1. The Global State of Democracy and the crisis of representation
Declining commitment to democracy: What’s going on around the world?
Library Reading Room, European Parliament, Brussels
Wednesday, 7 March 2018
Andrew Bradley, Office of International IDEA to the EU

2. Democracy is at a crossroad
Global progress has been made in almost all aspects of democracy since 1975
At the country and regional level, in the last 5-10 years we see threats to democracy
Democracy cannot be taken for granted: it must be protected and safeguarded
Contrary to negative views of democracy in decline, when looking at democracy over time ( ) and globally the picture is positive based on findings in International IDEA’s GSoD Indices.
Contemporary challenges are outlined in Chapters 4-8 of the GSoD publication. Therefore, democracy cannot be taken for granted and requires continuous action to be safeguarded, by following the actions and recommendations highlighted in the publication and in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 16.

3. Global trends in four democratic dimensions, 1975-2015
These findings challenge the pessimistic view that democracy is extremely fragile and generally in decline. Nevertheless, overall progress has slowed for many aspects of democracy since the mid-1990s. This suggests that the current global state of democracy is one of trendless fluctuations—upturns and downturns in individual countries, but with no broad tendencies of decline or progress in democracy. Trendless fluctuations represent a trend in themselves: the continuity of democracy at the highest level in world history. Considering the current challenges to democracy, this continuity indicates that in the most basic competition between democracy and dictatorship, the former tends to have the upper hand.

4. Key democratic gains in the past 40 years
Increase in the number of electoral democracies
Improvement in the political representation of women
Advancement of ICTs for democracy

5. Challenges to democracy
Backsliding and a shrinking democratic space
Rising of populism and nationalism
Decreasing levels of trust
Increasing capture and corruption
Conflicts

6. The changing nature of political parties and representation
Actionable policy recommendations (optional to cite examples)
Policy options and recommendations to tackle the changing nature of political participation
Political parties
Communicate a strong and bold political vision.
Create alternative forms of citizen engagement through alternative forms of membership.
Remain responsive to the electorate between elections by rethinking parties’ communication strategies, and update parties’ internal culture and operational structures to match the increase in online and street-based interactions and decision-making.
Encourage an atmosphere of pluralism and inclusiveness within the party by engaging and establishing links with a wide range of ideologically compatible social organizations, social movements and interest groups.
Address public distrust by pledging full transparency of party finances, strictly regulating conflicts of interest, and implementing anti-corruption policies and internal party democracy mechanisms.
Ensure that leaders and democratically elected representatives reflect the demographics of the society by mentoring and recruiting more women and young people into key roles that lead to leadership positions.
Carefully consider the use of direct democracy instruments such as referendums, and strengthen public understanding of the exact mandate of the referendum.
Expand citizen engagement at all levels by using digital tools such as interactive websites and apps. This includes reaching out to members and non-members for help in undertaking traditional party tasks such as online policy formulation, voting and fundraising.
Increase transparency about elected representatives, including providing access to financial data about political campaigns as well as the financial interests of party representatives.
Ensure that broader segments of society are franchised and engaged, with a particular focus on women and young people. Consider strengthening civic education and lowering the voting age.
Civil society
Engage with political parties to translate public pressure into policies, and engage with the legislative and executive branches of government through political parties.
Call for more transparency and constructive democratic debate.

7. Crisis of representation
Delivering results
Restoring citizens’ sense of inclusion
Responding to populism
Adapting to new ways of interacting

8. Resilient responses of political parties
Focusing on real issues
Addressing policy challenges without compromising ideology
Democratizing decision-making
Restoring trust

9. Online version available https://www.idea.int/gsod/
Link to Online Publication website
Online version available