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.
Public Participation in the National Budget: Lessons from Pilot Town Hall Meetings in Afghanistan
"Based on pilot town halls in Afghanistan, this piece examines how citizens can participate in the formulation of the national budget. Initial findings identified citizens’ stronger-than-expected interest with the national budget, and how their engagement can be leveraged to improve government oversight, national accountability, and the inclusivity and performance of state services" (Institute for State Effectiveness, 2020).
Integrated Advocacy: Paths Forward For Digital Civil Society
“This report investigates how digital public policy implicates civil society in democracies and how to strengthen, expand and diversify the practical connections between civil society support organizations and digital policy experts” and covers “the current landscape and the possibilities for building broad civil society coalitions” for digital policy (Stanford PACS, 2020).
Fixing Democracy Demands the Building and Aligning of People's Motivation and Authority to Act
Han explores how to “strengthen the capacity of people to exercise their voices in the democratic process—and instantiate the authority they have to hold economic and political leaders accountable within institutions” in order to address underlying democratic issues and reform democracy (Han, 2020).
Why Protest?
The authors of this essay “describe the mass demonstrations that have taken place across the world” ...“and raise the question: are these protests a sign of democracy in action, or democracy in crisis?” (Chicago Center on Democracy, 2020). They address root causes of discontent and demonstrations, and examine case studies.
The Global Satisfaction with Democracy Report 2020
This report uses a combined, pooled dataset to determine that dissatisfaction with democracy has risen consistently and has reached its highest level yet since 1995, particularly in developed democracies. The authors find that the level of dissatisfaction can be widely characterized by events affecting the economic sector and policy crises.
How can local authorities step into a Citizen future?
This piece examines how local authorities play a key role in maintaining and support community actions and civic will.
How can we work together to build community power?
This article supports “the NLGN’s call for a Community Power Act and argues “that it can only be as good as the process that creates it, the principles and culture that underpin it” and build “upon the excellent work already being done by existing change-makers” (New Citizenship Project, 2019).
The Democracy Playbook: Preventing and Reversing Democratic Backsliding
“The Democracy Playbook sets forth strategies and actions that supporters of liberal democracy can implement to halt and reverse democratic backsliding and make democratic institutions work more effectively for citizens” (Eisen Et al., 2019).
Collapse of the Traditional Party
Today traditional parties in many mature democracies have become polarized, weakened and alienated from the public, giving way to populist parties and leaders who put their personal interests above the values of democracy. Why has this happened, and what is the remedy?
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