Democracy IDEAs

In this episode of Democracy IDEAs, Amanda Sourek sits down with Ambassador Lauri Voionmaa, Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations for a timely conversation on the role of democracy in today’s multilateral system. As global tensions challenge the foundations of international cooperation, Ambassador Voionmaa shares Finland’s perspective on defending democratic values at th...

In this episode of Democracy IDEAs , Amanda Sourek speaks with Ambassador Maritza Chan, Costa Rica’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a leading voice on gender equality, disarmament, and AI governance.  Ambassador Chan reflects on her historic leadership roles, Costa Rica’s principled multilateral engagement, and the future of Women, Peace and Security in the digital era.  From a...

In this episode, Sharon Pia Hickey Programme Officer at International IDEA’s Constitution-Building and Climate Change and Democracy programmes speaks with Thai lawyer Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, Executive Coordinator, and Co-Founder of Community Resources Centre Foundation about the landscape of climate and environmental litigation in Thailand.  Drawing on her experience with cases focusing on extrac...

There are many lessons to be learned from what collectively came to be known as the 'Supercycle Election Year' of 2024. Together with the European Partnership of Democracy (EPD), International IDEA have published the report ‘The Election Year 2024 and Tech Policy around the World’ , which identifies key features and gaps in tech policy around the world with implications for democracy to...

Christina Voigt is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo and Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law.  In this podcast episode, she discusses the concept of climate justice, the evolving legal landscape around climate change, and the role of international courts therein, with Sharon Hickey, Program Officer with the Climate Change and Democracy and Constitutional Governance and...

The regulatory landscape surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Latin America is evolving rapidly, and with it, the role of AI in elections is also changing. The issues of AI-amplified disinformation and political polarization have become top priorities throughout the electoral cycle. However,  addressing these challenges is placing an immense strain on governments and electoral institutions...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is spreading to all corners of the world, but its impact varies wildly between the contexts in which it's developed and deployed. If considerations are not made for how AI might interact with national and regional ethics and regulation, it risks exacerbating harmful externalities for already marginalized groups, democratic institutions, and the environment. In thi...

What do parliamentary buildings really say about democracy? Are they open, welcoming spaces for citizens - or distant symbols of power? This special podcast episode launches the fourth guide “Parliament as a Space and Place” - in a series of eight Citizen Engagement Guide s, by Inter Pares - Parliaments in Partnership, which is implemented by International IDEA and in collaboration with the Intern...

This is the fourth and final episode in a podcast series featuring LEGITIMULT a project that examines how measures taken during the Covid-19 crisis by international, national, and subnational governments have affected multilevel institutions and intergovernmental relations. The aim of the research is to develop a model of legitimate crisis governance.  In this episode, we focus on the citizen juri...

The digitalization of political campaigning has transformed the ways in which political parties and candidates interact with voters. While offering new avenues for political engagement and outreach, digital campaigning also raises critical regulatory and transparency challenges—ranging from opaque online advertising, third-party influence, and data-driven microtargeting to foreign interference.  I...

This is the third of a podcast series featuring LEGITIMULT, its findings and tools for addressing and solving future crises. This episode builds “ Lessons from Covid-19 – Journalism in a Post-Pandemic Future ” media workshop (more details below), and delves into the topic of crisis reporting. The conversation highlights the media’s dual role in both informing the public and holding those in power...

Frank Biermann is a research professor of Global Sustainability Governance with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. He discusses with International IDEA Communications Director Alistair Scrutton ideas about how to tackle the planetary crisis in the face of rising unilateralism, authoritarianism, and anti-environmentalism. Background reading: The Earth System...

In this episode of Peer-to-Peer, we speak to Saket Ambarkhane about the impacts of natural hzards on Indian elections and the growing concern over the effects of climate change on future elections. With Ambarkhane, we explore how different events, such as the heatwaves during the 2024 election, impacted various steps of the electoral process like campaigning, polling day, and voter turnout. Ambark...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing in the sphere of electoral administration, still its impact has yet to be fully understood. What lessons on electoral AI from the 2024 Supercycle election year can we bring into 2025? How might Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) plan to incorporate AI into their work and what consequences would this have for democracy? In this podcast episode, Juliane Müller...

A pesar de los avances en la representación política de las mujeres en América Latina, persisten desafíos significativos, como la violencia de género en la política.  En esta conversación con Marcela Ríos Tobar, directora regional de IDEA Internacional para América Latina y El Caribe, exploramos hallazgos, repercusión y recomendaciones para hacer frente a este problema que a veces se trivializa o...

International IDEA's Outreach and United Nations Liaison Officer, Amanda Sourek, talked to Ambassador Bob Rae, who serves as the 80th President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and has been the Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN since 2020.  Bob Rae discussed the role of youth in politics, the deadlock in the Security Council, the crisis in Myanmar, Russia's wa...

Sandrine Dixson-Declève , Honorary President of the Club of Roam and co-author of Earth For All: A Survival Guide for Humanity’ has gathered the knowledge of an international team of scientists, economic thinkers, and multidisciplinary experts, to five extraordinary turnarounds to achieve wellbeing and prosperity for all, reduce social tension and ensure strong democracies within planetary boundar...

An interview with Luisa Neubauer, a German climate campaigner who is using both the courts and civic groups to push authorities to take climate policy more seriously. Access International IDEA's databases, reports and initiatives on Climate Change and Democracy: https://www.idea.int/theme/climate-change-and-democracy 

This is the second of a three-episode series featuring LEGITIMULT, its findings and tools for addressing and solving future crises.  Drawing from the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic the LEGITIMULT (Legitimate Crisis Governance in Multilevel Systems) project  aims to identify a model of political legitimate crisis governance that takes into account the interplay between international, national, re...

On the sidelines of the launch of IDEA’s latest report on climate assemblies in the Global South, Billie Phillips spoke to Dr Sanskriti Menon about the power of citizen assemblies as a tool of public participation in governance  and her experience working with assemblies in both rural and urban communities in India.  Guest: Dr Sanskriti Menon Background Reading:  “We need a new story of deliberati...

In this episode, Yukihiko Hamada, Programme Manager for Money in Politics, is joined by Dr. Sam Power and Dr. Wouter Wolfs to discuss how political finance shapes the political and electoral landscape in the EU and the UK. In this in-depth conversation on the influence of money in democracy, they dive into the challenges of third-party spending, online campaign finance, and the role emerging techn...

In this episode of Peer-to-Peer , we speak with Alice Hill and Erik Asplund to explore how extreme weather, intensified by climate change, impacts elections and disenfranchises voters. Alice and Erik share their insights on the challenges disasters pose to voting, the role of climate change in increasing the frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events, and how natural hazards are already...

The influence of money in Indian politics has long been a subject of debate, with concerns over its impact on democracy, governance, and the political landscape. In this episode, Khushbu Agrawal speaks to Milan Vaishnav, exploring this nexus in India, where money is the currency of power. From the soaring costs of elections to the criminalization of politics, this episode uncovers how financial po...

The world-renowned elections expert, Professor Pippa Norris, talks to International IDEA's Head of Communications Alistair Scrutton, and to Dr Seema Shah, Head of International IDEA's Democracy Assessment Unit, about the importance of electoral integrity and public perceptions of the credibility of elections around the world.  Read the #GlobalStateofDemocracy 2024 Report: https://www.ide...

Democracy is on trial in the climate crisis. It is charged with having failed—and with continuing to fail—to prevent dangerous climate change. It is indicted on a fundamental breach of a key obligation of legitimate government—to ensure the safety and survival of the people to whom democracies owe their allegiance.” Based on the report Climate Change and Democracy Insights from Asia and the Pacifi...