Democracy and Capitalism
Didi Kuo, Scott C. Miller, Sidney Milkis (Moderator)
Can Democracy and Capitalism Be Reconciled? is the question at the heart of a new book from Oxford University Press that explores the meaning of both democracy and capitalism and considers their inherent tensions. Didi Kuo, fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and contributor to the book, and UVA Darden School of Business assistant professor Scott C. Miller, director of the Karsh Institute’s Democracy and Capitalism Lab and co-editor of the book, explore the main ideas and themes in this collection of essays, including how political economies could be reformed to bring them more in line with their values such that democracy and capitalism could better coexist.
The conversation is moderated by UVA professor of politics Sidney Milkis, also a co-editor of the book.
A limited number of lunches will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 11:30 AM. And copies of Can Democracy and Capitalism Be Reconciled? will be available for purchase.
The Nau Lab's “Touchstones of Democracy” series explores key events, places, thinkers, and texts that inform the history and principles of democracy. The fall 2026 conversations are produced at the University of Virginia by the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
Parking:
Parking is not available at Bond House, but you can access Bond House by riding UVA Transit’s Orange Line. If you plan to drive, there is paid parking within walking distance at the Oakhurst Inn and Central Grounds Garage. For additional handicap accessible parking spots, consult the UVA accessibility map.
Speakers
Didi Kuo
Center Fellow, Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University
Didi Kuo
Center Fellow, Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University
Didi Kuo is a Center Fellow at the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Her research interests include democratization, political parties, state-building, and the political economy of representation. She is the author of The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave—and Why They Don't (Oxford University Press) and Clientelism, Capitalism, and Democracy: The Rise of Programmatic Politics in the United States and Britain (Cambridge University Press 2018). She was an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellow at New America and is an adjunct fellow at the Niskanen Center. She received a PhD in political science from Harvard University; as a Marshall Scholar, she studied economic history at Oxford University and politics at the University of Essex. She received a BA in political science from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, her hometown.
Scott C. Miller
Lab Director, Democracy and Capitalism Lab, Karsh Institute of Democracy, UVA
Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, UVA
Scott C. Miller
Lab Director, Democracy and Capitalism Lab, Karsh Institute of Democracy, UVA
Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, UVA
Scott Miller is the director of the Democracy and Capitalism Lab and an assistant professor at the Darden School of Business. From 2019 to 2021, he held a postdoctoral fellowship in economic and business history at the Yale School of Management’s International Center for Finance. He is the author or co-author of numerous scholarly papers on economic history, financial crises, and the interplay between societal and economic change and has written or co-written 10 case studies on financial crises and economic development. Miller earned a BA from Vanguard University, an MA in American history from George Mason University, and an MA and PhD in economic history from the University of Virginia.
Sidney Milkis (Moderator)
White Burkett Miller Professor of Governance and Foreign Affairs, Department of Politics, UVA
Sidney Milkis (Moderator)
White Burkett Miller Professor of Governance and Foreign Affairs, Department of Politics, UVA
Sidney M. Milkis is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Governance and Foreign Affairs and a professor of politics. His research focuses on the American presidency, political parties and elections, social movements, and American political development. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, he regularly gives public lectures on American politics and participates in programs for international scholars and high school teachers that probe the deep historical roots of contemporary developments in the United States.
Milkis earned a BA degree from Muhlenberg College and a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania.