Dear Friends of Democracy,
Will modern direct democracy save democracy—or threaten it?
You are invited to join us in Mexico very soon — from February 27 to March 4, 2023 — as we attempt to answer that big question.
The 2023 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy is shaping up as one of the most urgent democratic gatherings of the next year. It’s also going to be the largest Global Forum ever—covering six days (we may even add a 7th day on March 5!) of tours, plenaries, keynotes, workshops, networking, and intimate conversations about the future of democracy and direct citizen-decision-making.
The stakes are high for this Global Forum. Authoritarianism, election deniers, and autocratic systems are posing new challenges and difficult questions for democracy. Democracy sits on the knife’s edge in Mexico, the United States, and throughout the globe, with nations and regions across the Americas confronting both new democratic opportunities and perils.
And the tools of modern direct and participatory democracy are being used both by democracy’s friends and democracy’s foes in the fight for the future of self-government. In the process, the very meaning of direct democracy is changing and expanding.
We invite you to attend this 11th Global Forum — and add your energy and voice to its democratic work — as we re-examine fundamental questions in this new world. What is modern direct democracy today — and what should it be? How can we improve the relationship between indirect and direct democracy to make both better serve the people? And how do we combine representative and participatory democratic tools—from citizens’ initiatives to citizens assemblies, from participatory budgeting to referenda — in service of people power?
Our hosts in Mexico moved this Global Forum forward by 7 months because of the urgency of these questions. Now it is urgent that you register for the Global Forum, and make your plans to attend and be a part of it. Information on hotels, along with tentative Forum program are available here.
Register now for the 2023 Global Forum
Our international team of Forum organizers stands ready to assist you and answer your questions. Please feel free to contact the team at info@2023globalforum.com.
Democratically yours,
Joe Mathews
Global Forum co-president
Bruno Kaufmann
Global Forum co-president
Caroline Vernaillen
Democracy International
