The rise of populism in the West and the rise of China in the East have stirred a rethinking of how democratic systems work—and how they fail. The impact of globalism and digital capitalism is forcing worldwide attention to the starker divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” challenging how we think about the social contract. In this session, Berggruen Institute founders and coauthors of Renovating Democracy: Governing in the Age of Globalization and Digital Capitalism, Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels will discuss their alternative framework for governance with fierce clarity and conviction. To truly renovate our global systems, the authors argue for empowering participation without populism by integrating social networks and direct democracy into the system with new mediating institutions that complement representative government. They will discuss their plan to reconfigure the social contract to protect workers instead of jobs, shifting from a “redistribution” after wealth to “pre-distribution” with the aim to enhance the skills and assets of those less well-off. Lastly, they’ll call for harnessing globalization through “positive nationalism” at home while advocating for global cooperation—specifically through a partnership with China to create a viable rules-based world order.

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