“Is hybrid democracy more inclusive?” was the key question in the laboratory of ideas (LAB), sponsored by the Congress and held in Strasbourg on 9 November 2017, at the World Forum for Democracy. This LAB, which was chaired by Gunn Marit HELGESEN (Norway, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress, discussed three ground-breaking initiatives with regard to participatory tools and the way in which they supplement representative democracy: #ForzaNazzjonali, in Malta, POP: Public Opinion Platform, in France, and the Poll Town project in the United States. “Hybrid democracy offers new prospects and challenges us. We must take an interest in new technologies and make better use of the opportunities they offer, in particular with a view to involving young people in decision-making processes” said Gunn Marit HELGESEN as she brought the LAB to a close.

• More information on LAB1
• Forum website
• Flickr Gallery

The Congress will sponsor two “labs” during the World Forum for Democracy, focusing on the question “Is Populism a Problem?”, to be held in Strasbourg from 8 to 10 November. Gunn Marit HELGESEN (Norway, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions, will moderate the Lab entitled “Is hybrid democracy more inclusive?”. Ms HELGESEN will also speak during the Lab on corruption and populism while Luc MARTENS (Belgium, EPP/CCE), will contribute to the session on “Antidotes to populism: connecting people and politics”. Among the other Congress members who will be taking part in the Forum are Clemens LAMMERSKITTEN (Germany, EPP/CCE), Vice-President of the Congress, Anna MAGYAR (Hungary, EPP-CCE) and Rosaleen O'GRADY (Ireland, ILDG).

Photos Flickr - LAB1 and LAB8

Forum programme

Forum website

Participation of the Congress in the WFD

LAB8 at the World Forum for Democracy on the link between corruption and populism highlighted the role of citizen watchdogs in combating these two ills. For instance, the Vouliwatch project in Greece has developed an interactive online monitoring platform aimed at facilitating citizen control over the legislative process.  It is a monitoring tool which records all votes in the Greek parliament and breaks down legislation in layman’s terms.  In Chile, the Partidos Públicos project provides citizens with information about how political parties operate, with this means of pressure pushing them to be more transparent.  The holding of simultaneous political mandates in Belgium is monitored by Cumuleo.be, which publishes details of the mandates and also the functions and public or private professions exercised by political representatives and certain senior Belgian officials.  This is a means of highlighting the accumulation of mandates and, above all, combating conflicts of interest. “Citizen monitoring is a real opportunity for consolidating democratic participation,” said Gunn Marit HELGESEN (Norway, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress, during the debate.  “Active and vigilant electorates are the backbone of all democracies,” she stressed.  The President of the Chamber of Regions also underlined the complementary nature of the monitoring performed by the media and by citizens, who contribute to the transparency of politics with different approaches and resources.  “We must all fight corruption and be more open.  That is the way to earn public trust, which is a vital asset for our countries’ development,” she said in conclusion, while pointing out that this requirement also had to be complied with by the initiatives seeking to ensure more transparent and open access.

LAB8 was sponsored by the Congress as part of its contribution to the World Forum for Democracy being held in Strasbourg from 8 to 10 November 2017.

• More information on LAB8
• Forum website
• Participation of the Congress in the WFD

The 2017 World Forum for Democracy (WFD) will be held in Strasbourg on 8-10 November. This year, the role of political parties and the media in the context of rising populism will be at the centre of discussion, with themes such as “From democracy of parties to democracy of citizens?” and “Media - friend or foe of democracy?”. Debates will focus, among others, on how to counter populism and foster pluralism in online media rather than extremism and polarisation. Public and private organisations, as well as local and regional authorities worldwide are invited to express their interest in presenting their ideas by filling in the Submission of initiative in the Call for submissions document below and sending it to [email protected] by 30 April 2017. 

Call for submissions
Concept paper
World forum for Democracy - website