Call for Papers: Religion and Governance

Call for Papers

Sixth Baha’i Conference on Law

Exploring the Intersections of Religion and Governance

 October 10-11, 2008

American University, Washington College of Law

Washington, D.C.

 This Call for Papers invites submissions on the question of what contributions religion can make to governance (broadly defined as the traditions, institutions, and processes by which authority is exercised in a given society).

Under what conditions are religion or faith relevant to questions of “good governance”? Since the mid-1990s, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations, as well as developed country governments, have advocated good governance as a condition for development aid. Criteria for good governance have been variously said to include accountability, responsiveness, transparency, public participation, and the rule of law, among other elements.

Many have highlighted the roots of these concepts in Western democratic culture. One might recall, for example, James Madison’s widely quoted aphorism that “a popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it … is but a prologue to a farce or tragedy or both.” This Conference seeks to consider religious dimensions of these concepts. This may shed light on whether modern characterizations of “good governance” are uniquely Western, either in origin or present applicability.

More broadly, the Conference will ask what faith and religion can continue to teach us about good governance and its features. What do various religious traditions emphasize as the essential elements of good governance? From the perspective of the Baha’i Faith, for example, one might argue that processes of good governance must simultaneously pursue the interdependent principles of justice and unity, with an ultimate orientation to the achievement of universal peace. Along such lines, we hope to explore what ultimately is the role of “faith” in identifying and developing criteria for good governance.

Please send an abstract of your paper proposal via e-mail to Professor Padideh Ala’i at [email protected], with a copy to Nicolas Mansour, at [email protected], no later than June 30, 2008.

Conference Organizers:

 Padideh Ala’i (American University, Washington College of Law)

Robert B. Ahdieh (Emory Law School)

Neysun Mahboubi (Yale Law School)