Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. — Article 21, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
We advocate a right to democracy at all levels
It is no longer possible to limit democracy to the nation-state. Conversely, democracy can only function on a global scale if it also prospers nationally. We support an improvement and strengthening of democracy and closer collaboration of democratic countries.
All people must enjoy access to fundamental political and civil rights, in particular the right to competitive free and fair elections and political participation.
Democracy Without Borders believes that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights constitute a right to democracy at all levels of public authority, from the local to the global.
As a measure to help strengthen democracy, Democracy Without Borders supports the creation of a new mandate of the UN Human Rights Council of Special Rapporteur on Democracy.
What is democracy?
Learn here what democracy is, how it has developed over time, and the challenges it faces.
Two meanings of global democracy
Global democracy can address two things: the state of democracy across the world’s nation-states or democratization of global governance. Learn more about it here. The latter is part of our program area on global governance.
A UN Rapporteur on Democracy
Democracy Without Borders helps coordinate the campaign for the appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Democracy by the UN Human Rights Council.
An Alliance of Democracies
Democracy Without Borders supports the creation of an Alliance of Democracies following these principles and proposals.
The sudden suspension of U.S. foreign aid under President Donald Trump has triggered a global humanitarian crisis. To be clear, a US court has held that the abrupt shuttering of
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index 2024, published recently, presents a complex picture of the state of democracy worldwide in the previous year. Covering 165 independent states and two
This guest article provides a preview of the upcoming book “Authoritarians in the Academy: How the Internationalization of Higher Education and Borderless Censorship Threaten Free Speech”