This past Friday, 20 May 2022, Dr Wilhelm Hofmeister from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation visited Penang and led a by-invitation-only discussion titled “Young Leaders Roundtable: Shaping the Future of Democracy” at Penang Institute. Present at the exchange were a dozen young politicians, including some Penang Institute staff members.
Dr Hofmeister shared the contents of his new book “Political Parties Shape Democracy” (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung 2022), which analyses the role, performance and organisation of parties throughout the world. Interesting points made included the idea that mistrust of leaders is part and parcel of a mature democracy, and that societies today are experiencing a rising degree of fragmentation in national ambitions.
Those interested in reading Dr Hofmeister’s book can download a soft copy of it here.
