No democracy is perfect. Some democracies work better than others. Swiss democracy works well. Canada’s democracy works pretty well. American democracy has fallen on hard times. The Economist Intelligence Unit each year publishes the Democracy Index.[i] The index distinguishes four categories of democracy: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. The five […]
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Today, most nations judge their yearly progress by the measure called Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This measure captures the dollar value of all the goods produced by its businesses, and as we have written about previously at The Sarasota Institute, the concept of GDP needs to be scrapped or revised. The assumption is that […]
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We are pleased to announce the publication of The Sarasota Institute’s Whitepaper #1, The Big Issues. It covers all 10 of the topics we believe are crucial for understanding and shaping the century. Here are some questions that we discuss within: When was the last time you heard anything radical about how to reform democracy? Do […]
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Just after the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States I had many conversations with colleagues and friends. Regardless of people’s political persuasion, most expressed some confusion about the future direction of global politics given the unusual nature of Trump as a candidate. Was he, is he, crazy like a fox, […]
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Every nation has to decide what it stands for. Americans are asking who we are and who do we aspire to be. U.S. immigration policies provide a partial mosaic picture of U.S. ambitions and values as a country. Consider the following immigration questions. Should the U.S. accept more displaced persons from other countries, especially if […]
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