Stories

Member Story
Shadows of the Past: How Soviet Inferiority Narratives Hinder Democracy in Moldova and Ukraine
Post-Soviet countries like Ukraine and Moldova are deeply influenced by inferiority narratives — pervasive beliefs of national inadequacy rooted in Soviet-era legacies. This article examines how these narratives shape...
IDC Theme of the Month
From Backsliding to Breakthrough: Civil Society as Democracy's Last Line of Defence
Democracy does not vanish overnight; instead, it erodes step by step. Authoritarianism grows in the cracks, but so does civic resistance. Around the world, civil society is proving that when democratic institutions weaken,...
Pakistan
ADC: New Provincial Law Limits Rights, Press
Protection or Pressure?
USA
EVENT Civic Solitude: Why Democracy Needs Distance
Public discussion of the third book in philosopher Robert B. Talisse's democratic trilogy
Canada
VLAHOS: Three Ways to Strengthen Neighborhood Governance
Bottoms-up engagement, community intermediaries, and defeating geography are crucial, writes Nick Vlahos
Global
DEM NEXT: A First-Ever Tech-Assisted Assembly
Citizens assembly members get to work on youth homelessness in Deschutes County, Oregon
Global
TRAINING EVENT Do It Yourself Democracy
Free webinars, in English, Spanish and German, Oct 8 and 22, in professional, organizational, and democratic...
Global
For You and Europe, a New 'Idea Laboratory'
Half of the European Parliament's members are new. This is a moment for your ideas.
ADC: Firing the Messenger
The Wall Street Journal fires a Hong Kong journalist who headed an association of reporters, setting a...
USA
COLUMN: No Camping
Divided localities agree on an enemy: those camping outside.
Global
A Deliberate Provocation; An Experiment in India
Also: an amalgamation assembly and "anticipatory" democracy
Myanmar
ADC: War Reaches Myanmar's Urban Communities
Civil War, once confined to rural areas, forces city dwellers to seek refuge.