Stories

Image by Democracy International of citizens participating in the European Citizens' Panel
European Union
€1.8 Trillion Through the Eyes of 150 Europeans
How would you allocate €1.8 trillion and shape the future of Europe for the next seven years? Defence? Digitalisation? Democracy? That’s exactly what 150 randomly selected citizens were asked when they gathered for the latest...
The United Nations
A call to democratic imagination: why we need Global Citizens’ Assemblies
The world is at a turning point. As crises mount — from climate breakdown to technological disruption and growing authoritarianism — our systems of global governance are not stepping up to the task. We are trying to solve 21st-...
Mexico
New in the Community: Ollin
In 'New in the Community' we introduce one of the members of our International Democracy Community in more...
France
The 2019 Grand Débat National in France: A Participatory Experiment with...
Everyone remembers the Yellow Vests movement. Few remember the Grand Débat National. Yet, together they make...
France
Unlikely allies: how the ever-divided French Left and Right triggered a...
In April last year, civil demands to stop the privatization of one of France’s public ‘’crown jewels’’, the...
Rafael Pineiro, board member of Democracy International, leaves a polling station in Kansas during the 2014 US midterm elections, with several ballot measures.
Global
Long Life, Low Taxes and a Cleaner Environment: The Policy Effect of...
There has been no shortage of criticisms of direct democracy in general citizen-referendums in particular....
The European Pubic Sphere in Vienna
European Union
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...
The ruins of the Panguna mine (Photo courtesy of Madlemurs (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)
Papua New Guinea
Inching towards Independence: a bumpy road ahead for Bougainville
In last November’s referendum, with a turnout of 87,4 per cent, a staggering 97,7 per cent of Bougainvillean...
Global
A world caught between protest and ballot
Never before have so many people around the globe taken part in popular votes as in 2019. Yet never before...
Copyright: Diego Correa (CC BY 2.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Chile
Constitution building in Chile: a long way to go
Since October, Chile has seen tremendous social uprising across the country. What started as a protest about...
Spain
Spain: a national democratic deficit and local hope for better times
The Spanish Social-democratic Workers’ Party (PSOE) has won the national elections on Sunday November, 10 (...
Germany
"More democracy is possible"
Over the past months, our partner organisation Mehr Demokratie has organised citizens' councils on the...