Launch of Inaugural Democracy Photo Challenge
The Department of State and its partners are expanding the global Democracy is… conversation on July 7 with the launch of the inaugural Democracy Photo Challenge. The contest asks people around the world to complete the phrase “Democracy is…” through digital photos submitted online. The Democracy is conversation leverages social networks and creative challenges to [...]
Twitter Contest Challenges the World to Define Democracy
More than 1,400 contestants give personal definitions to “Democracy is….”
Can you define democracy in just 140 characters?
More than 1,400 people worldwide took up that challenge in a unique contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of State using Twitter. They were required to tweet their personal definitions of what democracy is using the hash symbol: #democracyis.
The [...]
More than Elections: How Democracies Transfer Power
The 1960 presidential election was among the most closely fought in U.S. history. So close that supporters of Vice President Richard M. Nixon urged him to challenge the results. Nixon declined. “Even if we were to win in the end,” he explained, “the cost in world opinion and the effect on democracy in the broadest [...]
Ingredients of a Resilient Democracy
Democratic elections require more than the casting and counting of ballots. In a healthy democracy, elections hold governments accountable to the governed. This happens when:
• Citizens are free to select their political representatives.
• Citizens can choose among candidates seeking their support.
• Officeholders must be re-elected to retain their positions after a specified interval. They face [...]
The Lasting Impact of Digital Media on Civil Society
New information technologies are profoundly reshaping political culture. Twenty-first–century civil society relies upon the Internet and other communication devices for its infrastructure, and for a digital “safe harbor” in which civic conversations can incubate. This is especially true in countries where the national print and broadcast media are heavily censored. In short, technology has empowered [...]
How a Partially Free Election Altered Poland
The famous image of Hollywood star Gary Cooper from the 1952 western “High Noon” was used during the Polish elections of June 1989, with Cooper sporting a “Solidarity” badge in his lapel. But the true hero in the election, which brought down Poland’s Communist regime, was not a town sheriff killing the bad guys, but [...]
Authoritarian Rule to European Union: Romania and Moldova
Since the demise of communism in the Soviet Union and its East European satellite states, those nations have established democracy at different paces and with varying degrees of success. One means to explore the reasons for this divergence, and to learn more about the conditions in which democracy thrives, is to study how comparable nations [...]
Serbian Autumn” Delayed: A Lesson in Uncivil Democracy-Building
Autumn is often a risky time of the year for Serbian leaders. Faced with a bitterly cold Balkan winter and frustrated by personal and economic hardships, Serbs tend to look for change. In the last days of September 1987, Slobodan Milosevic ousted his longtime mentor Ivan Stambolic and changed the course of Balkan history. Mindful [...]
Democracy
Your Voice, Your Video
Create a video short that completes the phrase “Democracy is…”
The Prize
An all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood.
Gala screenings of the winning videos in Hollywood, New York and Washington
Exposure to filmmakers and the U.S. film [...]
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