Democracy Without Borders

“Back to basics” offers a misleading vision for the UN, argues Ronny Patz. Its mandate was always broad. Today’s challenges call for bolder ideas. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45798/back-t...

Global citizenship education should cultivate ethical consciousness, critical reflection and responsibility towards others and our shared planet, argues Emiliano Bosio www.democracywithoutborders.org/45660/

For now, international organizations have largely maintained their output and formal openness to civil society. But those with fewer democratic member states show signs of decline. The full impact of autocratization may still lie ahead, researchers find. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45626/

The UN Human Rights Council depends on civil society to function, Inés Pousadela & Samuel King of @civicusalliance.bsky.social argue. With structural reform out of reach, states must improve access and protect activists from reprisals. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45571/

On the 90th anniversary of his birth, Democracy Without Borders remembers Vaclav Havel, dissident & first president of the Czech Republic. He confronted dictatorship & promoted the vision of a new, democratic United Nations at the UN's Millennium Summit 2000. www.unpacampaign.org/statements/v...

Global governance reforms focus on equality among states. Accountability gets little attention, while civil society participation is under pressure. Researchers warn that reduced participation weakens international institutions. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45509/

Democracy needs to be anchored in any Post-2030 UN development framework a commission convened by the Club de Madrid says in a report on international support for democracy among other proposals. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45318/

According to latest data, 2025 marked the 11th consecutive year in which more countries saw democratic decline than improvement. In the United States important categories such as Effective Parliament are at the lowest levels since the dataset begins in 1975. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45247/

Human rights & democracy should be at the core of the UN development agenda post-2030, a new Human Rights Foundation report says. CIVICUS also warns of weak accountability. A UN Parliamentary Assembly could help strengthen oversight in a new framework. www.democracywithoutborders.org/45205/

A survey commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation finds that people in 34 countries continue to support international cooperation to address global challenges. Preventing wars and conflicts was a top priority: www.democracywithoutborders.org/44974/

The UN highlights the need for public participation on Democracy Day. We want that message applied within the UN itself through global citizens’ assemblies, giving people a voice on issues from climate change to AI. www.democracywithoutborders.org/44834/

15 September is the International Day of Democracy. Explore our brochure “What is democracy?” to learn about its history, universal appeal, core principles and challenges. Then test your knowledge with our online quiz! www.democracywithoutborders.org/what-is-demo...

Civil society groups call for a woman to become the next UN chief and for a transparent process. 8 candidates, including 5 women, are in the running. The appointment is expected in the final quarter of 2026 www.democracywithoutborders.org/44680/

105 citizens from +60 countries joined a Global Citizens’ Assembly on food systems and climate. Rich Wilson writes on our blog that their 22 Calls to Action are another illustration of how global citizens can provide substantive input on global issues. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43547/

Ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, this article on our blog argues that the Forum should develop into a Pacific Islands Community to strengthen democratic regional governance, coordinate security & respond better to shared regional challenges: www.democracywithoutborders.org/43507/

As UN reform efforts pick up momentum, enhancing global democratic oversight and representation deserves attention. A UN Parliamentary Assembly would help connect the UN's deliberations and decision-making more directly with citizens. Learn more about it here: www.unpacampaign.org

On 11 July, the Global Futures Forum 2026 convened by the Coalition for the UN We Need will gather in New York & online to shape civil society input on the future of the UN. We are happy to be among the partners & to support institutional UN reform. More on the forum here: 👇 c4unwn.org/gff26/

Lawmakers are backing a call by Parliamentarians for Global Action for the UN to create a Special Rapporteur on Democracy, an independent mandate to monitor democratic governance & address democratic backsliding worldwide @pga-champions.bsky.social www.democracywithoutborders.org/43363/

Civil society warns that the UN's Sustainable Development Goals are off track amid conflict, authoritarianism, shrinking civic space and attacks on human rights. A new declaration makes recommendations including setting up a UN parliamentary body. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43380/civil-...

Democracies’ approach to international cooperation rested on a quiet assumption: that democracy would keep spreading, and that global institutions would increasingly reflect liberal values. That assumption no longer holds, this article argues. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43349/how-th...

Workers’ rights are under growing pressure in many countries. The @ituc.bsky.social's 2026 global rights report warns that attacks on unions, strikes and collective bargaining are weakening democracy. The U.S. has been placed on a new watchlist. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43323/report...

UN80 reform is advancing with major cuts as the 2026 UN Secretariat budget reduces resources by over 9% and posts by 21%. Critics warn efficiency alone cannot address deeper questions of governance, participation and legitimacy. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43233/un-ref...

Former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposes a D7 format for middle power democracies to coordinate on trade, technology, defense, critical raw materials and economic security and to jointly counter authoritarian pressure, including from the United States www.democracywithoutborders.org/43199/

Global Nation’s 2026 Global Solidarity Report finds rising support for international cooperation. It tracks global citizenship identity, tax money for global problems, and enforcement power for international institutions. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43168/survey...

A poll in 98 countries shows democracy remains widely popular. Over 2/3 say it is very important to have democracy in their country. Yet pessimism about national direction is widespread, and the U.S. is now among the most negatively viewed countries worldwide. www.democracywithoutborders.org/43128/

Breaking: @accessnow.org tells @wired.com how the Chinese government pressured Zambia to cancel the world's largest digital rights conference RightsCon, which they did www.wired.com/story/the-ch...

The Zambian government's last-minute move to stop #RightsCon 2026 in Lusaka draws sharp criticism from rights groups and raises concerns over civic space and foreign influence www.democracywithoutborders.org/43063/zambia...

A Freedom House report finds that at least 54 governments have engaged in targeting dissidents abroad in 2025, in particular in Southeast Asia and East Africa. www.democracywithoutborders.org/42972/author...

Online identity checks risk becoming a dangerous slippery slope, making it easier for governments to erode anonymous speech and chill dissent under the guise of safety or accountability, argues Sarah McLaughlin www.democracywithoutborders.org/42724/its-th...

Democracies should not assume middle powers are natural allies, since many are autocracies that do not share their interests, goals, and values, Marie-Eve Desrosiers & Nic Cheeseman @fromagehomme.bsky.social argue in their new book www.democracywithoutborders.org/42637/why-mi...

Artemis II provided spectacular new images of Earth from space. Our common home is a small and precious planet suspended in the emptiness of infinite space. Instead of fighting endlessly, the human species should be cooperating at a planetary scale. www.democracywithoutborders.org/42654/artemi...

In its new Democracy Index 2025, the Economist Intelligence Unit says that global democracy has stopped worsening after eight consecutive years of decline. The report highlights the United States as a negative case. www.democracywithoutborders.org/42392/democr...

After the 8 April election, the UN's NGO Committee remains under the influence of a majority of repressive states. The body helps decide which civil society groups get access to the UN. Only 5 of the 19 newly members are rated free. www.democracywithoutborders.org/42377/

Our director Andreas Bummel argues @globalpolicy.bsky.social that the UN’s renewal requires democratic reform & investment, not austerity. He makes the case that a new UN Parliamentary Assembly can help strengthen legitimacy, oversight, & democracy: www.globalpolicyjournal.com/blog/02/03/2...

In their new annual assessment, Freedom House in Washington D.C. announced another global decline in freedom scores in 2025. The U.S., Italy, and Bulgaria in the previous year saw the sharpest declines among countries rated as “free”. www.democracywithoutborders.org/41714/

Research across 33 countries shows that short online civic education videos can boost support for democracy, improve knowledge, and reduce openness to authoritarian alternatives. www.democracywithoutborders.org/41702/

According to a new assessment by V-Dem, democracy is back at 1978 levels for the average global citizen. The gains of the third wave of democratization since the mid-1970s are almost eradicated. The U.S. is downgraded from liberal to electoral democracy. www.democracywithoutborders.org/41651/

The findings of V-Dem's 2025 global assessment of democracy are dramatic: for the average global citizen, the level is back to 1978 and the United States is no longer considered a democracy. V-Dem's report: www.v-dem.net/documents/75... Report in The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

In a world dominated by rogue big powers, Raphaël Viana David of the International Service for Human Rights argues the UN human rights system still has one last lifeline: strength in numbers through like-minded middle powers & small states www.democracywithoutborders.org/41635/

How can democracy evolve for the 21st century? Join democracy researchers Hanno Scholtz and Doina Stratu-Strelet for an online debate on 19 and 26 March 2026 on rethinking democracy and the future of citizen governance. www.democracywithoutborders.org/events/41602/

The Human Rights Foundation @hrf.org has launched a new index, the Tyranny Tracker, that looks at the performance of the world's countries & territories and classifies them as democratic, hybrid authoritarian, or fully authoritarian www.democracywithoutborders.org/40940/

Transparency International’s 2025 corruption perceptions index shows a global average score of 42 of 100 and connects low ratings to restricted civic space in the countries concerned www.democracywithoutborders.org/40659/

Today, the Trumpian Board of Peace is gathering in Washington D.C. It is not a viable model for international organization. www.democracywithoutborders.org/40334/trumps...

Oxfam, the World Inequality Report 2026 and a G20 panel warn that extreme wealth concentration is accelerating, increasing the risk of democratic erosion worldwide #inequality #democracy www.democracywithoutborders.org/40592/extrem...

Two new global risks reports by Global Challenges Foundation & World Economic Forum highlight rising global threats from planetary tipping points to geopolitical conflict & confirm the need for a new model of global cooperation www.democracywithoutborders.org/40493/

Polling shows that global solidarity is declining. Trust in global institutions depends on them delivering visible results, Anna Hope of Global Nation argues www.democracywithoutborders.org/40434/survey...

The world’s citizens are ready to support & talk about a World Parliament. Leaders need to catch up, former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou comments on our new survey on the subject which revealed 40% in favor, 27% opposed, and 33% neutral globally www.democracywithoutborders.org/40397/

Democracy Without Borders has joined a growing chorus of voices warning against Donald Trump’s newly launched Board of Peace, calling it "an unacceptable and regressive shift toward centralized power" which "blurs the line between public and private affairs." www.democracywithoutborders.org/40334/