Public trust in government was already declining for years before the crisis of 2008. The financial crisis, like natural catastrophes and industrial accidents which occur with increasing frequency and intensity, has renewed focus on government and recognition of the importance of institutions. And there is worse to come. Crises, however, usually resolve themselves with a new political design. This was the case in the mid-17th and early 19th centuries, in 1917-19 and 1945. Are we on the cusp of a new paradigm regulating the direction of policy and the role of the state?

1) The crisis which began in 2008 has already diminished the sovereignty of states large and small, with effects on the relations between national governments on the one hand, and cities and regions on the other.  How might cities and regions exploit their enlarged autonomy? 

2) In a highly urbanized world, many of the most severe risks threatening cities are cross-border. What should be regulated, where, and at what level?  Will extra-territorial regulation expand further?

3) The Westphalian system of collective security is based on the principal of non-intervention, and the independence of small states. Can this system provide an adequate level of security against non-military threats?

About Professor Josef Konvitz

Josef Konvitz, Honorary Professor of Education, University of Glasgow, and Visiting Professor in the Cities Programme, King's College London, is completing a book on the crisis and what comes after, focusing on cities. Diplomat, historian and international civil servant, Konvitz joined the OECD in Paris in 1992 after nearly twenty years on the faculty of Michigan State University. As an historian, he is the author of three books, 30 articles and many reviews on urban economic and cultural development and on the history of cartography, and is the recipient of several fellowships and prizes (including Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow '87; National Endowment for the Humanities, '79 and '84; Nebenzahl Prize, the Newberry Library '87; Best Article Prize, Urban History Association, '92). 
 
Konvitz led the OECD's work on urban policy from 1992 to 2003, directing studies on distressed urban areas, sustainable urban development, regeneration, globalisation, and natural disasters. As Head of Division, Regulatory Policy, from 2003 until his retirement in 2011, Konvitz directed more than 20 OECD multi-disciplinary country reviews of regulatory reform, led an OECD programme of co-operation with Mexico to enhance competitiveness (2009-12), and worked extensively on administrative simplification with Portugal, the Netherlands, Viet Nam, Tunisia, and the Palestine Authority. He was responsible for the 2005 Guiding Principles for Regulatory Quality and Performance, as well as for the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for Regulatory Reform (2005); in 2011, he launched a new Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance. Konvitz is Chair of Pascal International Observatory, a network of experts dedicated to place-based development through the co-operation of institutions of higher education and regions. The University of Glasgow is the host institution.

To register for this seminar, please contact [email protected]