A wild ride for direct democracy around the world

As the late summer days here in Germany turned into a slumbering autumn, activity at Democracy International kicked into high gear. So many things have happened! Let me tell you about my month:

At the end of September, our team travels to Taiwan for the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy. After months of mailings, telephone conferences and brainstorms spread out over three time-zones, it is finally here and it is – literally – quite a ride! On Monday 30 September, we board a train in Taipei that has been exclusively reserved for participants of the Pre-Forum Briefing tour. The Taiwan Democracy Train is the perfect venue for participants from all over the world to get to know each other and, through stops along the western coast, learn about the fascinating history of Taiwan, the most advanced direct democracy in Asia.

On Wednesday 2 October, just before heading to the official welcome dinner of the conference, our International Democracy Community goes online. It’s our digital answer to the Global Forum, our way to connect the people all over the world working on issues of direct democracy.

On 3 October, the Forum sessions start. Over 300 participants from more than 60 countries have come down to the National Chung Hsing University campus in Taichung. In the afternoon we present our new campaign for a UN World Citizens’ Initiative, the feedback we get is very encouraging and gives us plenty of material to take into our upcoming official campaign launch.

On Saturday, we head back to Taipei to launch an International League of Democracy Cities. With the necessary pomp and circumstance and armed with oversized keys, representatives from 10 cities promise to incorporate more local participatory democracy processes at home.

But it’s not all good news. Even from across the Taiwan strait, we feel the looming presence of the island’s bigger Eastern neighbor. At the end of the week, we meet with Hong Kong democracy activists. Their reports of the increasingly brutal repression of protests in Hong Kong are so chilling and humbling as to motivate participants to sign off the Taichung Declaration on Modern Direct Democracy in “love and solidarity with people in Hong Kong and all those fighting for their rights everywhere…”

Back in Germany, I attend the Revolutionale Festival for Change in Leipzig, which marked the 30th birthday of the Peaceful Revolution that eventually led to the collapse of the ‘German Democratic Republic’. As they put up the Chinese signs for ‘Democracy’ at their exhibition, it’s a welcome reminder that peaceful resistance and international solidarity can change the course of history.

All the best,

Caroline Vernaillen

Global Manager PR & Community Building

Celebrating modern direct democracy with a Taiwanese character

A special democracy train, signature gatherers in Buddhist temples, nationwide marches for better legislation: Bruno Kaufmann looks back at the participatory celebration of the 2019 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.

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Dealing with this complicated history, Peru‘s transition to democracy started 17 years ago. The constitution of the semi-presidential republic enshrines not only four direct-democratic instruments at the national level, but also two at the local level. At the Navigator to Direct Democracy symposium on “Political Culture and Active Citizenship” at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Arturo Maldonado, professor at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, spoke with Democracy International about the use of these instruments at the local level and the current status of democracy in Peru.

World Citizens’ Initiative welcomed at Global Forum on Direct Democracy

This year, Democracy International, together with Democracy Without Borders and CIVICUS, started a campaign for a World Citizens' Initiative at the United Nations level under the name "We the Peoples". Ben Murphy from the University of Liverpool, researched how such an instrument would work legally and presented it at the Global Forum.

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As populism spreads, cities, not states, are advancing direct democracy

We gathered in Taipei, Taiwan, this month to establish an international league of democratic cities. The Swiss capital Bern is one of the about 80 cities that want to coordinate and advance grassroots democracy on local levels. Swissinfo reports.

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"More democracy is possible"

Over the past months, our partner organisation Mehr Demokratie has organised citizens' councils on the topic of democracy all over Germany. On 15 November 2019, the Day for Democracy, they will present the results of this nation-wide citizens' assembly, accompanied by a spectacular art performance in front of the Reichstag in Berlin, by artist John Quigley.

Read more here

30 years of Peaceful Revolution

In the Fall of ‘89, the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany brought about changes that would lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Leipzig marked its 30th birthday with the Revolutionale, a festival for change, and an International Round Table where Democracy International was represented.

More info here