International Democracy Day: Taking Stock
Every day is democracy day at COVID-DEM, but once a year democrats worldwide mark International Day of Democracy. In 2007, when this global event was launched by the UN General Assembly, the world was in a much different place. Democracies worldwide faced many challenges, but we had not fully entered the current era of ascendant autocrats and now global pandemic - or the smartphone, social media, and fake news revolutions, for that matter.
Today, marking our second Democracy Day since Covid appeared, it's easy to idealise a very imperfect past. Indeed, Lea Hayne offers that, for all our challenges, "the golden age of democracy is now". In many ways, Covid has galvanised reformers and hardened their resolve to achieve governance that more fully delivers on liberal-democracy's promises. As Hayne puts it, "Only a continuous effort will make sure that the democratic waves remain more powerful than the illiberal waves, and that the real 'golden age of democracy' still lies in the future."
In today's update we're highlighting:
- Democracy Day Message from the UN Secretary-General
- Democracy Day Webinars worldwide
- WFD Briefing Paper on Africa's lessons for elections in future pandemics
- New analyses of Covid-19 and the need to fix Australian democracy
- New analyses of Brazil's recent pro-Bolsonaro protests
- Additional items in the Policy Hub
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⚡ International Day of Democracy 2021
As the world faces what comes after the worst of the pandemic (bearing in mind stark global inequalities and experiences of Covid), the watchword is resilience. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres puts it: "As the world struggles to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating consequences, we must learn from the lessons of the past 18 months to strengthen democratic resilience in the face of future crises. This means identifying and developing good governance practices in situations of emergency – whether public health, environmental or financial."
UNITED NATIONS, ‘The Secretary-General’s Message on the International Day of Democracy 2021’ (13 September 2021)
Webinars:
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⚡ WFD Briefing Paper: Elections in Future Pandemics
Elections have no doubt been impacted by the pandemic. Many have been postponed or cancelled, while others were conducted in highly restrictive environments, rendering them neither fair nor free. COVID-19 will certainly not be the last pandemic the world has seen, which highlights the importance of planning ahead in order to ensure greater preparedness for the next outbreak.
A new Briefing Paper issued by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) provides evidence-based recommendations for mitigating risks before and during future crises, including crisis preparation and effective crisis responses. Based on data from the ‘African Elections during the COVID-19 Pandemic’ project, the recommendations focus on reducing the impact of future pandemics and other emergencies on elections.
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⚡ Australia: We Need a Democracy Fix
Beset by lockdowns, federal in-fighting, and democratic weaknesses worsened by Covid, people across Australia are turning their thoughts toward the big fixes needed to renew the democratic system, while others worry that fear is prompting the usual supporters of democracy and human rights to turn inward and support government excesses.
- Op-Ed Tom DALY, 'Australia Needs a Democracy Fix' Pursuit (14 September 2021)
- Policy: PRO BONO AUSTRALIA, ‘Australia’s COVID response could be undermining democracy. Why is civil society staying silent?’ (13 September 2021)
- Media: ABC RELIGION & ETHICS, 'Government responses to COVID-19 are undermining our democratic commitments — why have progressives remained silent?' (1 September 2021)
There is also the matter of a looming federal election. With an already bungled vaccine rollout, is the Australian Government unnecessarily locking itself into a COVID-19 recovery strategy that may need to be revised? Can the Morrison government still do enough to shore up its electoral fortunes? Listen here:
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⚡ The Fight for Brazilian Democracy - an Uphill Battle
Last Tuesday on Brazil's Independence Day, President Jair Bolsonaro, beleaguered by declining poll numbers, a sputtering economy and judicial investigations, called on his supporters to rally against the country's Supreme Court. Even with his government’s failure to lead an effective and universal campaign to combat COVID-19, he claims “the people” are still with him.
"The final result looked like a stalemate — an outcome that significantly raises tensions in Brazil’s long-running political crisis, but gives neither side a definitive advantage." Oliver Stuenkel offers five reasons why:
- OLIVER STUENKEL, ‘Stalemate: The Main Outcome of Bolsonaro’s Day of Protest’ Americas Quarterly (8 September 2021)
See also:
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⚡ Key Additional Updates on COVID-DEM
COVID-DEM is updated daily - here are a number of additional updates:
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⚡ Thank You to Our Team - and You can Join Us, Too!
Keeping COVID-DEM updated is no small task, and we are so lucky to have such a dedicated team who take such care, week after week. We're currently reviewing the latest batch of applications, so feel free to apply using this form.
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COVID-DEM is You
Every day we work with people worldwide to build this platform for improving our understanding of how the pandemic is challenging democracy, and the many ways we can defend and improve our democracies.
Our sincere thanks to every one of you who has helped us to build COVID-DEM into what it is today. Don't hesitate to send us your work and suggestions, to democraticdecay@gmail.com or through our online form.
Dr Tom Gerald Daly
Director, DEM-DEC
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Tom is the creator and Director of DEM-DEC and an academic and consultant in the area of public law, human rights, and democracy-building. Find out more here.
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