hopping here at CIPE today.
The conference features some great speakers: the legendary (in development circles) Hernando de Soto, Director of Policy Planning Anne-Marie Slaughter, the Kauffman Foundation’s Bob Litan, corporate governance guru Ira Millstein, TI’s Alan Larson, democracy expert Larry Diamond, CIPE Board members Mike McCurry and Karen Kerrigan, our very own John Sullivan, and some of our fantastic partners from around the World—Jess Estanislao from the Philippines, Daniel Cordova from Peru, Mohammed Nasib from Afghanistan, and Boris Begovic from Serbia. They really are impressive, and it’s great to have them all in one place for this conference. Hopefully you can join us, but if not, you can get updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Meanwhile, while we’re counting down to “democracy that delivers” (the conference) far too many people are truly awaiting democracy that delivers. This article from NYT on bizarre edicts issued by unelected Chinese functionaries caught my eye this morning. Wacky solutions imposed by local officials safely ensconced in office by the party rather than the public they are inflicted upon include:
Schoolchildren must salute each passing car on their way to school – this proposed as a safety measure to encourage cars to slow down for those cute polite kids instead of something that might help, like sidewalks, school signs, speed humps, or enforced speed limits.
Civil servants, including state-owned company employees, must buy quotas of the local brand of cigarettes or distilled liquor to keep the factories in business, instead of considering producing something useful that people want, of course.
A ban on hiring female secretaries to ‘ensure the work gets done’ (they might want to rethink their premise, among other things).
A requirement for unmarried women to pass a chastity test before being approved for a farmland compensation program (otherwise they don’t ‘deserve’ it).
And finally, because kicking the dog always seems like a good way to emphasize your ‘power’, one local official, after being bitten, authorized police to beat all dogs to death if they are on a public street.
Democracy that delivers indeed cannot come soon enough!
Published Date: October 26, 2009