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06-05-2020
What the Austrian lockdown teaches us about our basic civil rights
While timely and necessary, the measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 have had an enormous impact not only on our daily lives, but also on our democracies. In this series, we try to asses how democratic practice has been affected and how we can make our future democracies more...
06-05-2020
Postponed: The 2020 Global Forum is now the 2021 Global Forum
The Covid-19 crisis has deeply affected public life all around the world, the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy is no exception to this. In order to ensure that the Forum can remain a truly global event, we are postponing the event to 28 April - 1 May 2021. Read the letter...
06-05-2020
Local initiatives in Germany need better rules in times of (Corona-)crisis
While timely and necessary, the measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 have had an enormous impact not only on our daily lives, but also on our democracies. In this series, we try to asses how democratic practice has been affected and how we can make our future democracies more...
06-05-2020
French local elections in democratic limbo
While timely and necessary, the measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 have had an enormous impact not only on our daily lives, but also on our democracies. In this series, we try to asses how democratic practice has been affected and how we can make our future democracies more...
06-05-2020
Don't fear the voter
John Matsusaka is Charles F. Sexton Chair in American Enterprise in the Marshall School of Business and the Gould School of law at the University of Southern California. He also an expert in direct democracy and he serves as the executive director of the Initiative &...
18-03-2020
The 2019 Grand Débat National in France: A Participatory Experiment with Limited Legitimacy
Everyone remembers the Yellow Vests movement. Few remember the Grand Débat National. Yet, together they make up this singular political moment, between October 2018 and March 2019, France went through. If holding citizens’ consultations is by no means novel, what made the French...
13-03-2020
Covid-19: Democracy International office closed
In accordance with federal and regional recommended measures to slow down the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the Democracy International office has currently adopted limited opening hours, with our team members working from home on most days. Please excuse any dificulties in...
05-03-2020
Unlikely allies: how the ever-divided French Left and Right triggered a minority referendum to halt Macron’s privatization plans
In April last year, civil demands to stop the privatization of one of France’s public ‘’crown jewels’’, the Groupe ADP, ex-Aéroports de Paris were recognized in the political arena by a broad array of political parties. By triggering a minority referendum procedure, the called ‘...
21-02-2020
Behind citizen’s powerlessness: nostalgia, resentment and hope
With our eyes now turning towards Brussels and the upcoming launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe, attention and excitement are high. But so is the feeling of being powerless to influence EU politics among European citizens. From the perspective of EU democratic...
18-02-2020
The new ECI is here - join us in Brussels
It’s 2020 – which means the European Citizens’ Initiative 2.0 is here! On January 1, the new rules of the tool went into effect, making the world’s only tool of transnational participatory democracy more user-friendly and effective. Two events dedicated to the ECI are kicking-...