Where's the demos in demOcracy?

"Engagement in democratic spaces can generate a sense of rights and citizenship, build practical experience with participatory processes and collective action, and generate alternative visions for those who are often marginalised from decision-making. These are important prerequisites for maintaining or strengthening democratic resilience within society."

"Informal mobilisation in claimed spaces at scale has led to the realisation of new rights and recognition for women and minorities in diverse contexts, including through grass-roots mobilisation and social movements."

"Whereas authoritarians can use technology to silence citizens’ voices, citizens can and do respond by building digital citizenship. This can be a powerful tool for uniting citizens to confront injustice. An additional strand of action is for more nationally relevant research on surveillance."

"Even in challenging political environments, bottom-up, self-organised civil society organisations (CSOs) and movements offer an avenue for citizens to learn about their rights and to gain the confidence and skills needed for mobilising, interacting with public authorities, and participating in decision-making processes."

"How can dialogue be established between opposing groups? Civil society actors can play an important role in facilitating such dialogues, given their vast experience with organising inclusive dialogue and exercises in deliberative democracy."

"Social accountability includes mechanisms such as citizen juries, citizen assemblies, and community report cards, through which citizens directly demand accountability from providers. Other examples highlight citizens’ pivotal role in accountability through vertical aggregation, where local people escalated their service claims to higher authorities."

"Citizen engagement in political processes is shaped not just by the nature of formal institutions but also by informal institutions and authorities that lie wholly or partly outside formal state structures and take on various governance-related functions."

"Cuts to governance and democracy aid will weaken the ability of many civil society actors to expand efforts that support democratic resilience, at a time when democracy and human rights advocates already face growing legal restrictions in many countries."