Our curated library is packed full of knowledge, know-how and best practices in the fields of democracy and culture.
Read the latest on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other critical world events in our library of democratic content. Gathered from trusted international sources, the curated library brings you a rich resource of articles, opinion pieces and more on democracy and culture to keep you updated.
Take a look at curated library below and search by keyword (i.e. Ukraine or authoritarianism) or format (i.e. article or report) and find a tailored list of resources on the topics you're most interested in.
Whistleblowers for Change: The Social and Economic Costs and Benefits of Leaking and Whistleblowing
"In this report, whistleblowers from eight European countries describe what they experienced after they took a stand. Additionally, civil society experts weigh in on how the EU can craft policies to better protect whistleblowers. The question of how to define whistleblowing…is also explored" (Open Society Foundation, 2018).
Democracy and the Law
“Law should govern,” declared Aristotle,
proclaiming a fundamental principle of democratic
rule now under threat as illiberal leaders assail
the independence of the courts. What is the
response? What is the role of transnational legal
bodies?
Towards Elections with Integrity
"This policy brief… proposes… monitoring of the political processes leading up to polling day; improving collaboration with observers at a local level; strengthening the role played by civil society; setting stronger guidelines for the digital arena; developing guidelines for technology used; striking a new balance between the observation missions’ technical and political mandates" (Martinelli, 2018).
Participatory Budgeting
"This research identified significant challenges in the participatory budgeting sphere... The migration to managing participatory budgeting digitally presents the very real risk of the process becoming gentrified, and is just one example of the consequences of scale in participatory budgeting only being achieved at the expense of disenfranchising the most under-represented" (Rumbul, Parsons, and Bramley, 2018).
Parliament and the people
"The report provides an analysis of the data and digital landscapes of four case study countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda), and interrogates how digital channels are being used in those countries to create and disseminate information on parliamentary activity" (Rumbul 2018).
What if democracy was RAPID?
This article aims to “provide a framework...that could make clearer how different modes of participatory democracy could hang together as a whole that’s more than the sum of the parts of open policymaking, deliberative democracy, representative democracy, and so on” (Alexander 2018).
The Populist Challenge to the European Court of Human Rights
“This article analyzes the position of the” European Court of Human Rights concerning the “unprecedented wave of populism in Europe” and “argues that the rise of populism not only intensifies the pressure on the ECtHR, it poses a serious and distinctive challenge to the ECHR” (Petrov 2018).
This Is How Democracies Die
Levitsky and Ziblatt explore contemporary democratic backsliding and how it differs from the democratic fracturing of the past and takes place at the ballot box, through the co-optation of the media, through declining judicial independence, and increasing threats to the citizenry.
The Case Against Elections
Democracy = Elections…but does it really? The case for ‘deliberative democracy.’
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