Freedom and Democracy
From Governancevillage WIKI
There are several forms of democracy, one of which – the one in Canada – is constitutional democracy that emphasizes pluralism and the protection of rights and freedoms of women and men, girls and boys. As such, Canada’s International Development Policy Framework on democratization emphasizes electoral democracy and strong democratic institutions, including electoral and legislative systems, citizen engagement, and the role of civil society.
From a development perspective, democratization involves ensuring that structures, institutions and processes of governance not only address the fundamental needs and rights of all citizens, including women and children, but that they also engage citizens in their creation and maintenance in order to ensure equitable and sustainable development. Democratization also involves developing the capacity and opportunities of society, including non-governmental community-based and private sector organizations, to work with government to develop the mechanisms and processes through which individual and collective interests are effectively represented and addressed. At the root of this process are democratic institutions – rules, practices, and democratic values - that must be fostered and strengthened.
The implementation of free and fair multiparty elections is an important first step in the formal democratization process, though it is by no means the only step. Democratic outcomes are reinforced by an effective legislature, supported by strong constitutional and procedural frameworks and sustained by capable legislators. Representative democracy gains legitimacy and stability when it actively consults with non-government stakeholders who have the capacity to participate effectively in the political process. A free media can simultaneously challenge public action while serving as both an alternate information source and an educational tool.
[edit] Canadian Resources on Freedom and Democracy
1. The Centre for the Study of Democracy promotes research, mutual learning and executive development programming that enhances the study and practice of governance and democracy in Canada and the world. It has produced state of the art knowledge related to democratic development in its Transition to Democracy project.
2. Elections Canada plays an active role on the global scene, offering its experience to new democracies and international organizations dedicated to the promotion of democratic electoral processes. It is engaged in a number of activities with developing democracies that include international monitoring missions in Iraq and Haiti. Elections Canada is also a founding member of ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, which provides election administrators with the information and tools they need to produce credible and cost-effective elections. ACE offers comprehensive and authoritative information on elections, a help desk function through its regional network of practitioners, and recognized training courses for elections support.
3. Forum of Federations is an international network that works to strengthen democratic governance by promoting dialogue on and understanding of the values, practices, principles and possibilities of federalism and its role in supporting democratic societies and governments. The organization pursues this goal through:
- Regional/country programs
- Global dialogue: In conjunction with the International Association for Centres of Federal Studies, the Forum hosts a Global Dialogue on Federalism that engages participants in a learning dialogue on the core themes of federalism.
- Public education including the Forum's online library on federalism; Federations Newsletter on what's new in federalism worldwide; the Handbook of Federal Countries 2005 and other publications.
- Youth programs to engage young professionals and scholars from around the world in a learning dialogue on federalism and to integrate youth into the Forum’s international network.
4. Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS) is committed to the protection and expansion of democracy and to strengthening civil society. IMPACS works and provides knowledge and tools and connects people working in what it believes to be three key aspects of the democratization process: 1) training non-profit organizations to become more articulate at communicating public policy issues important to their communities; 2) providing knowledge and tools for the development of a free, critical and effective media; and 3) enhancing the media’s role in the process of democratic development, good governance, and public sector accountability and transparency. News about their work is published in an electronic newsletter, eCatalyst.
5. Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) is a policy development institute focusing on the generation of knowledge to inform public policy decisions related to economic performance, social progress, and sound democratic governance. Its research theme on International Democratic Development under the research program Canada and the World provides state-of-the-art perspectives on issues related to Canada’s role in supporting democratic development
6. Montreal International Forum (FIM) is an international NGO with the goal of improving the influence of international civil society on the United Nations (UN) and the multilateral system. FIM believes that that strengthened interaction between civil society and multilateral institutions, is a means to address extreme poverty, wars, human rights violations and environment degradation. Democratizing world governance is the central theme of global conferences hosted by FIM every two/three years that aim to facilitate practical exchanges on democratization experiences between civil society actors, representatives of multilateral institutions and governments, parliamentarians, academics, business people, and journalists. FIM has a library presents case studies of the role civil society organizations have played in influencing the policies and practices of multilateral institutions. It also has an extensive resource that acts as a network link to multilateral development institutions as well as key alliances and consortia of global civil society organizations focused on development.
7. Rights and Democracy was created by Canada's Parliament in 1988 to encourage and support the universal values of human rights and the promotion of democratic institutions and practices in Canada and around the world. Rights & Democracy’s work, specific to democratization, focuses on democratic development at the national and regional level, and aims to enhance the capacity of civil society to influence the political process, strengthen the rule of law, and build democratic institutions, with particular emphasis on women, indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups. Rights and Democracy maintains a network of “Delegations” from approximately 40 Canadian universities and colleges that provides resources and support for student groups interested in human rights, democratic development and globalization.
8. Parliamentary Centre focuses on democratization and parliamentary reform and development in Canada and internationally. It develops and shares knowledge on issues related to parliamentary reform, poverty reduction, accountability, parliamentary oversight and performance auditing. The Centre has programs in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, The Middle East, and Canada. It also hosts organizational and knowledge networks related to poverty, gender and democratization, and parliamenary reform, including: parliamentary reform in the Americas; parliamentarians against corruption; gender; and poverty reduction. In addition, the Centre offers a range of services in parliamentary development and good governance including:
- Assessments and strategic planning involving programs to assist parliaments in being responsive and accountable to citizens’ needs, including a set of parliamentary performance measurements developed in collaboration with the World Bank Institute;
- Capacity development workshops, seminars and training to elected representatives and their staffs and tailored technical assistance; and
- Research, publications and briefing notes on topics related to parliamentary practices.
[edit] International Resources on Freedom and Democracy
1. The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) is a knowledge-sharing portal funded by the UK Department for International Development that is considered to be the most comprehensive web-based resource on governance and development. GSDRC features voice and accountability as well as democracy and political systems - which includes content knowledge resources on democracy and development, conflict, the concept of semi-democracies and democracy building - as two of its focus themes.
2. The World Bank Development Gateway is a resource portal for development information and knowledge-sharing worldwide. The Gateway has communities on civil society, Democracy, media and freedom of the press, and governance and parliament, that provide a collaborative space for professionals working to reduce poverty to share knowledge, tools, research and contact.
3. Afro-Barometer offers a comparative series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, markets and civil society in Africa. The purpose is to produce scientifically valid data on public opinion in sub-Saharan Africa while strengthening the capacity of institutions to conduct survey research and apply the results. The Afro-Barometer survey results are summarized on their site as well as on the site of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). Afro-Barometer has a library of briefing papers based on the analysis on data from surveys. They also have an extensive library of working papers.
4. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IIDEA) works in partnership with a range of institutions at the international, regional and national level to support sustainable democracy worldwide, and to foster dialogue between academics, policy makers and practitioners. IDEA synthesizes research and field experience to develop tools to help improve democratic processes that facilitate transparency, accountability, and efficiency in election management. It facilitates in-country democracy assessment, monitoring and promotion by citizens. IDEA’s work falls under five programming themes: what is democracy, democracy building and conflict management, electoral processes, political parties, and women in politics. IIDEA publishes a wide range of publications under each of these themes in an effort to provide guidelines for the promotion of democracy.
IDEA, like Elections Canada, is a founding partner of ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, which provides election administrators with the information and tools they need to produce credible and cost-effective elections. ACE offers comprehensive and authoritative information on elections, a help desk function through its regional network of practitioners, and recognized training courses for elections support.
5. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) works to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. Calling on a global network of volunteer experts, NDI provides practical assistance to civic and political leaders advancing democratic values, practices and institutions. NDI works in six regions: Central and West Africa; East and Southern Africa; Asia, Eurasia; East and Central Europe; Latin America; the Middle East to build political and civic organizations, safeguard elections, and to promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. It achieves this through the following program streams: citizen participation, democratic governance, election and political processes, information and communication technology, local government, political party development, security sector reform, and women’s participation. NDI’s Access Democracy resource encourages an exchange of knowledge (information and experiences) among democratic activists and practitioners around the world.
6. Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) has as its objective to support the process of democratization in young democracies by strengthening political parties as the pillars of parliamentary democracy in order to help create a well-functioning, sustainable, pluralistic system of party politics. NIMD has programs in Bolivia; East and Southern Africa; Georgia; Ghana; Guatemala; Indonesia; Kenya; Malawi; Mali; Mozambique; Nicaragua; South Africa; Suiname; Tanzania; Zambia and Zimbabwe. NIMD’s publications provide useful institutional assessment tools on assessing the effectiveness of political parties.
7. World Movement for Democracy (WMD) is a global network of activists, practitioners, academics, policy makers, and funders, who cooperate in the promotion of democracy. They have regional networks in Africa, Asia, Latin America, The Middle East and North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. WMD also has theme-based networks in the areas of: local governance, parliamentarians and democracy, women and democracy, youth and democratic development, democracy assistance, and democracy research.
