07 December 2012
www.democracy-international.org
Content:
- Impressions from South America –
Interview with Dr. Klaus Hoffmann
- Speech : "Citoyens indignés,
réclamez la démocratie directe!"
- Montevideo Declaration on Modern
Direct Democracy
- Book Review: “Intelligent
Governance for the 21st Century”
Dear members and friends of Democracy
International,
Yesterday, on the day of Santa
Clause, my colleague Dr. Klaus Hofmann arrived back in
our office after travelling Ecuador, Peru, Chile,
Uruguay and Brazil for two months. He visited South
America to learn about the current state of politics and
direct democracy in these countries.
On a European scale and for a much
shorter time, I am back from a three-day-conference in
Toulouse, France. There I was the only one who spoke out
for direct democracy, while others talked about
representative democracy during the crisis and citizens’
inclusion in the budgetary planning of municipalities in
France, Germany and Great Britain. The conference on
“Democracy and Participation” was organized by the
Goethe-Institut of Toulouse.
The conference demonstrated that the
topic of “participation” is en vogue at the moment,
though this does not necessarily mean more direct
democracy. In Europe there need to be more bottom-up
initiatives of direct democracy, this is also one of the
conclusions Klaus Hofmann drew from his journey through
South America.
All this shows the importance of
steering our ideas into the mainstream of political
thinking and to continue our work in 2013. In the
meantime the board and staff of Democracy International
wish you a good Christmas time and peaceful festivities.
Best regards,
Cora Pfafferott
1. Impressions from South
America - Interview with Dr. Hofmann
From 28 September until 29 November
2012 Dr. Klaus Hofmann, editor of the Direct Democracy
Navigator, travelled South America to learn about the
political practice in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and
Brazil. On the first day of his return, we have asked
him about the experiences that he made.
http://www.democracy-international.org/interview-klaus-hofmann.html
2. "Citoyens indignés,
réclamez la démocratie directe!"
On Friday, 30 November, our
spokesperson Cora Pfafferott participated in a panel
discussion on the topic “Social protests in the 21st
century” at the Goethe-Institut in Toulouse, France. The
other guests on the panel were the Tunisian human rights
defender Sihem Bensedrine and the Spanish journalist of
El Páis, José María Martí Font. Here you can read her
speech.
http://www.democracy-international.org/presentation-toulouse.html
3. Montevideo Declaration on
Modern Direct Democracy
From 14 to 16 November people from
all walks of life and from all corners of the world met
at the 2012 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy in
Montevideo, Uruguay. Scholars, journalists, activists,
petition and initiative organizers, philanthropists,
elected officials, election administrators, NGO leaders,
lawyers, businesspeople and farmers attended the
three-day-long conference.
http://www.democracy-international.org/declaration-globalforum2012.html
4. Book Review: “Intelligent
Governance for the 21st Century”
On Thursday, 8th November 2012,
Maureen Childs, a London UK and member of Democracy
International, attended a talk given by Nicolas
Berggruen and Nathan Gardels, at the RSA in London,
entitled 'How to Govern Intelligently in the 21st
century'.
http://www.democracy-international.org/review-intelligentgovernance.html
Imprint:
Cora Pfafferott
Democracy International
+49 (0) 2203 102 14 75
+49 (0) 2203 59 28 62 (Fax)
pfafferott(at)democracy-international.org
Friedrich-Ebert-Ufer 52
51143 Cologne
Germany
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Amtsgericht Köln: VR-Nr. 17139
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