Although the world is celebrating today the International Day of Democracy, the fact is that, we can not fully celebrate: while the number of democratic countries in the world rose significantly during the XX Century, signals of democratic decline in representative democracy have been appearing globally in recent times. Political disaffection and social unrest have escalated in consolidated and less consolidated democracies alike. Even though citizens are demanding more democracy rather than turning against it, this situation may seriously undermine democratic legitimacy.
In the midst of this perception, Club de Madrid, comprised of 97 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers, from over 60 countries, launches today the project Next Generation Democracy and the 2014 Policy Dialogue “Democracy and Human rights in decline? A call to action” to be held in Florence the 24th-25th of November with the Robert Kennedy Center for Human Rights and Justice as co-organizer.
With these two global initiatives the Club de Madrid will re-examine the state and future of democracy. The Next Generation Democracy project, is a two-year, collaborative and multi-stakeholder process that aims, with the collaboration of the Bertelsman Stiftung and the Atlantic Council, to assess the quality of democracy in various regions of the world and develop practical responses for implementation by stakeholders worldwide.
Therefore the general objective of the project is to strengthen democracy by empowering citizens and institutions to better articulate and engage in delivering on expectations and needs, simultaneously securing a sustainable future for generations to come. NGD will contribute to positive change by advancing democracy and human rights around the globe.
Specific Objectives:
- Comparative analysis of democratic governance, including past and future trends, transformative practices and innovative ideas.
- NGD regional agendas and a NGD global agenda proposing actions in response to potential regression in democratic governance.
- Provided basis for aligning foreign policy objectives for the promotion of democracy.
- Informed and empowered target groups to working for positive change and long term solutions in the promotion of democracy and human rights according to their respective contexts.
The state of democracy will be studied in participatory regional workshops by:
- Identifying regional democratic trends between 2000 and 2015; and
- Assessing the impact that regional and global trends towards 2030 may have on the immediate future of democracy.
CdM Members will act as political sounding boards and catalysts of these policy dialogues, engaging citizens, scholars, policy makers, civil society representatives, business and public opinion leaders. To avoid a ‘one democracy fits all’ analysis, local actors will lead in the identification of challenges and responses in their respective regions.
