Promoting Democracy Policy and Practice

boekje Bevordering vd democr_eng 10-02-2006 17:16 Pagina 1
Promoting democracy
An international exploration of policy and implementation practice
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Imprint
Published by
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
Department of Constitutional Matters and Legislation
Author
Eva Wisse
Democracy Programme
Cover design
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
Department of Communications and Public information
Layout and printing

Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties
Department of Communications and Public Information
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Contents
Acknowledgements 7
Summary 9
I Introduction 11
Terms of reference 11
Working method and explanation 11
Structure 14
II Policy practices per country 15
Australia 15
Introduction 15
1 Civics and Citizenship 15
2 Teaching in the Primary school 18
Canada 21
Introduction 21
3 The Democracy Canada Institute 21
4 The Parliamentary Center 21
5 Elections Canada 22
6 Canada World Youth 22
United States 25
Introduction 25
7 Center for Civic Education 26
8 American Democracy Project 26
9 Youth’04.org 27
10 The Kettering Foundation 28
More projects 29
Denmark and Norway 31

Introduction 31
11 Brevstemmeafgivning 31
12 The Youth Parliament 2005 32
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Germany 35
Introduction 35
13 Modern State, Modern Administration 35
14 E-democracy, Call Centre and Open House 35
15 Bundesnetzwerk über Burgerschaftliches Engagement 36
16 Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung 37
17 Werkstatt für Demokratie 37
18 Workshop for journalists 38
Sweden 39
Introduction 39
The programmes 39
19 Elections Act 40
20 Time for Democracy 40
21 Political representatives 41
22 Participation between elections 43
23 Equal Participation 45
Finland 49
24 Citizen Participation Programme 49
25 Hear The Citizens – Draft Wisely 51
26 Citizenship education 52
27 Social activity 52
28 Representative democracy 53
United Kingdom 55
Introduction 55
29 The Electoral Commission 55
30 Gender and Political Participation 56
31 Securing the Vote 57
32 Youth Voting Network 57
33 Institute for Citizenship 59
34 Citizenship foundation 62
35 The funding of political parties 63
36 Conclusion: the plans up to 2009 64
Austria 65
Introduction 65
37 Politische Bildung 65
38 E-Government and cyberdemocracy 66
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Switzerland 69
39 Size and Democracy 69
Italy 73
Introduction 73
40 Art. 118.4 of the Constitution 73
41 Cittadinanzattiva 74
South Korea 75
Introduction 75
42 Participating in political parties 75
43 Removing obstacles that reduce access to politics 76
44 Reducing exclusion: integration and inclusivity 76
45 Transparent politics 77
Spain 79
Introduction 79
46 Hablamos De Europa 79
47 EMSI 79
Portugal 81
Introduction 81
48 Young People’s Parliament 81
Japan 83
Introduction 83
49 Towards a Cohesive Society, 2001 83
50 Youth Development Plan 83
51 Save and Peaceful National Life 84
New Zealand 85
Introduction 85
52 Young people 85
- Hands Up! – Teacher resource 85
- Wallace Awards 86
- Youth Law sponsorship 86
53 Journalists 86
54 Education and information for everyone 86
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Belgium 89
55 Introduction: King Baudouin Foundation 89
56 Media 89
57 Democracy Portal 90
58 Voluntary work 91
III Analysis 93
A Introduction 93
B Democratic Structure 93
- Introduction 93
- Analysis of policy practices 94
- Conclusions with regard to democratic structure 96
C Political Representation 97
- Introduction 97
- Conclusions with regard to political representation 100
D Civil Society 101
- Introduction 101
- Conclusions with regard to civil society 103
E Citizenship 104
- Introduction 104
- Conclusions with regard to citizenship 107
IV Conclusions 109
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all those who assisted in this study. The Dutch embassies in
the eighteen countries made a major contribution to this analysis. Their employees
gave tips about useful websites and the right people to contact at the various
government bodies. Employees in other embassies contacted the relevant persons
themselves, which considerably simplified the process of finding the right information.
But the overwhelming majority of the embassies supported the study in an even
more intensive manner and went looking for the information themselves, maintaining
contact with the researcher and the relevant contact persons in the country to be
studied.
In a number of the countries studied, members of the Public Governance
Committee of the OECD who came from the countries in question were contacted.
Ms Hvas and Mr Christensen in Denmark, Ms Santi in Canada, Ms Tacy in Australia,
Mr Moog and Ms Brevern in Germany, Mr Dahlberg in Sweden, Ms Schollum and
Mr Northcote in New Zealand and Ms Cohen in the United States helped with the
study by contacting others and looking for the requested information. I am very
grateful to them, as well as to Mr Koos Roest who asked the aforementioned
colleagues to give their assistance to the study.
During the investigation into the various countries, the employees of the Dutch
Centre for Political Participation (IPP) were contacted on a number of occasions
and made their network available. Much of the information from social organisations
in the respective countries was obtained as a result of contact with the IPP.
There were also many colleagues abroad who willingly made their information
available for the study. These include employees of IDEA (international),
Cittadinanzattiva and Lega Nord in Italy, the Danish Parliament, the Australian
Public Service Commission in Australia and the Electoral Commission in Great
Britain.
I would also like to thank all those persons at ministries abroad, social organisations
abroad and at the Dutch embassies who have not been named above but who did
contribute to the study. Almost everyone approached for the study was prepared to
free up time in often very busy schedules to help complete this study. This has
been a very pleasant surprise.
Eva Wisse
January 2006
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Summary
This study deals with policy (programmes) and legislation aimed at promoting
constitutional democracy. This study is based on two questions. Firstly: ‘what is
needed to make a democracy robust and sustainable?’ and secondly: ‘what
solutions found by other countries may also prove to be solutions for the
Netherlands?’ Section II looks at the policy practices which have been or will be
initiated in eighteen countries. This gives an overview of 58 (policy) practices which
are all geared towards a specific problem which is being experienced not only in the
Netherlands but also in the other thriving, more established democracies. This
problem relates to the decreasing involvement of citizens in politics and society
and declining confidence in public and political institutions. This problem is often
referred to as ‘the gap between citizens and their government’ or ‘the gap between
voters and elected representatives’.
Information from the eighteen countries offers an overview of policy programmes

to promote democracy in these countries. Various practices focus on strengthening
the government, the political party or the elected representatives of the people.
Other practices are more geared towards improving the interaction between the
government and society. Finally, there are also practices which are aimed purely at
the citizen and strive to turn him or her into a socially and politically involved
citizen. Such a citizen can actively contribute to reducing the so-called gap.
All practices are aimed at increasing the efficiency and sustainability of democracy,
but it is of course difficult to say whether this actually happens. Section III attempts
to assess the usefulness of each practice for the Netherlands, with the caveat,
however, that it is not possible to make hard and fast judgements about the
anticipated success of such practices in the Netherlands on the basis of this study.
A general conclusion is that the study supports the assumption that a sustainable
and robust democracy is a ‘long-term affair’ and requires positive incentives at
various points in society.
Furthermore, policy aimed at promoting democracy often targets children and
young people in particular. In addition to the various initiatives that focus on
children in general, such as a youth council or a youth parliament, education is
in many countries a key instrument for preparing all citizens for their democratic
tasks. Since democracy is, in various countries, regarded as something that takes
time to become sustainable, it is not surprising that so much attention is focused
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on education. As part of ‘lifelong learning’, in some countries all (secondary)

schools are equipped with a teaching package for citizenship education and/or
political education.
Finally, most countries have a different focus to the Netherlands. In many other
countries, the emphasis is placed heavily on society and the citizen. It appears that
other countries act in another way to promote democratic citizenship. The concept
of strengthening the democratic structure does recur on a regular basis, but only a
few countries see this as the only subject of policy in relation to promoting demo-
cracy. Usually, attempts are made to strengthen democracy ‘from the bottom up’,
by means of close cooperation with civil society organisations which also have the
aim of promoting democracy.
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I Introduction
In order to develop the Democracy programme, the Ministry of the Interior and
Kingdom Relations needed a picture of the current situation in the other OECD
countries. The Democracy programme has the aim of establishing and
implementing a coherent programme based on the theme “Living Democracy”.
The idea behind this international study is that by exploring the activities in other
countries, we can formulate answers to a number of open questions within the
Democracy Programme. One of the questions is what is needed to make a
democracy robust and sustainable. This investigation into the activities in other
countries in the area of ‘living democracy’, the democracy of the citizen, offers the
Netherlands insight into the various possibilities and the opportunity to learn from
other countries’ experiences. The study not only discusses all kinds of creative and
well thought-out foreign initiatives, but also offers insight into what is possible and
impossible in relation to democracy in general.
Terms of reference
This study deals with (policy) programmes and legislation aimed at promoting
the democratic constitutional state in other countries with a democratic tradition.
The point of departure is that the problems in our democracy are not unique and
that other (comparable) countries have experience and knowledge in this area.
In other words, we can learn from and be inspired by the experiences of other
countries. Furthermore, this study also fits in with a modern approach to policy
development.
Working method and explanation
The study was carried out in four phases. Phase 1 involved placing the subject to
be investigated within a framework. The two questions underlying the study are
‘what is needed to make a democracy robust and sustainable?’ and ‘ what solutions
found by other countries may also prove to be solutions for the Netherlands?’.
Eighteen countries were studied, with the same question being asked of each,
namely ‘what is your country doing to make your democracy robust?’. The countries
are all OECD countries. They correspond to the Netherlands in two ways which are
of importance for this study. Firstly, they are wealthy, and secondly, they have been
democracies for a long time. These two factors ensure that there is some similarity
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with the Netherlands, which means that it is reasonable to assume that the
Netherlands can learn from the countries in question how to promote
constitutional democracy.
The following countries were studied: Australia; Canada; the United States;
Denmark; Norway; Germany; Sweden; Finland; the United Kingdom; Austria;
Switzerland; Italy; Spain; South Korea; Portugal; Japan; New Zealand; and Belgium.
The order in which the countries were studied does have some significance. It was
expected that the first category (up to Sweden) would provide the most relevant
and interesting practices. These are all countries which have a long democratic
history, are wealthy and have a highly developed public administration. It has been
assumed that these countries are very similar to the Netherlands, which may
increase the possibility of good, suitable examples of policy. The other countries
were added because, on the one hand, they have certain similarities with the
Netherlands, but on the other, they deviate in the area of political culture, the age
of the democracy or the proportion of direct and indirect democratic instruments
available to the citizen.
This study is based on a number of basic assumptions about the problems in the
various countries. The literature scan carried out prior to this study and informal
contact with OECD representatives indicated that many countries, like the Nether-
lands, are experiencing a decline in political participation by citizens, decreasing
involvement in social problems and reduced levels of confidence in the public
administration. This set of problems was the link between all the policy practices
and also links the foreign solutions to the problems in the Netherlands.
In each country, at least two of the three sources were used. The three sources
were the Dutch embassies in the relevant countries, the members of the Public
Governance Committee of the OECD who came from the countries in question,
and social organisations belonging to the network of the Dutch Centre for Political
Participation (IPP). The (policy) practices therefore consist not only of government
programmes, but also of projects carried out by non-governmental organisations.
In many cases, however, there is a substantial collaborative arrangement between
the relevant ministry and the non-governmental organisation. A final important
additional source was the internet, with most of the relevant information being
found on the government websites.
Phase 2 involved the actual start of the study. Letters were sent to the contact
persons (by email). In some cases the request was specified in greater detail in
response to a question from a contact person. In a few cases, the embassy found
a contact person at one of the ministries, but most of the embassies went looking
for the requested information themselves. In some cases, the relevant employees
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at the embassy replied that the country did not fulfil the criteria (established,
thriving democracy), but the other sources nevertheless always led to the requested
information. It proved to be the case that attempts to promote democracy were
being made in all the countries.
The process of sorting through the information also led to a selection of practices,
on average just over three per country. This information related to legislation,
national policy, academic documents (often evaluations of policy), government
publications, publications of non-governmental organisations and, finally, websites.
During the selection process the initial question was always taken into account,
to exclude the risk that different countries would react on the basis of different
presuppositions about the requested information. To ensure the accuracy of the
method, it was very important that the Dutch problem be clearly highlighted.
In the question sent to the contact persons, reference points were given only for
the problem on which the practices had to be based, no examples were given as
these would have determined the outcomes. The question that was sent to all the
contact persons was the following (a quotation from the standard email, with the
name of the country being entered in the blank spaces):
“For …. , the question is what the government is doing to get citizens more
involved in politics and the government. Various sources have indicated that the
Netherlands, … and also the other wealthy, more established democracies are
struggling with a similar problem. This problem relates to the decline in civic
participation and social cohesion, reduced involvement and confidence in politics
and the greater distance between politics and citizens that have developed over a
number of decades. This all ultimately leads to the question of what the
Netherlands can learn from the practices of other governments, aimed at
promoting democracy. ”
Phase 3 involved analysing the information or practices received and classifying

these. The analysis led to the division of the 58 (policy) practices into four clusters,
which also represent four domains in democracy.
The four clusters are a source of both problems and solutions. The relevant
literature is briefly explained for each of the four clusters, before the policy practices
are analysed. The policy practices are then considered in the light of the theory.
The study was completed and the conclusions drawn up in phase 4. This study
does not lend itself to judgements about the chances of success for the policy
practices in the Netherlands. It is however possible to focus on the relationship
with the context of the policy and how much impact a specific p0olicy practice has.
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The evaluations of the relevant ministry are also important for assessing the policy
practices. If something does not work abroad this does not mean that the policy
practice provides useless information, instead it indicates what can be expected
with a similar approach in the Netherlands. ‘Worst practices’ may indeed be even
more useful than the ‘best practices’ from the study, since ‘to be forewarned is to
be forearmed’.
Structure
After the introduction in section I, section II deals with the results from the country
studies. The countries are dealt with in succession, with the (policy) practices set
up in that country to promote democracy. The policy practices are numbered from
1 to 58. This means that when reading section III, which contains the analysis in
which the practices are divided into four clusters, the reader can easily locate the
policy practice in section II.
Section III contains the four clusters which were highlighted by the study. This
classification was chosen so that a distinction could be made between the level
of the state (Democratic Structure (III-B) and Political Representation (III-C)) and
society (Civil Society (III-D) and Citizenship (III-E)). Section III also attempts to
answer the principal questions of the study. These are as follows: ‘what is needed
to make a democracy robust and sustainable?’ and ‘what solutions found by other
countries may also prove to be solutions for the Netherlands?’. Each cluster is dealt
with in the same way, namely with a theoretical introduction followed by an analysis
of the practices falling under the cluster and finally an interim conclusion.
Section IV contains the conclusions.
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II Policy practices per country
Australia
Introduction
The information about Australia given below was obtained from the following
sources1: a member of the Public Governance Committee of the OECD, the Dutch
Embassy and websites of the Australian government. All this ultimately led to a
great deal of information, with the project Discovering Democracy of the ‘New
South Wales Discovering Democracy Professional Development Committee’
offering the most useful material. The discussion papers about citizenship
education offer insight into the Australian government’s approach in this area.
Practice 1 is about citizenship education in general, while practice 2 focuses more
on primary education.
1 ‘Discovering democracy’; civics and citizenship education:

an Australian Perspective
Education is regarded as an important means of promoting democratic citizenship

in Australia. Civics education has been very important for a long time, with the first
five decades of the Commonwealth being the most important period. It helped
students and pupils to think about what it meant to be an Australian.
Formal civics education declined as a result of the arrival of social studies as part
of the curriculum. The social revolution of the 1960s also played a role. Prosperity
and new values made an appearance. People started to think differently about
citizenship, as well as about democracy and national identity. Nevertheless,
renewed attention was paid to citizenship education in the 1980s and 1990s.
‘Education for active citizenship’ (1989) and ‘Active citizenship revisited’ (1991)
were policy programmes of the government which revived social discussion about
this topic. A discussion paper2 investigated how citizenship could be developed
and encouraged. It was however difficult to generate support in the educational
sector.
Halfway through the 1990s it became clear, however, that young people were largely
ignorant of, and showed little interest in their role as citizens. Australia is part of a
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worldwide phenomenon where people are once again asking the fundamental
question of what it means to be a citizen. Citizenship is under discussion in other
established democracies too.
The federal government’s Civics Group (CEG) was given the task of dealing with
this problem. The report3 put citizenship on the map in the educational sector as
well. Increasing importance was also attached to the topic in the United Kingdom,
Canada, the United States, France and other countries as well. Accordingly, the
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) was
founded.
The debate was significantly boosted by the Keating government and his initiative
in respect of a new identity for Australians. It was seen as necessary for Australians
to be aware of their own government system as a step towards independence.
Australia was to become a republic and the whole nation would have to support
this, according to the government this could be achieved by citizens assuming a
new identity and becoming aware of their citizenship. This campaign was targeted
at young Australians in particular, because they were in favour of the formation of
a republic.
There was very broad consensus that it was right to educate young people to
become involved citizens by, among other things, teaching school pupils about
the history of the constitutional democracy.
The federal government allocated a large amount of money to implement the
recommendations from the report. Teachers’ skills and knowledge had to be
developed, as well as the teaching material. In 1996, the government was replaced
by a conservative coalition. This meant that citizenship initiatives were put on hold
at the federal level, with the majority of states adopting a ‘wait and see’ attitude.
The question of citizenship education has however been an important topic at
various levels of society since the 1990s and will therefore also gain a place in
Australian education.
Discovering Democracy is an adapted version of the policy by the new cabinet and
replaces CEG(1994). More importance is now attached to teaching history as the
most important cornerstone of the educational programme. Democratic values
and the constitutional state are also discussed in the teaching material. The most
important elements of Discovering Democracy are:
- the development of sufficient curriculum material for social and citizenship
education for all Australian schools;
- professional development of teachers to enable them to communicate the teaching
material;
- the installation of the Civics Expert Group which controls, supervises and directs the
process from within the federal government.
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Ev a l u a t i o n :
After the first three years of Discovering Democracy, the federal government
decided to continue for a further three years (2000-2003). It is not yet possible
to assess whether the project has been successful based on the first three years.
Teaching material was distributed to 10,000 Australian schools in 1997 and 1998
already. The reactions to the sources of the teaching material were positive in the
various states, but applying the material effectively in classes has been somewhat
problematic. An early evaluation showed that the material was being introduced in
schools slowly and to a limited extent. Some history teachers were not very positive
about the material (according to Dickson, 19984) because it was seen as too great
an interference, teachers had their own opinions about what teaching material
should look like. Adjustments (extensive professional development and the
production of sources to support teachers) which were carried out in 1999-2000
helped primary schools to put citizenship education into practice more effectively.
The Australian government is still grappling with the question of how much space
to give citizenship education in an already overfull curriculum. It can replace part
of the social studies and history subjects, but structuring this integration has proved
to be problematic.
So what should the new-style citizenship entail for Australians? Five aspects are
cited:
- Citizenship goes further than the national borders, regional and international topics
also affect the life of the citizen. (Japan offers an example of a concrete project that
was started according to this principle, the Youth Exchange Programme)
- Citizenship is important for all Australians, therefore for the cultural and ethnic
minorities and those with lower levels of education as well.
- Citizenship emphasises the rights, duties and responsibilities of each citizen.
The responsibilities of the citizen in a democratic society come to the fore in the
case of political participation and promoting the common good.
- Citizenship is based on the principles of a civil society, where every citizen
endeavours to live as he or she wishes while taking account of and ensuring the
preservation of the society and common property.
- Citizenship encourages participation for the common good, an aspect which is
expressed most strongly at the local and regional level, where people live together
in a community (an example is the ‘Clean up Australia’ campaign).
The aim is to train pupils to think about morality, ethical questions and social
justice within the framework of citizenship education and values. It is also about
learning values which will help pupils to participate in society as active and well-
informed citizens (also in an international context). Thirdly, teachers are instilling
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respect in their pupils for their own culture, including the culture of the ancestors
who are now a minority. Finally, the aim is to teach pupils that it is important, with
a view to the future, to care for the environment properly by means of sustainable
development.
School-leavers should be active and well-informed in their role of citizens and
should have knowledge of, and be interested in, the Australian government system
and society. Despite the agreement about the importance of these campaigns,
converting the policy into teaching material was not very successful. There was
criticism from the conservatives about the use of values in relation to sustainable
development and social justice in the domain of citizenship education.
As the project progressed, the people involved became more willing to implement
the policy in practice. Citizenship is now something which many Australians regard
as very important. Support for citizenship education is increasing. The following
values are central:
- democratic processes and freedoms
- public responsibility and accountability
- civilisation and respect for the law
- tolerance and respect for others
- social justice
- acceptance of cultural diversity
2 ‘Discovering democracy’; Teaching democracy in the primary

school
According to Australian policymakers, school teachers must have a strong conviction

that democracy is possible, they must believe in it. There must also be broad
consensus about the use of education in relation to democracy.
In a healthy democracy, citizens adopt a critical attitude towards the motives of
their politicians. In a democracy, there is the belief that no government is perfect,
and that no ideology has an absolute hold on the truth. Education’s task is to
ensure that citizens are critical, which means that the democracy remains healthy,
but above all
to provide the education that forms the basis for critical citizens. Citizens cannot
keep a sharp and critical eye on the government if they do not have the knowledge
to do so. Learning about other cultures is also important to instil respect and
tolerance across the whole of society.
What does ‘education in democracy’ look like? Australia is using a 2-step plan.
The basic concepts of democracy must be taught, such as basic knowledge about
democracy, political science and the underlying ideas (the history lesson goes all
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the way back to Athens). Secondly, teachers and pupils must be given the opportunity
to really experience democracy. ‘It is important to remember that ideas don’t
become knowledge except by being embodied in practice and in consequent
transformations of the self’ (Gutman 1987).5 The ethos, the function of role model
and the structure of the school also determine the degree of success.
The ‘Federal Discovering Democracy Education Program’ was allocated 17.5 million
dollars over four years to provide schools with material and for the professional
development of teachers.
The Australian democracy is envied the world over and, policymakers believe,
Australia must therefore act carefully and continue to invest money in this if it is
to retain its position as a leader in this field. The idea is that democracy will have
to face considerable challenges in the future and Australia wants to prepare for
these in the meantime. It is up to the teachers to convey the values of democracy
to the generation that will have to keep democracy healthy in such a future.
Finally, the report contains a number of ‘discussion starters’. These are questions
which should be raised when setting up a similar citizenship education
programme.
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Canada
Introduction
Contact with the Dutch Embassy in Canada led, via the website of the Canadian
government, to information about the institutions below. The ‘Democracy Canada
Institute’ was the most important direct source of information for this study as far
as Canada is concerned. The institute falls under the Canadian parliament and
maintains close ties with the various organisations involved in strengthening
democracy.
3 The Democracy Canada Institute
A report6 from the Institute describes a number of organisations that Canada has
in the area of citizenship, electoral matters, voter education, strengthening political
capacity and training political representatives. The most relevant institutions are
discussed below.
4 The Parliamentary Center
The first institution is the Parliamentary Center7. This is a non-profit organisation

with the aim of supporting elected representatives in carrying out their democratic
task.
Canada has inter-parliamentary networks by means of which members of parliament
maintain contact with one another and their colleagues abroad to exchange
experiences in this area. There are also ‘capacity-development programmes’ to
keep representative democracy at the required standard. This is done by training
elected representatives, with the emphasis on their representative function and to
a lesser degree on developing skills to use at meetings and in dealing with the
media.
The aim of the centre is to serve the Canadian parliament and its members, to
ensure that they can play a more effective role in the parliament as ‘policy
entrepreneurs’ and to act as an intermediary between society and the government.
Its activities include providing a parliamentary forum (where information and tips
are exchanged over the internet) and the centre for ‘Legislative Exchange’, where,
as the name indicates, legislation is exchanged at an international level.
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5 Elections Canada
The second institution in Canada in the area of representative democracy is

Elections Canada8, founded in 2004. This organisation also has both a national
and an international outlook. It is dedicated to ensuring free and fair elections,
both inside and outside the country. The aim is to ensure that citizens are involved
both in elections and by means of other democratic instruments, not only at
election times but also in-between. Citizens must be able to become involved if
they want to. Guaranteeing the impartiality of democratic processes is important.
The organisation is dedicated to increasing the voter turnout in Canada, by means
of active promotion with the help of various media in the run-up to the elections.
EC tries to set up a dialogue with citizens by issuing crosswords containing
democratic words such as ‘Vote’, ‘Assembly’ and ‘Elections’. An ‘Elections Trivia
Game’ is also available on the internet, which is an informative game where players
have to answer questions about parliament and elections. For those who want to
take a more active role, there is information about how to stand as a candidate
and what (youth) organisations offer opportunities to influence politics.
6 Canada World Youth
Canada World Youth9 designs institutional education programmes for teenagers

and young adults from 17 to 29 years of age, which focus on voluntary work and
the community in a cross-cultural setting. The aim is to get young people more
involved in a harmonious and sustainable society.
There are three core objectives: to promote the acquisition of knowledge, skills
and values which are necessary in an active and involved community; to create a
network of people from different backgrounds and cultures that is characterised by
respect and understanding; and to build partnerships with countries, organisations,
communities, groups and persons who/which can serve as sources of joint action.
It is about learning by doing. This is an informal educational model based on
concepts such as cooperation and reciprocal relationships.
In concrete terms, young people are offered a programme that consist of two
phases. One in Canada and one in Africa, Asia, Latin America or Eastern Europe.
It lasts six to seven months in total, three of which are in Canada. Each student is
allocated a counterpart from the relevant country, with whom he or she shares the
whole experience, and with whom he or she stays with a host family and does
voluntary work. There are classes during the entire project, to ensure that the
students get the best possible grasp of ‘global and local issues’. According to the
organisation, this is an intercultural learning experience that students will never
22
forget, and during which they will acquire new knowledge and skills. Depending on
the students’ destination, they will learn about the environment, HIV/AIDS and/or
poverty.
The foundation works together with a network of 30 member states which make the
arrangements for the young Canadians. The programme is financed via funds,
sponsoring and a contribution of 250 dollars per participant. Various schools in
Canada give study points to students who participate in the programme. More than
22,000 young people have taken part in the programme since 1971.
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24
United States
Introduction
Further to contact with the Dutch Embassy it became apparent that the US is a
separate case in this study. Firstly, according to the contact person, promoting
democracy is hardly necessary in the US, partly because the participation figures
(not just voting at elections, but also voluntary work) are good, in contrast to most
of the other countries studied where the figures show a steady downward trend.
Secondly, if there were to be a problem in this area, the state would not get
involved in this, primarily because of the liberal view of government in the US.
Contrary to the above, however, some internet research shows that political and
social involvement is declining in many places in the US. This development is often
linked to inadequate education in American history and citizenship.
In the US, citizenship is closely linked to the national history. Constitution Day is
celebrated annually (during “Constitution Week”). ‘The National Conference on
Citizenship’ is also held each year. These initiatives, supported by the federal
government, aim to promote citizen participation and dialogue.10
Furthermore, numerous organisations are developing initiatives to promote
citizenship, such as ‘The National Commission on Civic Renewal’ and the
‘Americans for More Civility’ movement. New initiatives have recently been
developed at the federal level as well. For example, the expansion of the Education
for Democracy Act. This included proposals for promoting democracy. A number
of proposals in 2003 related to ‘The American History and Civics Education Act of
2003’ and the ‘NEH We the People Initiative’. This led to the strengthening of the
programme ‘We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution’. This programme is
financed by the federal Ministry of Education.
New legislation in 2003 introduced a pilot programme of 25 million dollars per year
during the period 2004-2007 for the collaboration of teachers and students in the
area of American history and citizenship. ‘We The People - The National Endowment
for the Humanities (NEH)’11 is an agency of the federal government that aims to
boost, with a view to promoting democracy and democratic citizenship, social
sciences and American history research. The means used here are cultural in
nature and relate to education, research and public programmes.
The law provides the basis for subsidies for associations of teachers and educational
institutes in this regard. The law also provides for the establishment of a National
Alliance of Teachers of American History and Civics.
25
The above summary shows that the American (federal) government is developing
a number of initiatives for sustainable democracy. A few American initiatives are
discussed in more detail below.
7 Center for Civic Education
The US’s Center for Civic Education12 has set out what characteristics society must
have if democracy is to succeed. These will be dealt with briefly here. The first
characteristic is citizenship. According to the document on which the centre is
based, being a citizen in a democracy is something completely different to being
a citizen in a state that is not based on democratic values. In a democracy, each
citizen has not only specific rights but also responsibilities.
This entails - and this is the second requirement - the need for citizens to have the
knowledge and skills to carry out their democratic task. Citizens must be informed
if they are to participate effectively. Citizens must also be able to weigh up the
various principles and values that are important in the relevant society. The most
important areas of knowledge include, for example, history, geography, general
political movements and the political system. Skills which have been found to be
important for carrying out the democratic task are cognitive and participatory skills.
Behaviour and characteristics which have been found to be valuable within the
framework of citizenship are politeness, individual responsibility, self-discipline,
social involvement, neutrality (open mind), willingness to compromise, tolerance,
loyalty and perseverance.
8 American Democracy Project
In addition to the aforementioned institutions, the US has another organisation

that is geared towards strengthening democracy. This is the American Democracy
Project13. The American Democracy Project is an initiative of 144 different American
schools and universities which are working together to increase the election
turnout among young people. This project reaches more than 1.3 million students.
The project only covers schools and universities which are members of the
‘American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU). The objectives
of the collaborative project are as follows:
increasing the number of pupils and students involved in associative and partici-
patory institutions. More students should engage in extracurricular activities.
generating support among policymakers and public opinion for promoting the
social value of schools and universities for society.
The project is trying to start a national debate, particularly among educators, about
26
the theory and practice of social involvement. The aim is also to cultivate
institutional commitment among young citizens, by organising discussions with
senior policy officials from various government organisations, with an emphasis
on the learning process of the pupil or student. Projects, courses and educational
programmes are also initiated and updated.
9 Youth’04.org
Youth’04.org14 is a non-profit organisation (part of the Center for Democracy) with

more or less the same target group as the aforementioned project. It focuses on
young adults of between 18 and 25 years of age, and their contribution to the 2004
elections. This organisation introduces young people to the internet sites of
political institutions to motivate them and encourage them to make themselves
known in the political playing field. Via the internet, young people are alerted to the
importance of politics and the political topics that specifically affect them. There is,
for example, an internet forum where young people can exchange views about
specific topics.
In Minnesota, at the Mankato University, a series of debates was organised in the
run-up to the 2004 elections. The Campus debates were designed to highlight
politics, the community and liberty as a common focus. The technique used to do
this was taken over from the Institute of Cultural Affairs, which helped villages in
Kenya to discuss their common values and ideas for the future. This was a success
and actually resulted in action plans. During one of the debates in Minnesota, the
students jointly discussed under which circumstances the university policy could
be called a socially involved policy. They came up with a series of characteristics of
citizenship and social involvement, for example acting as members of a single
community who share democratic ideals and ideas with one another. The point was
also raised that it was necessary to take responsibility as an individual for the
public interest, to consider different points of view and finally to actively participate
in the political decision-making process.
In addition, the students found it important to keep themselves and others well
informed about the public discourse. As a result of this, extracurricular activities
were organised. Initiatives by students to build stronger communities were
encouraged. A professor of speech communication was employed who could act as
the coordinator for community based learning. He also worked on new programmes
and their promotion and on kindling students’ enthusiasm for political education.
The candidates for the State House Offices answered questions from one hundred
and fifty students at the university. This led to an increase in voter registration. The
American Democracy Project was a great success at this university. Since it was all
27
about the elections, some people feared, as can be seen from an article in the New
York Times about this,15 that once the elections were over, the increased social and
political involvement would fall by the wayside.
Nevertheless, attempts are being made to sustain the students’ attention. The
focus will be less on generating specific discussion about the elections, and more
on the other part, stimulating social activity and political involvement in general.
The plan is to keep the discussion alive by keeping the link with the American
Democracy Project, making politics a theme of the lessons about speaking in
public, and finally, awarding pupils and students bonus points / study points if
they work on their democratic and communicative skills in their spare time.
10 The Kettering Foundation
The Kettering Foundation16 is an organisation which deals primarily with the

question: “What does it take to make democracy work as it should?” This is based on
three hypotheses. Firstly, a democracy requires its citizens to bear their responsibilities
and to be able to take decisions about the public interest. Secondly, society, the
community and the citizen must all be healthy and reasonably stable units. Thirdly,
the institutions which make up civil society must be legitimate.
The Foundation is very clear about the current state of democracy in the US,
because although Americans are extremely proud of their democracy, it is in a bad
way. According to the Foundation, the American political system must change to
meet the demands of the 21st century. Many Americans see their lives as
dominated by all kinds of large systems: the economic, legal, educational and
political system. The institutions on which a society is based lack importance or
no longer fit in with the needs of the citizen.
One of the aims and research areas of the Foundation is that communities should
start functioning better than they ever have before. The Foundation is trying to find
out what elements are needed for a flourishing public domain, whether this can be
strengthened and what instruments are suitable for this. The diagnosis is that too
many citizens get left behind or only watch from the sidelines. The Foundation
wants to achieve these aims together with communities and community-based
organisations. The role of leadership in the public domain is one of the topics
under discussion. The Foundation has found that more leaders are needed because
this has a positive effect on the intensity of a community. The more people take the
lead and the more people have the feeling that they are part of the organisation, the
better the organisation will function. The Foundation is investigating how leader-
ship (also at neighbourhood and group level) can be encouraged and what forms
28
of training can be offered for this. In this case, the aim is to encourage social and
political involvement and boost a thriving public domain.
Two institutions are discussed by the Foundation, as well as what can be done to
re-anchor these firmly in society: the media and education. A short summary is
given below.
Media
Citizens often regard the media as part of the professional political class that drives
citizens away from their citizenship task. Focusing on the education of journalists
may offer a solution to this problem. Journalism courses must focus more on an
understanding and knowledge of democracy and dealing with democracy as a
professional journalist. The Kettering Foundation goes into the question not only of
how journalists see citizens, but also of how citizens view journalists. The relation-
ship, which is important for both parties, can play a major role in how citizens
regard (government) institutions.
Public Scholarship
The second institution to be scrutinised by the Foundation is the educational
establishment. As has already been seen, the requirements of a democratic society
do not link up with the priorities laid down in education. The project devoted to
this topic is public scholarship, which focuses on giving higher education a new
place in the public domain and employing graduates in the public sector.
Representatives
The relationship between the government and society is covered by a project which
focuses on cultivating understanding for the problems experienced by represen-
tatives when carrying out their public tasks. Research has shown that the way in
which representatives communicate with citizens is often unsatisfactory for both
parties. The programme identifies the reasons for the poor communication and
supplies solutions. One reason appears to be that citizens have little understanding
and knowledge of the difficulties that representatives face when resolving the
problems referred to by citizens. Citizens do not have a good idea of what can and
cannot be done for them by politicians and often have too high expectations, which
leads to disappointment and perhaps even a lack of public confidence.
Public Journalism
The King Baudouin Foundation in Brussels has issued a number of interesting
publications, including one on the ‘Public Journalism’ question in the US, called
‘A voice for citizens?’ The reason for this Belgian initiative was a new term that has
recently surfaced in the Netherlands, namely ‘public journalism’. In this form of
29
journalism, which has been around in the US for some time, the journalist writes
about topics that arouse the interest of the citizen in relation to his social environ-
ment. Two hundred readers of a newspaper were interviewed in depth in the US in
the 1990s to find out what citizens want in this respect. The reporting was then
tailored accordingly. Journalists no longer reported only on things that went wrong,
but also on society’s success stories.
As has already been stated, citizens perceive an increasing gulf between themselves
and the media, with aversion to the media also rising. The media are no longer
their allies who contribute to the democratic process of ensuring that the govern-
ment is monitored and held publicly accountable. This has given rise to discussion
about what role a journalist should play in this new society. The Belgian report uses
terms such as personalisation, polarisation and trivialisation to describe the
reporting of important events by the media. The idea is that this way of working
may pose a threat to the democratic quality of government campaigns and
institutions. It contributes to a reduced public domain and the fossilisation of
political relationships.
In America, hundreds of newspaper already operate according to the public
journalism principle and some receive support from the Kettering Foundation,
among others17. They involve citizens in the communication process. The idea is
beginning to take on the form of a journalism movement. It is however more of a
basic attitude on the part of the individual journalist rather than a technique or an
aspect of the profession. A few examples of democratic policy practices that such
journalists can implement are: organising political debates with citizens and/or
politicians; bringing journalists and politicians together by means of a project
group; participating (possibly as initiators) in discussions with citizens and
politicians themselves and then publishing an article on this. Some people find
only the first example acceptable, because the other practices make a journalist
more of a political leader rather than the neutral reporter that a journalist is in
principle. Public journalism can be encouraged by the educational institution where
the journalist studies18.
30
Denmark and Norway
Introduction
Denmark and Norway have - because of their intensive collaboration and their
similarity in many respects – partly similar legislation and policy programmes.
The first initiative, postal voting, that is dealt with below is one of the concrete
examples of policy practices implemented by both countries.
The document ‘power and democracy in Denmark’19 gives the findings of a study
into the state of democracy in Denmark and the points that could be improved.
It deals with problems that have also arisen in the Netherlands, such as
individualisation, deterritorialisation and changes in the place and form of power.
The latter refers, among other things, to the fact that government decisions are
being taken faster and are more oriented to the short term, which means a decline
in transparency and the possibility for citizens to be involved.
On the one hand, democratic rights are better established and anchored than
before. Voters have more influence on elections and human rights are guaranteed
at a high level. This is also reflected in the confidence in Danish politicians, which
is on the increase according to the report. On the other hand, Denmark also has
conflicting trends. Many decisions which interfere with the lives of citizens are not
directly democratically legitimised, particularly EU-related decisions. Furthermore,
there is a growing group of people living in Denmark who cannot vote, namely
people from abroad.
Contact with Ms Bekker of the Dutch Embassy in Denmark and Mr Christensen,
member of the Public Governance Committee of the OECD for Norway, led to the
contact persons at the government departments and to websites. These in turn led
to the following results.
11 Brevstemmeafgivning
In order to give as many voters as possible the opportunity to cast their vote during
elections, the Danish government has made it possible to vote in advance, that is,
before the elections are held20. Citizens who are unable to get to the polling station
on election day for whatever reason are supported in this way. In Denmark, voters
are not allowed to vote at a polling station other than the one where they are
registered and there was therefore a need for some flexibility on this point. In
Danish, the new procedure is called ‘brevstemmeafgivning’, which means postal
voting.
31
It is possible to vote in advance in all municipalities. In most cases, the office

where citizens can register to cast their vote in this way is located in the municipal
office. People can vote during a period of 13 working days, starting three weeks
before the elections and ending two days prior to the day of the election. Voters
who are in hospital, a care home or prison can register there. The municipalities
coordinate the process of postal voting and are responsible for ensuring that the
registration process at the various institutions runs smoothly. The ballots are
collected by the administrative staff of the municipality and by members of the
municipal council. In the case of institutions such as hospitals, prisons etc., a
person is appointed (often the administrative head) to collect the ballots. These
and other formal requirements are laid down in a special regulation to ensure that
postal voting is properly implemented. A number of examples of these require-
ments are showing proof of identity when registering, ensuring the privacy of the
voter when completing the form, and the conditions under which the vote is valid
(for example, the form must be filled in correctly).
12 The Youth Parliament 2005
The aim of this project was to help young people to understand the democratic
process21. They learned how to write their own draft bills, and how to debate these
in parliamentary committees. Young people learned the rules of democracy and
gained an understanding of what actually happens before legislation is passed.
Children learned that the democratic process also means that the people, of whom
they themselves form part, must be represented. Children were encouraged to take
an active part in the development of Danish democracy and became aware of the
opportunities open to them if they wished to go into politics once they were old
enough.
The project lasted for a year and ran from August 2004 to May 2005, and involved
the following activities. In August, the teachers were briefed. They could carry out
the preparatory work for the Youth Parliament together with eight or nine pupils.
This consisted of jointly writing a draft bill and submitting this to the parliament.
The deadline for submitting the bill was November 2004. The Danish Parliament
then selected sixty bills that met the criteria. On 17 November, the various groups
of pupils each selected three representatives from among their number who would
act as their spokespersons in the Youth Parliament. The names of the spokespersons
and their teachers were then passed on to the parliament. The pupils then worked
on the draft bill further, to prepare for the discussion of this in the committees.
The largest part of the written preparatory work took place in November and
December 2004, with the internet playing a major role. A special website was set
32
up where the pupils could find all the information and could also keep in touch
with one another to exchange their experiences and get inspiration from one
another. All meetings could also later be viewed on the internet page.
Each of the twelve committees consisted of multiple groups of pupils and received
all the relevant bills in December, that is, five per committee. They met partly by
electronic means and partly in the Christiansborg Palace, the parliament. The final
meeting, that the pupils had been working towards in their groups and subsequently
in the committees, was held in April. The Youth Parliament was opened by the
Speaker of the Danish Parliament. In the morning the committees met in the
official chambers used for this purpose by members of parliament. Lunch was
followed by the plenary meeting in the afternoon, finishing off with voting by the
‘members of parliament’. The pupils learned to deal with parliamentary instruments.
The day ended with a reception for all participants and was evaluated in the
schools during the weeks thereafter.
33
34
Germany
Introduction
Contact with the German Ministry of the Interior and the websites of German social
organisations delivered the following information22. This information relates to
initiatives to promote democracy developed by both social organisations and the
government. There are various practices which could be useful for Dutch democracy.
The citizen usually takes centre stage, however, something that all the initiatives
described below have in common.
13 Modern State, Modern Administration
The German government has set up various projects during the past years which
are aimed at increasing participation by increasing the social orientation of the
public administration. The umbrella project is called ‘Modern State – Modern
Administration’. An important key objective is achieving a continuous dialogue
with society. The general aim is to achieve greater participation and greater social
responsibility among citizens. According to the German Ministry of the Interior,
the policy areas that require more attention from citizens are legislation, public
involvement and other projects that will be mentioned briefly below.23
14 E-democracy, Call Centre and Open House
The dialogue with citizens has been initiated via various forms of e-democracy and
via call centres specially set up to record complaints and suggestions from citizens.
E-democracy is regarded as a useful addition to the system of representative
democracy24. It is seen as offsetting the decreasing transparency of public decision-
making processes, furthermore citizens are experts on society and their contribution
is regarded as extremely important. In concrete terms, this involves chat sessions
in which politicians and civil servants try to answer questions from citizens, usually
relating to sustainable development. Other websites, for example the parliament
website, also offer chat sessions which may deal with various topics. In 2005,
a pilot project was launched allowing citizens to send in their comments and
suggestions to the Bundestag Petition Committee, so that they can exercise
influence in a much more direct manner.
The annual federal government Open House is another initiative that makes it
35
possible for citizens to submit their complaints, feedback and input. Citizens can
talk directly to representatives of the government. Furthermore, the aim is for the
central call centres to be open for complaints and suggestions from citizens
relating to the government in the broadest sense of the word.
As far as encouraging citizen participation is concerned, ministries are obliged to
forward draft bills to social organisations which have an interest in the draft bill in
question, so that they have the opportunity to participate at an early stage. (News)
organisations and the general public can also easily consult the information, since
it is published on the internet.
15 Bundesnetzwerk über Burgerschaftliches Engagement
The second component of the German government’s policy practices to promote

democracy is the national network for social involvement (Bundesnetzwerk über
Burgerschaftliches Engagement - BBE)25. The aim of this is to stimulate civil society
and social involvement in the entire public domain. Not only the government, but
also social organisations and companies are involved in this network. Together,
they are working towards an active civil society. All this took place after the first
signs of a changing relationship between citizens and the government were
spotted. In Germany, there is a strong need for an accessible state that provides
the basic conditions which are required for a healthy, sustainable democracy. This
is a democracy characterised by social involvement, social activity and cohesion,
independent enterprising citizens and voluntary co-optation.
To this end, the federal government also supports the establishment, development
and maintenance of voluntary organisations. Unnecessary bureaucracy which
distracts voluntary workers from their task will have to disappear. The idea behind
the emphasis on voluntary work and the removal of barriers preventing this is that
the welfare state is on the wane, or in any event will, in the very near future, no
longer be appropriate. A balance must be found between a responsible state and a
flourishing and necessary system of associations and voluntary organisations which
provide society with the required additional care and support. Studies are being
carried out into the opportunities for carrying out voluntary work, and in the
meantime the German government is starting to set up networks and the infra-
structure that is required for an associative society.
It is true that the government wants to implement soft reforms, but the aim is
always to move towards a government that concerns itself with its basic functions,
and therefore towards a more reticent government. Individual responsibility must
be correlated with the basis of solidarity which is symbolised by the welfare state.
According to the information from the BBE, no concrete steps have as yet been
taken, although the network is of course a new institution in itself.
36
16 Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung
The Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (BPB)26 has been in existence for more
than fifty years. This federal centre for political education encourages all interested
citizens to participate in politics in one way or another. The aim is to promote
understanding and knowledge of politics and the political conditions under which
politicians carry out their work. By promoting democratic awareness and a willing-
ness to get involved in politics, the BPB hopes to contribute to the sustainability of
democracy. The BPB is part of the German Ministry of the Interior. In concrete
terms, projects are organised in various cities that cultivate political involvement
among citizens of all ages. Together with a national polycentric network, provision
is made for educational facilities, and teachers who are independent and neutral
are sought.
Projekt-P27 is specially geared towards young people in more than ten cities in
Germany. The annual festival for youth politics in Berlin is organised as part of
this project, as are many activities in the cities, such as the ‘We’re sending our
Parliament on holiday’ project. This involves the young people of the state of
Baden-Württemberg being visited, at their holiday destinations (youth camps and
suchlike), by political representatives who then exchange experiences and ideas
with them. This is organised by the Baden Jugend Ring, a collaborative project
involving various youth organisations. The organisation also has a youth council
which looks after the interests of young people at both the regional and national
government levels and in society as a whole.
The national variant of the aforementioned organisation, which has the same
objectives, is the Landes Jugend Ring. One project that stands out is the ‘Frauen
Macht Politik!’ project, where women get the opportunity to spend a day at the
Bundestag and attend workshops.
17 Werkstatt für Demokratie
The Werkstatt für Demokratie28 is another organisation that is specially geared

towards children. It makes it possible for children to ‘have their say’ in politics
by providing child-friendly information (in an easy to use manner, also via the
internet) and a special youth forum where children meet one another in a Lower
House setting. Furthermore, it has its own special political agenda only containing
topics which are important for children, such as playing in the streets, children’s
immediate surroundings and the rights which children (should) have. In other
words, these are topics on which children are the experts, based on the democratic
idea that they (usually) know what is best for them.
37
18 Workshop for journalists
One of the Bundestag’s own projects is a workshop which young journalists can
attend for a lesson in democracy29. And a very intensive lesson it is too, since there
are places for forty journalists who can take a look behind the political scenes of
democracy over the course of a week. They attend plenary sessions of the Bundestag
and get the opportunity to discuss matters with politicians.
This project was set up to give journalists, since they play an important role in
determining public opinion, more understanding of the democratic and administrative
tasks facing politicians and civil servants. Journalists are taught to be critical, but
being critical is not always about being negative. Giving them an honest picture of
politics means that the journalists will, when they come to exercise their
profession, have enough knowledge to make their own assessments. In this way,
the media can once again function as a watchdog and play an important
monitoring and informative role in a healthy democracy.
38
Sweden
Introduction
On 17 January 2002, the ‘Democracy in the New Century’ act30 was adopted by the
Swedish government. This was an initiative for the sustainable development and
deepening of Swedish democracy. It has two key aims, namely to safeguard
representative democracy and to encourage citizens to participate, also between
elections.
Sweden is experiencing increasing marginalisation, exclusion and passivity among
citizens. The turnout for the Swedish parliament elections in 1998 hit an all-time
low. Political parties have problems. Citizens no longer trust politicians. But there
are rays of hope in Sweden: temporary work on a voluntary basis is on the increase.
Faith in democracy as a form of government is strong.
The government has set four long-term objectives which are central to its policy to
strengthen democracy:
turnout should increase considerably in European, national and local elections;
a larger proportion of citizens should hold some form of political or public position
of trust;
citizens should be given more opportunities to influence the political process than
is currently the case; the proportion of citizens participating should increase;
citizens’ opportunities to influence the political process should be more equal
across different population groups than is currently the case (people must be
treated equally in terms of participation and influence regardless of whether they
are young or old, employed or unemployed or of foreign extraction or natives of
Sweden).
The programmes
The key aims and objectives that have arisen from the above are discussed briefly
below and the results of the evaluation carried out in the meantime are summarised.
Sweden is experiencing decreasing turnout figures for elections, although this trend
seems to be changing since the drop during the period 1998-2004 was less signifi-
cant than during the period 1994-1998. In recent years, a number of attempts have
been made to increase turnout in Sweden, such as simplifying voting procedures
39
and gathering more knowledge about the methods of promoting democracy.

Other actors also play an important role in increasing turnout, such as political
parties. All relevant institutions should be involved in a long-term vision to achieve
a successful end result.
The government has taken the following concrete steps to increase turnout: a
number of amendments to the Elections Act, changes to the central electoral
organisation, the project ‘Time For Democracy’, extra resources for political parties
to provide better information for people of foreign extraction, ‘Metropolitan policy’,
‘Youth Policy Measures’, and finally a new date for elections for the European
Parliament. The first three (Elections Act, electoral board and Time for Democracy)
will be described in greater detail because they offer useful insights into how
Sweden is going about strengthening democracy.
19 Elections Act
The Elections Act31 is, among other things, about increasing opportunities to vote
by mail for voters resident abroad and furthermore about empowering officials at
polling stations to issue duplicate voting cards.
The Electoral Board was replaced by an entirely new organisation in July 2001
(called the Valmyndigheten). As a result, more ballot papers reached voters on time
and voters could find more information about the voting process (for example on
the ballot paper, in the media, via pamphlets and on the newly revamped website of
the Valmyndigheten). In addition, the information was made available in a number
of foreign languages and the Electoral Board concluded an agreement with the
national postal service. The agreement stated that this organisation was devoting
itself to organising ‘institutional voting’. The changes mean that the requirements
set by the new Elections Act can be met more effectively, including the removal of
impediments to voting.
According to the report,32 it is difficult to say whether the turnout at elections will
actually improve. In any case, citizens are better informed as a result of the diverse
activities of the electoral authority. The use of different media in the run-up to the
elections is particularly striking, and will in all probability have positive consequences
for the future.
20 Time for Democracy
‘Time for Democracy’33 was a two-year project for the development of Swedish
democracy. The aim was to enhance citizens’ awareness of the democratic process
and promote their participation in that process, particularly in the run-up to
40
elections. Firstly, voluntary organisations working towards this aim were given extra
financial support, and secondly, there were extra activities such as setting up a
voters magazine and organising seminars.
Researchers from a Swedish university evaluated these activities and came to the
conclusion that ‘Democracy Needs Time’. Although all action groups had met their
targets, the results would only become visible over the course of time. Their
recommendation was to continue along the same path, but in addition to develop
even longer-term projects to make democracy more sustainable. A striking outcome
was however that the employees of the groups questioned perceived a change in
citizen participation during elections. Participation increased as compared to
previous elections. Projects which were aimed at encouraging minority groups
(young people, people from foreign backgrounds) to participate in politics certainly
appeared to be successful, insofar as this could be measured during the project.
More than one-third of the project coordinators were not able to state anything
about the degree of success of their project (they did not perceive any significant
increase in the number of participants before and during the elections as compared
to the period prior to the start of the project). The majority of the coordinators did
however think that citizens had a better understanding and knowledge of demo-
cratic processes and that citizens were discussing political issues with the people
around them more than before. According to the coordinators, the voters magazine
(Röster or Votes) had a positive influence. For example, it was to a reasonable
extent used as teaching material by Social Studies teachers.
21 Political representatives
The second long-term goal focuses on increasing the number of elected political
representatives34. This relates to representatives at the local government level. The
government’s responsibility in this regard is about removing obstacles that prevent
people from standing as candidates. A better understanding of why certain sections
of the population continue to be underrepresented in various political bodies is
also needed. This relates to young people, non-Swedish citizens, people with low
incomes, elderly people, citizens who were born in another country and people with
little education.
The number of elected representatives in Sweden has dropped in the last decade.
At the same time, the tasks to be carried out at the local level have become
increasingly concentrated. This can lead to problems since it makes participation
by ordinary citizens more difficult. Most positions simply take up too much time
and the work involved cannot be carried out during the evening. Fewer represen-
tatives also means a decline in the number of contact interfaces that a citizen has
with local politics.
41
A Swedish study has shown that it is good for social representativity if there are a
large number of ties, both formal and informal, between citizens and the govern-
ment and between citizens and the representative bodies. The efforts of the local
government bodies are extremely important as regards achieving the objectives in
respect of representation and making up lost ground. In addition, the national
government will have to remove barriers and follow and monitor the processes in
all municipalities. These efforts involve education and training, financial compen-
sation and protecting elected representatives against threats and violence.
The evaluation shows that these efforts to improve the conditions for elected
representatives will also be needed in the future. A series of initiatives has recently
been launched to give impetus to these efforts, namely more opportunities for
people with disabilities to stand as candidates and carry out their representative
role; recruitment of elected representatives from a wider section of the population;
cooperation between the various actors. These initiatives will be discussed briefly
below.
People with disabilities

With a view to increasing opportunities for people with disabilities to stand as
candidates, the government has carried out research into the use of sign language
in representative bodies. Consideration has also been given to how the needs of
the blind, the deaf and the hearing-impaired can be better met with regard to policy
documents and other digital and hard-copy information. The aim is for elected
representatives to be able to carry out their tasks on the same terms as other
councillors. This focus was a direct result of a number of amendments to the
Swedish Local Government Act. The results were published in July 2005, and
served as input for further steps to improve the opportunities for people with
disabilities to carry out their representative role.
Recruitment
As regards recruiting elected representatives from a broader section of the popu-
lation, the aim is to have more women, young people and people from foreign
backgrounds stand as candidates. This would mean that political bodies would
reflect society more accurately. Research was carried out and the results of this,
which could form the input for new policy in this regard, are expected in October
2005. Furthermore, the Swedish government released funds for political parties in
2004 already to give them the opportunity to provide their representatives with
preparatory training for their work as representatives. This was done further to a
debate about the recruitment of representatives between the Minister for
Democratic Issues and parliamentary parties in December 2003.
42
Information network
The third point for strengthening the position of elected representatives was
cooperation between the various actors. In Sweden, the Special Unit for Democracy
and Self-Government, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and the Federation
of Swedish County Councils work together. One of their joint activities is giving a
series of classes for elected representatives via course material, lectures and
internet discussions. In this way, representatives are kept up to date with all the
information that is relevant to them. By working together and combining
information, they can be of far greater assistance to representatives than was
previously the case.
22 Participation between elections
Introduction
The third aim of the democratisation project of the Swedish government is the
creation of more and better opportunities for citizens to influence the political
process35. More citizens must start participating in politics. In Sweden, there has
proved to be a significant desire to get involved and to participate at various levels
of the population, contrary to what the actual participation by citizens appears to
indicate. Citizens are most likely to participate in and initiate procedures which are
not centrally driven or do not require official assistance. Finding ways of fitting in
with what citizens want requires a lot of cooperation from various government
bodies, political parties and voluntary organisations.
Measuring results has proven to be problematic during the evaluation phase here
as well.
It is difficult to assess whether and to what extent the opportunities for citizens to
participate have decreased. In accordance with the wishes of the government, the
proposals to make participating in local politics more attractive have been
implemented to a greater or lesser degree. These are things that now exist in the
majority of the municipalities in Sweden, such as self-regulating bodies, youth
councils, citizens’ proposals and citizen panels. Most of the local authorities are
also investing in opportunities for people with disabilities to participate and a great
deal of attention is being paid to people from groups which are relatively under-
represented, to ensure that their views are heard as well. It is important to offer
citizens a whole range of participation opportunities, so that there is a suitable way
for each citizen to cast his or her vote or express his or her opinion. Thought will
also have to be given to the decision-making processes and whether these are
comprehensible to citizens who do not deal with politics on an everyday basis.
Sweden has also found it important to offer citizens the opportunity to become
43
involved in EU policy, particularly because of the fact that this is playing an

increasing role in determining the everyday world of every citizen. The evaluation
report repeats on a number of occasions the recommendation that the number of
opportunities for citizens to get involved and the instruments available to them for
this be expanded. It is also important to make it possible for citizens to have their
say about the topics on the political agenda by means of cooperation between the
national and local government authorities and between these authorities and the
voluntary organisations.
Initiatives referred to in respect of promoting participation between elections are
more transparency in the financial administration of political parties and their
election campaigns, public meeting places, a review of policy on organised community
activity and finally new organisations and targeted government support (for example,
for women’s organisations as and where necessary).
Transparency
As regards transparency36 in the organisation of political parties, the aim is for the
citizen to be able to inspect the financial affairs of a party, should he or she wish
to do so. The idea behind this is that transparency can in general increase the
legitimacy of an institution and prevent corruption. In 2002, the Swedish govern-
ment initiated a study into the methods used by political parties to finance their
activities, with particular emphasis on the elections and the candidates, since these
had a major impact on the expenditure pattern of a party. The report that followed
(‘Public Access to the Revenues of Political Parties and Election Candidates’)
proposed a system of statutory accountability as the most effective way of ensuring
adequate public access.
Community activity
The Swedish government devoted a policy area with a separate budget to the
revision of the policy on ‘community activity’37. The aim was to increase citizens’
opportunities to take part in voluntary organisations, pressure groups or other non-
governmental organisations as much as possible. The policy in this regard
functions as a supplement to, among other things, policy relating to non-govern-
mental organisations in various sectors. The question in Sweden is whether a
central body should be set up to provide a centre for these organisations and the
policy relating to them, where facts and figures can be collected. In 2004, part of
the budget was for the first time set aside for a review of the policy on organised
community activity in society and how this can be encouraged.
44
Public meeting places

The idea behind public meeting places38 is that if democracy is to develop into a
strong institution, people must be given suitable opportunities to come together at
the local and regional levels. The evaluation shows that this initiative from 1993 has
been very important in Sweden, especially since people now increasingly devote
their leisure time to the pursuit of recreational activities or commercial entertainment.
The public meetings boost both the local community and local democracy. The
government has set up a commission that reports on the public meetings between
citizens and that submits recommendations to the government about promoting
these meetings in practice. The government’s task in this regard is primarily to
provide information.
New organisations
The final category is the ‘new organisations’39, a fourth initiative that has been
developed in Sweden to increase participation between elections. The Swedish
government reviewed the provision of subsidies to various organisations, including
women’s organisations. The report states that women have made great strides in
recent years and their share in public activities has increased accordingly. It goes
on to point out that the way in which women form organisations is different.
Women’s organisations are much more network-oriented. The members of
organisations participate in other organisations and knowledge is shared. In this
way, the needs of society as a whole can be met more effectively. This in turn
requires other methods of public support by the government.
23 Equal participation
Introduction
The Swedish government’s fourth long-term goal relates to making the opportunities
available to citizens for influencing the political process more equal than they were
previously40. Progress has been made on this front, for example the gap between
women and men in terms of active involvement in politics has narrowed. The
number of women, young people and people with other nationalities who are
politically active is increasing, but these groups are still underrepresented. In other
words, white Swedish middle-aged men still dominate politics. Political participation
in non-traditional institutions is increasing among all groups of the population.
A cause for concern in Sweden is the declining number of young people who are
actively participating in the community or community politics. There is therefore
still an urgent need to move towards more equal representation in Sweden, and the
following initiatives have already contributed to this.
45
Exclusion between elections

To increase equal participation of men and women, a scheme was introduced in
terms of which financial compensation could be claimed for childcare costs if one
of the parents participated in local politics. This means that more single parents
can stand as candidates. People with a disability can also receive financial support
for the costs incurred as a result of their disability during the participatory
activities.
To increase participation between elections, the provision of information was
improved. When it comes to ICT, the question is what can be done to avoid
inequality and the exclusion of people who do not have access to the internet.
The computer industry has been accused of designing software, among other
things, from a male perspective. The ‘Draft Strategy for Reducing Digital Gaps
in Sweden’ has been set up to deal with these and other problems.
Exclusion during elections

Voters from a foreign background are mobilised by political parties to increase their
participation in elections. Extra money has been released to enable the political
parties to do this. This appears to be working, the groups which are normally
associated with low turnout figures were well represented at the elections. The
official evaluation report however indicated that it was not possible to talk about
significant results in the short term.
Integration
In addition, ambassadors were appointed who, after receiving training, acted as
election information officers and election motivators. They concentrated on
immigrant groups in the run-up to the 2002 elections. Valuable results were
achieved, turnout increased in the housing areas targeted by the ambassadors.
The report points out however that the results could not be precisely measured
and that hard and fast pronouncements would not be wise. Another initiative to
encourage people from foreign backgrounds to stand as candidates may also
have influenced the outcome.
To encourage Somali women to get involved in politics, study groups, seminars
and conferences were set up, in addition to a programme on local television.
A favourable result was that women and young girls from the same background
were able to exchange opinions and ideas that would possibly not have been heard
if the debate had been held in a larger setting.
In November 2001, the Swedish government took stock of the ways in which new
arrivals could quickly get access to more knowledge about the Swedish political
system. It also listed the elements that were necessary to achieve a society with
46
a high level of political participation. Verbal information would have to be passed

on to the new arrivals in their home language. For this purpose, the designated
organisation – the Swedish Integration Board - needs teachers who speak the
foreign language as well as Swedish and have knowledge of Swedish social culture.
In an effort to eliminate obstacles that people looking to exert more influence in
politics may encounter, the government has started a programme to encourage an
active attitude among various ethnic groups. The ‘Government Commission of
Inquiry on the Political Integration of Immigrants’, which analyses how the
distribution of influence can be improved, is responsible for this. The Commission
will also pay attention to the question of how citizens from different ethnic back-
grounds are described and defined in the media and in political debates. Whether
negative reporting poses an obstacle to political participation by minorities remains
to be seen.
47
48
Finland
24 Citizen Participation Programme
Introduction
Various Finnish ministries have jointly set up a policy programme, namely the
Citizen Participation Programme41. The aim of this is to strengthen Finnish
democracy from the bottom up, by working together with other ministries.
It consists of various projects relating to citizenship education, social participation
and active citizenship. Twenty projects are currently underway.
This broad government programme was set up in response to the new challenges
which the government is facing in relation to social capital, participation by citizens
and the state of democracy in general. There is also a feeling in Finland that social
ties are weaker than they used to be. There is a sense that citizens are distancing
themselves from politics and their fellow citizens.
A number of projects are discussed briefly below. Some of these are dealt with in
greater detail. The programme got underway in October 2003 and the various
projects have been launched since then. The Ministry of Justice has completed the
projects Democracy 2007 Committee,42 the referendum and popular initiative,
election information and voter activation and a study into the how elections and
elected representatives function.
The Ministry of Justice has one ongoing project, namely Your opinion.fi (improving
the public sector feedback system). The Ministry of Education has several ongoing
projects, namely the Civil Society 2006 Committee, a project that promotes
education in schools and in organisations for active citizenship, the Project for
Youth Inclusion, Hear the Citizens – Draft Wisely43 and finally Participation in
Information Networks.
The third ministry responsible for a number of projects is the Ministry of the
Interior, which is working on a strategy to develop local democracy. It is also
running the Municipal Democracy Audit, in which the other ministries also play
a role.
Background and aims

The aim is for the programme to make it possible for ordinary, individual citizens
to have a greater influence on politics, so that representative democracy can
function more effectively. Finland has a self-governing system at the local level,
that is, there is a high degree of direct and indirect democracy in the municipalities.
49
Finland has a tradition of active citizenship, a flourishing civil society and broad
social and political participation by citizens. The most recent change was the
directly elected president of the republic. Accession to the European Union is also
regarded as a radical change to the Finnish democracy.
Nevertheless, the Finns believe that they have sufficient reason for a programme as
described above, because the turnout for both national and decentralised elections
has dropped by 20 percentage points in recent years. This means that Finland
scores lower than its neighbouring countries Sweden and Denmark. The drop in
voter turnout is most striking in the case of young voters. One ray of hope is that
the Finns have a high level of confidence in the institutions in their country. Finland
is not one of the leaders in terms of political participation, however.
Finland needs to ensure higher voter turnout, to improve the opportunities for
political parties to carry out their tasks, to introduce new forms of citizen
participation and consultation, and to make it easier for citizens to see at what
levels and in what ways public decision-making processes take place so that they
can have a better chance of gaining access to the decision-making arenas. The
latter point relates to local, national, European and even global decision-making
and all the levels in-between.
The programme also indicates how Finland wants to shape its integration into
Europe, namely by strengthening municipal self-governance. According to the
Finnish government, citizenship as a basis for democracy should intensify all the
democratic acts of the citizen, including those at other government levels, such
as the elections of the European Parliament.
Key objectives
The programme as described above is in fact a process in which the current state
of democracy, the necessary changes, the aims and the practical implementation of
these are being shaped by means of a government-wide discussion and the exchange
of knowledge and experiences. The programme aims to achieve the following:
1 Schools must pay attention to active citizenship according to the principle of
lifelong learning;
2 The legal and administrative system within which civil society is located must be
suitable and must not hamper participation;
3 Both traditional and new channels by means of which citizens are able to participate
must be improved so that they can ultimately guarantee group processes in an
active community;
4 The structures and practices of representative democracy must be in good order
and also meet, and grow along with, changing social needs. A number of interesting
projects are discussed below.
50
25 Hear The Citizens – Draft Wisely
This project was based on the idea that increasing responsiveness and participation
would also increase the openness of the government. According to the Finnish
Ministry of Finance, if the government lets itself be seen, to an increasing degree,
as being open and as having a large amount of relevant knowledge, this will raise
confidence in the government. It is regarded as extremely important that citizens
trust the information they receive from the government, as otherwise the govern-
ment’s task would be unnecessarily hampered.
The Hear The Citizens project44 was also set up to increase participation in
decision-making and therefore the quality of this decision-making. It must in other
words support representative democracy. A study was carried out to find out what
was going on and how exactly the project should be structured. A survey was
carried out among civil servants in various ministries and members of civil society
organisations. The latter group saw itself as the party that gives its opinion and
provides expert advice when policy is drawn up. Civil servants were more positive
about the way this was done in practice than the civil society organisations. Both
parties felt the same about the question of whether the social organisations can
influence the formation of policy. However, the social organisations were alone in
their opinion that the number of opportunities to participate currently available
would have to be increased.
The idea behind the project was that all ministries had to think about how to put
‘Hear The Citizens’ into practice. This would require diverse and interactive infor-
mation strategies. Leadership training at a ministry would also have to include civil
servants being trained in how to increase opportunities for participation.
Furthermore, more care would have to be taken in dealing with all kinds of feed-
back and recommendations submitted to the ministry by citizens. According to the
project initiators, this would have to lead to actual consultation with citizens much
more often than is currently the case.
Once this project had been completed, it was clear that the developments in this
regard would not automatically continue. But there was political support for this
and it was seen as an important aspect of restoring confidence in the government.
Hear The Citizens II was therefore launched, in which guidelines were formulated
by ministries, their departments and staff. These were based on the initial attempts
made by four pilot ministries to consult citizens more frequently. They noted their
findings and the most successful policy practices were identified.
The ‘code’ has five main topics, namely: careful planning ensures successful
consultation; communication is important in all phases; consultation must be
sufficiently extensive; a summary of the most important recommendations from
citizens must be recorded; consultation must be evaluated.45
51
26 Citizenship education
Introduction
Citizenship education46 is structured via the principle of lifelong learning. This
means that democratic knowledge and skills are taught at various levels in
education, such as at primary schools, in secondary education and in adult
education. Furthermore, there are other social organisations where people can train
their democratic skills, such as student and pupil associations, sport or hobby
associations and finally volunteers’ projects and voluntary organisations. These
social organisations are the places where citizens learn democratic skills and are
regarded as important by the Finnish Ministry of Justice. A number of instruments
that have been proposed are discussed briefly below.
Teachers
Firstly, there is a national network of teachers, where experiences can be exchanged
with the aim of shaping citizenship education more effectively as part of education
as a whole. Related to this, but different in nature, is the project ‘Citizen Participation
in Teacher Training’, a collaborative project between teachers and people who work
in a municipality as officials or politicians. The idea behind this is that representatives
from schools and politics can learn from each other. Via the ties with the munici-
pality, citizenship education can go further than just teaching material and class-
room discussions. Visits can also be made to the municipality to experience
politics in action.
Institutions
Secondly, educational institutions that pay attention to democratic and social skills
receive support from the government. Yet another project is the Youth Participation
Project, which works continuously on improving the opportunities for young people
to participate in the public domain and ensures that young people are not margina-
lised or excluded from the public decision-making process. Finally, there is the
national education project relating to the media which ensures that citizens learn
to regard media reporting with a critical eye and to form their own independent
opinion, instead of simply accepting incorrect assumptions from politicians and
the media as true.
27 Social activity
Another project of the Citizens Participation Programme relates to encouraging

social activity in society47. The aim of this is to create a participatory and multi-
52
dimensional civil society in which important topics are discussed and that acts as
an intermediary between the state and society in that it responds to the needs of
society. Civil society as such also has an educational role because it can act as a
school for democracy, by providing the competencies, the network and the
pathways that lead to a greater role in representative democracy for each citizen.
The belief is that through the actions of civil society, the social capital will develop
into a good basis for a healthy democracy.
In this regard it is first and foremost important to have strong relationships between
civil society and politics. A government can only be responsive if it is aware of what
is going on in society at all times. Citizens can best be reached via the organised
links of civil society. As part of this aim, research has been started into the role of
young people in civil society and how this can be increased.
A second aim is to create various links between scholarship, research, educational
institutions and NGOs, so that civil society can be strengthened in a way that is
well thought-out and well researched.
A third aim is to support immigrants in starting up organisations so that they can
disseminate their own cultural identity, while at the same time integrating into
Finnish society as active entrepreneurs who contribute to the cultural diversity of
society.
28 Representative democracy
The last key aim of the Finnish Citizen Participation Programme is to improve the
functioning of representative democracy48. Elections should awaken citizens’
interest, procedures should be accessible and public opinion should be translated
into political points of view. A number of practical aids are available to give an
initial impetus to achieving the aforementioned objectives.
Research is being carried out in municipalities into the state of democracy (Municipal
Democracy Audit project). The aim of this is to derive a model that can be used by
municipalities to define and improve their democratic task.
Secondly, the representative role of the councillors is being defined in collaboration
with the political parties. Action patterns are being scrutinised, with the relation-
ship between voters and elected representatives taking centre stage. The aim is to
achieve a local democracy with a stronger external focus. Councillors must give
thought to their own democratic task, as separate from their day-to-day practice.
Finally, participation projects have been started highlighting the theme ‘citizens and
democracy’. Local representatives have taken up a pioneering role in this regard.
53
The participating ministries have set a number of aims to be achieved by them and
by society. Finland wants to be one of the best countries in Europe in terms of
citizenship, citizenship education and citizen participation, children must have a
good knowledge of citizenship issues, young Finns must achieve at least average
scores in relation to their European counterparts and no single group in society
should score less than 50% in terms of election turnout.
54
Great Britain
Introduction
In Great Britain both the government and social organisations have worked hard
on making democracy sustainable and keeping what works. The aim is to have
more involved citizens, an aim that is to be achieved by means of a strong focus on
citizenship. Various social organisations, such as the Youth Voting Network (33),
the Institute for Citizenship (34) and the Citizenship Foundation (35) contribute to
this in their own ways. The Electoral Commission (30) ensures that initiatives are
introduced in this regard via its recommendations for government policy and
legislation. How the government and the social organisations supplement one
another in terms of promoting democracy is described below.
29 The Electoral Co m m i s s i o n
This Commission49 was set up five years ago. Transparency is an important aim
and the modernisation of the electoral process is also on the agenda. This is
expressly not about making changes to the electoral system as such, as this falls
outside the mandate of the Commission. The Commission conducts a great deal of
research, for example a paper on the possible introduction of a duty to vote at
elections will appear at the beginning of 2006. The Commission also makes
recommendations to the government. For example, parliament is currently dealing
with a document (the ‘Electoral Administration Bill’) which recommends that
various modernisation plans be implemented in respect of elections.50
‘Public Awareness’ is also a key topic at present. The Commission has been
allocated a budget of 7.5 million pounds for this. The programme has the task of
making voters aware of the forthcoming elections via advertisements in various
media. Attempts are being made to emphasise the importance of politics in a way
that appeals to young people (in addition to the other groups in society where
there has been a decline in election turnout). One example of the British approach
is the workshops which were organised for 25,000 young people in collaboration
with voluntary organisations such as ‘Muslim Youth’ and various youth and crisis
centres. Educational games have been developed and ‘mock elections’ organised to
help provide voters with information. The individual sessions have received very
positive evaluations, but no long-term results are available yet. Young people can
55
also find out more information on the website www.dopolitics.org.uk.51

Each year, the Commission draws up a plan, which always takes the next five years
into account. The challenges for the coming year are to bring about fair parliamentary
elections, to prepare for a possible national referendum on the European Constitution
and to take care of a number of changes to electoral law. The Commission has
been advocating the last point for a number of years already.
In the coming years, the Commission will try to increase citizens’ involvement
in the democratic process, to maintain its role as an institution guarding the
transparency of the electoral process, and finally, to assist those who stand as
candidates. The Commission also plans to strengthen its relationships with
stakeholders, such as political parties and other civil society groups. All the
institutions referred to below work together with the Electoral Commission.
All projects and publications came about in consultation with the Commission.
30 Gender and Political Participation
In the paper of April 2004,52 researchers make suggestions to the Electoral

Commission about reducing the difference in political involvement and
participation between men and women. Part of the ‘Public Awareness’ programme
is specially geared towards women. The Electoral Commission tries to ensure that
citizens have basic knowledge about (local) politics and elections via the provision
of information. In this respect, the Electoral Commission does not organise
projects itself, but subsidises organisations that submit appropriate proposals.53
Within this framework, a number of campaigns have been undertaken in Great
Britain to get women (primarily women from a foreign background, who participate
the least) more involved in politics. Examples of successful projects are training,
work placements, appointing a mentor, memberships intended specifically for
women and finally financial incentives to encourage organisational innovation.
The latter involves trying to achieve more participation by women by updating and
altering organisations which have usually been set up from a masculine perspective.
Organisations which specifically focus on making politics more woman-friendly and
on supporting women and their political aspirations are also supported. In
concrete terms, this means that meetings must be held at more suitable times
both in the organisations themselves and in politics in general. Furthermore,
childcare must be available for politically active women. Women, the study shows,
are more interested in local than national politics. The researchers recommend to
the political parties that they make use of this and tailor the recruitment of
members and active members to the lifestyle of female citizens.
Postal voting and the emphasis placed on this in political campaigns may also
56
increase the turnout and possibly even political involvement. Since postal voting
was introduced, the turnout among women has increased sharply and the result
could be strengthened even further by simplifying the registration process.54
31 Securing the Vote55
The Commission believes that the following changes must be made to the political
system in order to guarantee lasting public confidence55. First of all, voters must
(continue to) have sufficient opportunities to be able to cast their vote. The polling
station must remain the most important place to vote, but the Commission
continues to look for additional methods, including electronic voting. It is however
important not to lose sight of requirements in respect of privacy and procedural
justice in this regard. The public must also have faith in a new method before it is
introduced.
Postal voting is an important example of the expansion of the possibilities on offer.
Privacy has priority in this regard, however, and must be guaranteed at all times.
The deadline for applying to vote by post would have to be moved from six to
eleven days before polling day, so that there is more time to deal with all the
applications properly.
Not only are new methods of voting being introduced, but the old methods are
also being improved. They are becoming more customer-friendly and have been
simplified in terms of voter registration and voting at polling stations.
32 Youth Voting Network, recommendations to British institutions
A report entitled ‘A Young Person’s agenda for democracy’ (2002/2003) contains

recommendations from the Youth Voting Network56 to politicians, the government,
the Electoral Commission and the media. These relate to (re-)forging links between
young people and politics. The network consists of a number of organisations that
deal with democracy and participation, with young British people as their target
group. The recommendations also came from the ‘Children and Young People Unit’
(CYPU) and the Yvote?/Ynot? project:
Politicians and young people

First of all, the report discusses politicians. They should make more visits to
schools and youth groups. This has proved to work well in the past, young people
were encouraged to deepen their knowledge of politics and the representative got
input for his own agenda. Politicians should also invest in contact with young
57
people between elections, the Youth Voting Network argues. In addition, politicians
should develop skills in ways of working with young people who do get involved in
the decision-making process. National youth organisations could encourage this
via the political parties. A third recommendation for politicians is that they should
not use the contact they already have with children (‘I have children of my own’)
as an excuse. Young people must be encouraged to take an active part in political
debate on a much greater scale, including those who do not normally come into
contact with politics. A fourth recommendation is directed at politicians at the local
level, to the effect that they should make it possible for young people to talk to
elected representatives. Politicians should therefore also see young people as part
of their support network. Finally, each party should gear its recruitment activities
towards young people as well. In this way, they could start the political learning
process at an early stage and would probably remain politically active. Furthermore,
these people could act as contact persons who speak the same ‘language’ as other
young people who want to know more about politics.
A recommendation aimed at young people themselves is that they should also take
the initiative, politicians are open to ideas and they should therefore speak out.
Seen within the framework of putting citizenship education into practice, these are
striking recommendations which can be useful for all politicians. To create a
healthy democracy in the long term, it is important that young people are not
forgotten.
Government and Elections Commission

The recommendations made by young people in relation to the government and
the Elections Commission relate to the provision of information, among other
things. Young people can best be reached via the internet, with posters and at the
cinema. Young people must be made aware of all relevant initiatives for young
people started by the government and must be given the opportunity to get
involved. Other points are having a say and the provision of information in this
regard. Pupils can participate at school, and this opportunity must be retained.
The government must ensure that schools have the necessary instruments to
provide citizenship education. Finally, there must be consultation about altering
the minimum voting age. Young people must be involved in the debate on this
subject and must be given the opportunity to influence this.
Media
Recommendations for the media relate to closing the gap between young people
and politicians. The media plays an important role in recording information in a
youth-friendly manner, filtering out the relevant information for young people and
providing information in general.
58
33 Institute for Citizenship
Introducing citizenship education

Citizenship education was introduced in Great Britain in September 2005 as a
supplementary element of the national curriculum in force at all schools. It has
been called one of the government’s most radical policy documents. The subject
was introduced relatively smoothly, without much political resistance or fuss in the
media. All at once, the scheme was in place, without having had any prior public
support in society and the educational sector.
The subject citizenship is now taught at all British schools, except in Scotland.
In 1998, the then British Minister of Education charged an advisory group with the
task of investigating how democracy could be taught to pupils. As a result of this,
the subject citizenship became compulsory in secondary schools in 2002.
According to the Dutch Embassy in London, the subject is comparable to the
subject social studies taught in the Netherlands. It is hoped that all pupils leaving
school will act as fully-fledged democratic citizens, will have good general knowledge
and communicative skills, will feel responsible for their fellow citizens and, finally,
will know their rights and obligations as citizens in a democracy57.
Citizenship in the classroom

The subject citizenship is actually an extension of the school assembly. Around
once a week, all the pupils come together in the morning. This meeting is not just
to deal with school-related matters but also to draw pupils’ attention to special
events and/or the celebration of certain religious festivals or a particular occurrence.
This can also be seen as a lesson in citizenship.
Schools have a certain room for manoeuvre in making decisions about how to fit
the new subject into the curriculum. Citizenship lessons are in principle taught to
11 - 16 year olds; usually one hour per week. This is not a compulsory examination
subject, however. There are therefore schools where little attention is paid to the
material for 14 - 16 year olds, unless the school decides that pupils have to pass an
examination in this at the age of 16 (General Certificate Secondary Education
examination - GSCE). The school also decides whether the subject is taught as part
of history, or as part of “European Studies” or “PSHE/Personal Social Health
Education”.
The topics that can be covered are extremely diverse and offer a great deal of
choice.
Teachers have the freedom to develop the lessons and/or to make use of a text-
book. The latter is sub-divided into themes such as: the police, the animal world,
laws and rights, local authorities, crime and safety, the environment, human rights
59
and the parliament. There are currently plans to introduce the subject for 16 - 18
year olds as well.
Supplements to the policy by the Institute for Citizenship

Teachers complain about a lack of training and experience in putting across the
material in the right way. Moreover, the general opinion is that citizenship is not
something that can be learned in a classroom alone. But how can this be rectified?
Children also have to train their skills. School boards and active citizenship in
youth organisations are at least as important as knowledge and information.58
The Institute for Citizenship has studied citizenship and explained how it can best
be taught. This supplements the government’s policy on introducing citizenship
education. Schools have been demanding supplementary information, tips and
programmes to enable them to successfully incorporate citizenship into the
curriculum. The foundation answers the question of what citizenship is, how the
school can function as a community and how teachers should deal with the subject
in practice. These are very practical tips, varying from the topics that can be
discussed in class to exercises that can be set for the pupils.
Aims and working definitions

The information that pupils are given during the course consists of three parts,
namely knowledge and understanding (what is citizenship, local authorities, human
rights, the environment and waste management), communication (debating skills,
interview skills, research skills and presentation skills) and finally participation and
action (how to make friends and influence people, how to break the ice in a new
situation, how to participate in a meeting, how to vote).
The Institute has defined citizenship education as: ‘practical ways in which pupils
can be involved and influence how decisions are made in their community’.
Active citizens:
have social and moral responsibilities and recognise this signal and communicate
the needs of specific groups in society know the institutions and systems which are
active in society have learned the skills of political activism in the broadest sense of
the word.
In an attempt to make society aware of active citizenship, the Institute points out
that politics and political education do not just revolve around voting. Although
they are about voting, they are also about exercising influence via politics, thinking
about ways to spend tax money, and publicity, or how this can be used to achieve a
(political) goal or air an opinion. Active citizens must also know how to reach a
platform when they deem this necessary.
60
Local politics
The Institute has for example developed teaching material aimed at giving insight
into ways in which the local council can be put into action and influenced. First of
all, pupils learn how a council works, set up mock meetings and deal with
documents. They become familiar with the municipal buildings and get to know a
number of elected representatives. One practical exercise recommended by the
Institute is the following. Pupils are given a hypothetical budget (36,000 pounds in
Great Britain), and debate how this should be spent at a meeting. The money must
be spent in a way that ensures that the entire local community can benefit from
this. In this way, young people learn to think about the status of public resources
and the moral obligation to use these in the general interest. This means that
pupils will be alert to any wrong decisions made by their own local council.
Ev a l u a t i o n
Schools in Great Britain are given a great deal of freedom in determining their own
teaching programme.59 This means that the subject is taught more intensively at
some schools than at others. Teachers have not in general seen this freedom in a
positive light. The work of the Institute for Citizenship has in general been regarded
as a welcome addition in terms of content and support.
The lessons and recommendations resulting from the use of the teaching material
at schools indicate that it has nevertheless been a success.60 The case studies
show that the correct use of the material and the models has led to more politically
and socially involved young people, primarily because they have become better
informed citizens. There is still a lot of work to be done, however: the provision of
information to schools still leaves much to be desired. The Institute passes all the
information on to the various departments at the relevant ministry and the educa-
tional organisations that design the curriculum. All information (even the teaching
material) is also available on the Institute’s website.61
A second recommendation that came out of the project relates to the cooperation
between schools and social or political organisations. These collaborative
arrangements ensure that young people can continue to develop their new
knowledge and skills in practice. An important aim of the Institute is and continues
to be to encourage these links, since too few British schools take the initiative
themselves.
Young people can have a positive influence on the development of educational
sources and should therefore be consulted more often by schools. Involving pupils
when developing educational materials can ensure that the teaching material is
more relevant. When designing their lessons, teachers must assess whether the
material is relevant (it must address young people’s concerns, the topics must be
61
relevant), realistic (pupils will get involved in politics at an earlier stage if people
are realistic about their chances of actually influencing politics) and topical (pupils
are more likely to be interested in issues that are current in society).
34 Citizenship Foundation
This is an independent charity that aims to encourage individuals to develop more

political commitment62. The Foundation achieves its aims by means of education
in the areas of law, democracy and society. One of the Foundation’s most interesting
and creative projects is the ‘I was a teenage governor’ project. The project has been
organised in collaboration with the ‘Institute for Public Policy Research’. The
initiators believe that junior members of representative councils or boards of
governors have a positive influence on changes in the education system. They are
called ‘agents of change’. At the moment, all schools are entirely free to decide
whether or not they want to participate in the project and allow a pupil to take part
in the decision-making process. Thirteen schools have registered for the pilot
project. From September 2004 onwards, one or more pupils will have a seat on
their decision-making bodies.
The pilot project will test a number of hypotheses, namely that co-determination -
in whatever form - has a positive influence on the culture and ethos of a school.
That the pupils who gain experience as governors can benefit from this in their
future life and are encouraged to set a good example, and will in all probability
manifest full citizenship. That citizenship is furthered by increasing the opportunities
to participate at school in general. That, finally, the co-determination bodies and
the boards in which pupils participate will function better because of the positive
and creative input of the pupils.
The difficult questions that remain and must be answered if the pilot project is to
be implemented on a large scale relate to issues such as the confidentiality of
documents, the possible exclusion of pupils who perform less well or who are less
popular, and the cultural changes that professional administrators must make if
they have to share part of their decision-making competency with pupils.
The plan for the ‘I was a teenage governor’ project is as follows. Between August
and December 2003, material was developed and the policy preparations carried
out. Research was conducted into the schools’ background and the co-determination
structures in place at that time. Interested schools could pay a visit to Development
Day in October, where the project was discussed and information was available.
The fund raising and writing the final pilot proposal also had to be completed by
December 2003. From January 2004 onwards, each participating school was
inspected. Models were set up for the election of young governors. Interested
62
pupils were trained to prepare them for elections and for the position itself.
Information was also disseminated and efforts made to raise the awareness of both
pupils and administrators.
The project is running from September 2004 to July 2006 and the elected pupils
are now on the respective boards. During this period, the results will be assessed
by means of internal and external evaluations. In the summer of 2006, the
evaluation will be completed and the plan for a possible large-scale introduction
of the project will be released. The best practices will be passed on to schools, as
well as models with points for attention and pitfalls. This will take the form of a
public report entitled ‘Making Pupil Governorship Work’ and will be available to
everyone on the internet. As can be seen from the project plan, the results are not
yet known.
35 The funding of political parties
In December 2004, the Electoral Commission issued a series of recommendations

relating to support for political parties63. In order to carry out their activities,
political parties are dependent on the financial support of the government. Some
parties find it difficult to finance all their activities and have to negotiate loans.
The first recommendation is that political parties must themselves set limits
(or this should be done by means of regulations) and that the spending of each
candidate during his or her campaign should also be curbed. The Commission
assumes that the electorate will benefit more from campaigns where the candidate
directly addresses the voter. The amounts released for the party and for the
candidate must be determined more in accordance with this principle. The
Commission recommends that the expenditure by a candidate be reduced, so
that more money is left over for the activities at local level.
Political donations are one of the most important sources of income for a party.
If a few donations form too large a part of the party’s income, then certain interests
may bear more weight in political decisions than others. This could affect the
legitimacy of these decisions and be bad for democracy. Opinions differ on this
sensitive topic. Prohibiting large donations is not a solution, however, because
political parties would then experience significant problems. The Commission is
looking at the consequences of such a decision, and also at alternative forms of
subsidies for political parties. Political parties must furthermore be encouraged to
increase the money that they have by spending it on recruitment activities for new
members.
63
36 Conclusion: the plans up to 2009
In 2004, the British government laid down plans for the period up to 200964,
with justice, the rights of the individual citizen and democracy taking centre stage.
The latter point is of interest to this study and relates to ways of encouraging
citizens to become involved in politics (‘political engagement’). In 2004/05, the
public education programme has been continued, and the option of postal voting
added, among other things, for the European elections. During the period 2005/06,
the government will respond to the proposals of the Electoral Commission in
relation to party subsidies and the minimum voting age. In 2006/07, electronic
registration will come into force and ‘e-voting’ will be high on the agenda. In
2007/08, the ‘multi channel elections bill’ will be launched and after 2008 electronic
voting must be possible for the first time. This is the agenda for democracy in
Great Britain in the coming years.
64
Austria
Introduction
In Austria there are three issues in relation to democracy which are currently
receiving a great deal of attention from politicians65. First of all, the focus is on
political education. After this topic almost ran aground in the political arena, a
discussion generating support for this issue nonetheless got off the ground among
non-governmental organisations this year.
The second hot topic at national level is e-government. Knowledge and expertise is
being developed on this subject in the Council of Europe and in the European
Union. However, there are practical and ethical objections about the lawfulness of
elections and decisions which are brought about by means of electronic instruments.
Many feel that the term push-button democracy has negative connotations.
No country has as yet introduced any form of electronic voting on a large scale.
This topic is high on the agenda in Austria.
The third issue is not a new one, but is instead a topic always on the agenda of the
Federal Ministry of the Interior, namely direct democracy. Austria has a combination
of representative and direct democracy. These both complement and compete with
one another. These three topics will be discussed below, as well as the related
instruments and projects.
37 Politische Bildung
At the end of the 20th century, the Austrian government also gave some thought
to the question of what challenges the legislator and administration could expect
at the start of the new millennium66. Political education came high on the social
agenda because Austria was experiencing a so-called politicisation of society. The
existing education had to be reviewed and strengthened, but political parties
showed no inclination to start this process. Organisations that dealt with
citizenship and political education ultimately played an important role. In Austria
there are a number of problems which hamper the introduction of effective political
education. Once the political difficulties have been overcome, apathy among those
who are supposed to implement the policy will be the largest problem. Those who
determine how the curriculum is put together at schools show no desire to
cooperate in the education plans.
The existing political education had to be updated because it was geared too much
towards factual knowledge. The transfer of knowledge is necessary as the basis of
65
the course, but pupils must also learn to form opinions. The aim is to increase
willingness to participate in democracy among pupils, in such a way that they
continue to contribute to democracy throughout their adult lives. Political skills
must not only be learned in the classroom, but also in daily life. In short, a link
must be made between learning at a school desk and the politics in the relevant
municipality or district. The question is then how political education is to be
labelled and how much space it should take up in the curriculum.
There are however no universal training methods available for political education.
Nor is there any standardised training for teachers. Because of this, there is a risk
in Austria that attempts to start up political education will amount to no more than
individual initiatives by a few schools. Despite all these start-up problems, the aim
in 2005 is to introduce political education in Austria on a large scale by releasing
additional resources. There is an awareness that this topic, that has generated
heated debate, is still at risk of running aground. The Democracy Centre is
nevertheless organising a network of people and institutions who/which exercise
a lot of influence on education in Austria. The plans which have come out of this
network for setting up political education will in all probability be financed by the
government. The aim is to have a standardised training programme for teachers
and a general political education programme at all schools. In this regard a
distinction should be made between the various school levels.
38 E-Government and cyberdemocracy
The e-government platform and the e-corporation board were set up and a list
of all the activities already being carried out was drawn up. In March 2004, the
E-Government Act was adopted, which meant that Austria was one of the first
Member States to implement the agreements made in the European Union in
practice67.
Safety and trust are given as the key elements of an electronic government and an
electronic democracy. Exclusion is also a potential risk, even if 60% of Austrians
have access to the internet. In this regard, Austria has the largest number of people
who make use of the internet in comparison to the other EU Member States.68
A large part of the discussion relates to improving citizens’ access to the services
provided by the administration. Another discussion, which is taking place more in
the background, relates to the importance of ICT for democracy.
Cyberdemocracy is seen as the instrument for interactive political communication,
by means of which all citizens can be informed and encouraged to get involved in
the discussion. This is based on the assumption that more citizens will participate
in the public decision-making process because it is accessible and not restricted to
66
a particular time or place. The idea is also that electronic instruments will make
direct democracy more attractive.
The cyberdemocracy optimists are arguing for the spectator democracy to be
dismantled and participatory democracy to be introduced with the help of ICT.
According to Peter Filzmayer,69 this has the following potential advantages: place
and time become irrelevant (people can participate and vote wherever and
whenever they want, provided that they have access to the internet); information
can more easily be disseminated, updated and located; increased interaction
between political elites and citizens; more opportunities to air opinions and
interests; increasing political participation (this is the theoretical expectation);
a reduction in the financial costs of information and communication.
ICT could however pose a number of threats to the health of democracy: an
increased amount of information and lower quality; the rationality of the internet
may obscure the soft side that colours every political debate; the possibility of
abuse and fraud; social isolation because of a lack of personal face-to-face contact;
more aggression and less emphasis on decorum in a discussion, which can
adversely affect the quality thereof.
Political education is touched on in relation to cyberdemocracy, because this form
of democracy requires different democratic skills from the citizen. Some skills, such
as non-verbal communication and verbal skills are less relevant in a cyberdemocracy.
Furthermore, a not insignificant minority of all citizens - those who have no access
to the internet - run the risk of being excluded from public debate. Elderly people
are particularly at risk of this.
What must be investigated before any form of electronic participation is introduced
is the question of how this will affect society. Furthermore, agreement must also be
reached about how cyberdemocracy is to be approached in practical, social and
ethical terms.
67
68
Switzerland
39 Size and Democracy
Introduction
Switzerland, together with California, is the leader in the area of direct democracy.
The paper71 on which this information has been based deals with the relationship
between the size of a municipality and the effect this has on (the vitality of )
democracy. The paper also gives an evaluation of democracy at the local level.
Switzerland has relatively small municipalities which have moreover had the same
geographic and organisational borders for a very long time. The municipal
institutions are also well-established organisations which are well known to
citizens.
The paper discusses empirical results in respect of the political system, the
existence and use of direct democratic instruments and participation by citizens.
The objective of the Swiss study is to get a better understanding of two presuppo-
sitions with regard to direct democracy. The first is that direct democracy is more
likely to thrive in a small unit and secondly that direct democracy has a positive
effect on citizen participation70.
Autonomy
Swiss municipalities experience size-related effects particularly if they have fewer
than 5000 inhabitants. Turnout is lower at elections in smaller municipalities.
Municipalities with between 5000 and 8000 inhabitants display few size-related
effects. Despite the limited number of inhabitants per municipality, it has the right
to decide on numerous diverse topics. Moreover, the tax area is relatively large. In
Switzerland, the subsidiarity requirement (the general rule that all regulations must
be enacted at the most appropriate level) is therefore an important principle. Social
security and public health are examples of issues which are to a large extent
regulated decentrally. As has already been stated, this is in contrast to the far-
reaching fiscal autonomy which is enjoyed by municipalities. The municipality is
also largely responsible for organising the political organisations and institutions.
Local democracy
Swiss direct democracy is very different to other (plebiscitary) forms of democracy.
Referenda are always about a decision that the government has already made. They
give citizens the opportunity to block this power by voting ‘No’. Initiatives, on the
69
other hand, create opportunities and possibilities instead of paralysing politics,

according to the Swiss. It seems as if ordinary citizens in Switzerland have the role
of setting up frameworks which is fulfilled by the municipal council in the
Netherlands. In Switzerland, the executive body of the municipality is directly
elected by the people. There are two options for carrying out the function that the
municipal council has in the Netherlands, and Swiss councils can choose which
one they wish to follow.
There is either a parliament with elected representatives who are directed and
monitored by means of supplementary direct democratic instruments, or the
municipality has a direct democratic legislature, consisting of an assembly of all
citizens. In the first case, the council has the parliamentary instruments, such as
the resolution, amendment and the initiative. Citizens also have the right of
initiative vis-à-vis the council, and there is also the referendum. In the second case,
the local assembly of all citizens is empowered to direct the executive power itself
via the referendum and/or initiative. Citizens also have the right of initiative and
referendum (in addition to the assembly of all citizens), just as in the parliamentary
system. Approximately 20 percent of the municipalities have a local parliament
(the first option).
Instruments available to citizens

The instruments which citizens have at their disposal at the local level in the case
of a parliamentary local system have more or less the same form as they have at
national level, although the citizen’s influence stretches much further at the local
level. In the municipality of Zurich, the citizens have four different instruments at
their disposal: the citizen initiative, the personal initiative, a binding referendum
(the most important instrument for the most important decisions, such as changes
to the basic local law) and an optional referendum.
In municipalities which have an assembly of all citizens instead of a parliament,
all decisions have more or less the same weight as a binding referendum. A major
difference is however that only the citizens who participate in the assembly of all
citizens are asked for their opinion. Citizens who stay at home do not get a say on
the matters on the agenda. They are however informed about the agenda of the
meeting in question and are therefore given the chance to have their say.
The influence of size

The report cites Dahl and Tufte,72 who say that political participation is not
influenced by the size of the municipality. In a country where politics are accessible
and comprehensible, the rule that, in relative terms, small municipalities have
more participating citizens than large ones applies. However, in the case of direct
70
participation we generally observe a negative correlation between participation and

the size of a municipality.
The report also highlights the fact that there is a strong link between the size of the
municipality and the form of the legislative bodies. Small municipalities usually
have an assembly of all citizens, while larger municipalities have a representative
body. Larger municipalities also have more interest groups which are furthermore
largely independent of the municipality. This means that these organisations
increasingly use the citizen initiative in a more formalised manner, in order to
achieve their aims. Moreover, the larger the municipality, the lower the turnout at
assemblies of all citizens and elections. Finally, the use of direct democratic
instruments is greater in larger municipalities than in smaller ones.
In the French and Italian-speaking areas, there is a greater preference for a
representative body. This may be to do with the political culture of France and Italy,
which is not strongly geared towards direct democracy. This means that a (more)
direct democracy does not work everywhere and that its success is highly
dependent on the political culture of the country in question.
Co n c l u s i o n s
The report further deals with the question of what can be learnt from this Swiss
case. According to the report, a small municipality is better for participation. After
all, more citizens attend the assembly of all citizens and go to the polling booth in
smaller municipalities. The Swiss explain this on the basis of theories derived from
social psychology and political economy. They then come to a number of
conclusions. The first conclusion is that the influence the citizen has is greater in a
smaller municipality. Secondly, there is more identification with the municipality
and the issues when the municipality is small. Thirdly, social control is greater in
smaller municipalities.
Other countries can learn something from Switzerland, but the fact that the
conditions in Switzerland are fundamentally different to those in other countries
must be taken into account. Municipalities are very small, have a great deal of
autonomy and discretion, many decisions at the local level have a direct or indirect
impact on taxes and Switzerland has a long tradition of direct democracy.
71
72
Italy
Introduction
As far as Italy is concerned, the study has only uncovered social activity (no public
activity). It is true that the government party Lega Nord is arguing for the Italian
republic to be reformed, but the government does not have any specific democracy-
promoting practices as referred to in this study: “We want to create a Federal State,
in which - surely - there will be more democracy, more citizen’s participation to the
public questions. We consider federalism and so, the federal reform of our
Constitution, the first step to create a political system more democratic and more
transparent73.” The policy to promote democracy is not (yet) far enough advanced
to make any concrete pronouncements about it.
Problems are however being experienced in respect of the collaboration between
the state and civil society organisations (CSOs). The CSOs constitute an active civil
society where various social problems can be resolved. According to Cittadinanzattiva,
a CSO that devotes its time to various social problems, also in relation to partici-
pation and inclusivity, the government is not sufficiently open to the efforts of civil
society. All the lobbying work has ultimately not resulted in either an allocated
budget or a policy programme. Cittadinanzattiva feels that the government is not
responsive enough to the various social problems and is not able to take up social
initiatives, endorsed by many citizens, in a manner satisfactory to citizens.
Practice 40 relates to an explanation of the rule of horizontal subsidiarity. Practice
41 relates to another measure to resolve the problems described above, namely by
means of financial incentives.
40 Art. 118.4 of the Constitution
Italian public debate is currently focusing on the question of how collaboration

between the government and civil society can be structured on an equal footing,
according to the rule of horizontal subsidiarity introduced into the Italian
constitution in 200174. The demand for such a rule came from the CSOs, which
felt that there was not enough scope in the public domain to successfully
implement social initiatives.
The state previously had a monopoly on tackling public problems. Horizontal
subsidiarity means that the Italian Republic accepts, recognises and encourages
social activities (from CSOs, but also, for example, petitions from individuals).
73
In short, the rule of horizontal subsidiarity has indeed been formally introduced,
but must still be embedded in the society and culture.
41 Cittadinanzattiva
In 1997, the ‘general law on non-profit organisations’ was adopted, which ensured
that individual persons could deduct their donations from their taxable income.
This means that they can donate up to 2,000 euro to charities, without having to
pay tax on this. Businesses can do the same up to 2% of their taxable income.
The civil society campaign “Più dai, meno versi” (the more you give, the less you
pay) ensured that the law was publicised, and members of parliament also helped
with this.
Italian individuals and businesses now donate more than they previously did,
although only 53% of those questioned were aware of the tax incentives and only
20% of that group had actually made use of the scheme. People who made
donations without being aware of the scheme donated 92 euro, people who were
aware of the scheme donated 212 euro.
74
South Korea
Introduction
The current cabinet of President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea governs in a
democracy thanks to the developments after the Cold War during President Three-
Kim’s term of office. It is thanks to the latter and the three presidents who followed
him from 1987 onwards that fair elections, democratic institutions and a radical
reform of the government were brought about. However, this could not be expected
to result in a healthy, properly functioning democracy immediately, and there is still
a certain degree of corruption and fraud, and the structure of political parties is still
rather less than democratic. It is up to President Roh to get rid of these flaws in
what is now a fully-fledged democracy. To this end, a political reform programme
has been initiated involving five general goals as well as ten general proposals for
improving the political order. The most relevant goals and how these are to be
achieved are discussed below.
All goals form part of the political philosophy of Roh Moo Hyun. That is, they focus
on inclusive institutions (no political exclusion of any social group), participation,
legitimacy and confidence, the decentralisation of power, the autonomy of social
parties (free discussions in the public domain), democratic accountability, checks
and balances and, finally, communication between the government and citizens75.
42 Participating in political parties
Politics should be open and accessible76. One of the initiatives that can contribute
to this is the attempt by political parties to involve as many voters as possible in
the campaigns so that they can work on the campaigns and get a taste of politics at
first hand. The structure of a party should also be accessible and not too complicated
for the average citizen.
The political parties are putting proposals for achieving these goals into practice.
First of all, the members of a political party elect their management. Secondly,
political parties must grow by recruiting active members, on the one hand, and
sponsors and volunteers who support the party, on the other. Such a party is then
a broad party in the literal sense of the word. It is also the responsibility of political
parties to give their members as much information as possible about political
decision-making in parliament. The party’s behaviour can be criticised by the
members via (internet) discussions.
75
43 Removing obstacles that reduce access to politics
New politicians should be hindered as little as possible by financial, social, political

or other obstacles77. Discrimination by established politicians must be prevented.
In other words, steps must be taken to ease the entrance of young or new
politicians into the political arena.
According to the government, the way to achieve these goals is to remove the
restrictions that make it difficult to stand as a candidate and to conduct a campaign.
A candidate must be able to make full use of different media to create a public
platform which is generally accessible.
Secondly, it has been recommended that the Clean Elections System of the state of
Maine in the US be adopted. Maine will be adopting the Clean Election Act, which
ensures that no governor will in future be elected by accepting money from
businesses or other organisations that want to exercise influence on the actions
of the governor. After it became apparent that many citizens attach a great deal of
importance to ‘clean elections’, a Clean Election Fund was set up in 2005, which
raised 2.4 million dollars. The state of Maine wants future elections always to be
funded from public funds, and the Clean Election Act will ensure that this is the
case. It is rare for someone to be elected without receiving private donations,
governor Janet Napolitano from Arizona was the first.78
Existing restrictions on voting must also be dismantled. The voting age in South
Korea is being lowered to 18 years to achieve this goal. Finally, the reform
programme refers to the importance of discussion and communication. A number
of steps need to be taken on all fronts to achieve this aim. Information is seen as
the first step towards politics, and a lack of information can be an important
reason for not playing a role in politics.
44 Reducing exclusion: integration and inclusivity
Groups which suffer from discrimination, such as women, people with a foreign
background or homosexuals, should, where necessary, be supported in the
exercising of their political tasks79. Voting at elections should also preferably be a
true reflection of society. Extra efforts specially geared towards underrepresented
groups may be needed to achieve this. Safeguarding the plurality and diversity
regarded as so important in a democracy is also given as an important point in this
regard. The various levels of government (vertical) and the various organisations in
society (horizontal) must form a strong network with civil society, which is also
called the cement that holds democracy together. How this is to be done is not
apparent from the information available and has probably not yet been determined
in Korea.
76
45 Transparent politics
The aim of the Korean government is to achieve transparent, clean politics80.

Politics that cost a great deal of money, are corrupting and have few public
accounting mechanisms are not worth pursuing. It is therefore considered
necessary to reform the provision of subsidies to political parties. Furthermore,
the laws to prevent corruption are being tightened up and standards are being
formulated for the financial housekeeping of political parties. This housekeeping
must in any event
be transparent at all times. The internet is seen as the most important medium for
providing and collecting information to achieve this aim as well. A simple but
effective measure is making it possible to register as a member of a political party
via the internet and to pay the contribution via the internet as well. The two aims
(removing obstacles and increasing transparency) come together at this point.
Political accountability (for example, making it possible to inspect the budget of a
political party and how this is spent) can be implemented extremely well via the
internet. As was apparent above, discussions are still underway about the
possibility of electronic voting on a large scale, but this is indeed seen as an
instrument for strengthening democracy. All that is needed is a plan for the
practical and lawful implementation of this.
77
78
Spain
Introduction
According to the various persons contacted, not much can be expected from Spain
in terms of promoting democracy81. Spain is one of the youngest democracies in
this study. Nevertheless, the Spanish are endeavouring to achieve a more inclusive
society, as can be seen from the objectives of the EMSI (practice 47). Practice 46
relates to the public campaign for Europe. This policy practice has been included
here because boosting European citizenship can also be seen as boosting
citizenship in general.
46 Hablamos De Europa
This major public campaign was launched in Spain in November 200582. It is a

large-scale initiative that aims to acquaint citizens with Europe, based on the idea
that every Spanish citizen is after all a European citizen. If Europe does not live in
the minds of the people, there can be no European democracy. To increase the
turnout at elections, attempts are therefore being made to raise Europe’s profile in
the minds of the Spanish population in this sustainable way.
The campaign focuses on the sectors where the turnout during the referendum was
the lowest, that is, particularly people in the small provincial towns and young
people. The campaign is decentralised and uses the network that served campaigners
well during the referendum campaign. Partners include the Chambers of Commerce,
interest and pressure group (social partners) and schools and universities. The
relevant department within the government (Z/SGEU) has a limited budget for this
undertaking, namely 700,000 euro. Representatives of the European Parliament
and the European Commission are closely involved.
47 EMSI
The public service institution that is responsible for social immigration in the
autonomous federal state of Madrid, the EMSI, was set up by the Department
for Social Services with the cooperation of the Directorate-General for Immigration,
Development Assistance and Voluntary Work of the federal state of Madrid, under
the leadership of the Spanish Red Cross Madrid83.
The EMSI was created to promote the training and education of, as well as raising
79
the awareness of, people from foreign backgrounds and native Spaniards, and is
therefore dedicated to achieving an inclusive society. It helps communities to find
common ground between various ethnic groups in society. The aim is to achieve
higher levels of cultural exchange and a greater degree of integration of immigrants
in Madrid.
The EMSI functions as a meeting place for different cultures and trains the voluntary
workers on which the organisation depends. Problems are identified and solutions
are considered with regard to removing cultural barriers, so that it is possible to
move towards a culturally enriched society. The co-existence of different cultures
has often led to major clashes, something the government wants to prevent in
future.
The segregated society must become an inclusive society that focuses on the
possible cultural enrichment of all ethnic minorities instead of on cultural
differences in the negative sense. With these aims in mind, the school has been
set up as a centre that is accessible to every person, institution and association
that wants to work on the project. Benefits in terms of democracy are an emphasis
on voluntary work in a field that affects a lot of people and that represents an
urgent problem, as well as efforts to reduce exclusion and a focus on equal
opportunities in democracy. Society must not exclude anyone, and therefore a
certain level of integration must be achieved in a large city such as Madrid.
80
Portugal
Introduction
Portugal is experiencing substantial problems in terms of involvement, confidence

and participation84. The contact persons felt that there was a very large gap between
citizens and politics. Citizens believe that representatives do not listen to them and
that they work, far removed from the daily lives of citizens, with matters from which
citizens should preferably be excluded. But the government has however developed
an initiative to do something about this that may be of interest.
48 Young People’s Parliament
Since 1995, sessions have been organised in the Portuguese parliament for children
of school age, to give them first hand experience of the value of democracy. As part
of citizenship education, attempts are being made to teach them the skills every
citizen needs to be able to participate in a democratic body. The initiative forms
part of the ‘School and Parliament’ project that was launched by the Ministry of
Education in 1998. Up until 2000, only classes with children of between 10 and 15
years of age were invited. In 2000, a proposal to include 16 to 18 year olds in the
project was accepted. According to the current scheme, the Education, Science and
Culture Committee is responsible for supporting the project. Each year, this
committee defines and evaluates the guidelines and teaching methods that shape
the project. The different themes to be discussed in each session are also devised
and prepared by the committee. The project runs in various phases during the
school year.
In addition to the committee, a Project Team was also created to coordinate the
sessions. They maintain contact with the various educational institutions in the
country. Someone from the ministry takes care of the information about the
functioning of the project and is a member of the Project Team.
The school pupils take part in various phases. In phase 1, pupils can register and
are prepared for what will come next. In phase 2, elections are held, supported by
election campaigns organised by the pupils, which lead to an election result. A
number of pupils per school can participate in the parliament sessions, they are
democratically chosen by their fellow pupils and form a parliamentary group. In
phase 3, the elected pupils take part in a number of preparatory meetings at their
own school. These meetings are chaired by a number of national coordinators and
81
attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education. The pupils divide the

tasks among themselves (naturally via a democratic procedure) and do preparatory
work in respect of the content of the sessions in the parliament.
Phase 4 consists of the actual participation by the pupils in the parliament sessions
in May and June. Since 2004, this period has been divided into two parts: firstly,
preparatory meetings are held per committee, followed by a plenary session. This
gives the pupils a first-hand view of how a parliament actually functions. This is
regarded as important because of the degree to which pupils can immerse them-
selves in politics and in the customs and practices of Portuguese democracy.
Efforts are made to simulate how an actual democratic debate works in practice
as closely as possible.
Finally, the pupils are given the opportunity to put questions to members of
parliament. The sessions are broadcast live on Canal Parlemento, the public
channel for political topics, and since 2003, on the internet as well. A number of
senior officials, such as the president of the Assembleia da Republica and the
Minister of Education, Culture and Science open and close the day in parliament.
82
Japan
Introduction
Japan has a number of coherent programmes relating to the promotion of

democracy. The Japanese are already looking ahead and are trying to overcome
future problems in respect of democracy. Various demographic changes, as well
as changes to the lifestyle of Japanese citizens, have stimulated the process of
deepening democracy. Efforts are being made to promote democracy in a sustainable
manner, usually - and notably - via long-term policy. Japan supports the position
that has already made an appearance in other practices, namely that sustainable
democracy is a long-term process. A target group that fits in with this is young
people. Practice 50 is specially geared towards this group, but young people also
implicitly play a role in the other practices to promote a cohesive society.
49 Towards a Cohesive Society, 2001
This programme relates to one of the six aspects of the government’s social reform
plans to achieve a more ‘cohesive society’86. There is a need for this because of the
co-existence of more diverse lifestyles, the ageing of the population and a decline in
the number of children. A cohesive society is based on independence and a spirit
of mutual helpfulness. The community as a whole helps to raise the children, and
each person can live his or her life in a way which is satisfactory to him or her,
without being hindered by age or disability. Against this background, the director-
general of ‘policies on a comprehensive society’ has created a suitable policy frame-
work that will cope with the social developments that are also taking place in Japan.
The ‘National Youth Development Policy’ (December 2003) and the ‘safe and
peaceful national life’ plan are relevant for this study.
50 Youth Development Plan
Under the Youth Development Plan87, exchange programmes with various other
countries in the world are organised for young Japanese. The idea is to train young
people in citizenship so that later on they will be more inclined to live lives where
the public interest comes first. The ‘White Paper on Youth 2003’87 refers to a
number of initiatives which fit in with the aim of educating young people and giving
them the knowledge and skills to be able to make a contribution to democracy.
83
The Cabinet Office organises various international exchange programmes, such as

the ‘International Youth Development Exchange Project’, the ‘Japan-China Youth
Friendship Exchange’, the ‘Japan-Korea Youth Friendship Exchange’, the ‘Ship for
World Youths’, the ‘Ship for Southeast Asia Youths’, the ‘21st Century Renaissance
of Youth Leaders Invitation Program’, and finally the ‘International Youth Village’.
In 2002, the ‘Program for the Development of Core Leaders of Social Activities by
Youths’ was launched with the primary aim of developing young leaders who
would, after this learning experience, always do their best for society. The idea is
that the experience of travelling and meeting people from other cultures
automatically creates social involvement. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also
released money for similar projects. In Japan, a great deal of attention is being paid
to young people based on the idea that it is not just parents but the whole of
society that is responsible for the (political) education of young people.
51 Safe and Peaceful National Life
Globalisation, information technology and an increasingly diverse society are given

as the aspects which have changed the lives of the Japanese in recent decades.
The aim is to achieve a ‘safe and peaceful national life89’ by setting up a ‘Quality of
Life Policy Bureau’ which focuses on founding and strengthening institutions in
society. This keeps an eye on the economy and boosts this if necessary. In addition
to acting as an economic driving force, the Bureau also focuses on social aspects
of society, for example, by encouraging voluntary activities. This encouragement
takes two forms: firstly, there is an ‘operation of the Non-profit Organisation Law’
and secondly, voluntary activities are encouraged. The Bureau forms part of the
Cabinet Office that draws up laws relating to non-profit organisations to promote
non-profit activities in society. Barriers that prevent people from working on a
social problem on a voluntary basis must be removed. Part of the tax burden was
removed for voluntary workers in April 2003 (this made non-profit organisations
more attractive employers). NPO laws were reviewed in May 2004 and adapted to
give voluntary workers more scope to carry out their social task. Furthermore, it is
planned to increase the number of non-profit organisations in Japan to 20,000 in
2005.
84
New Zealand
Introduction
On 31 October 2005, the ‘Electoral Commission’ issued a report which gave the
state of affairs in relation to elections, turnout and participation. Turnout in 2005
was lower than in any other national election since 1978. Maori, young people and
‘pacific peoples’ are less politically involved and active. Research has shown that it
is necessary to do something about the declining levels of involvement, because
information and education will have no effect if citizens are not interested in these.
The report also gives the Commission’s plans to improve the situation.
52 Young people
Hands Up! – Teacher resource

This is a learning programme for primary and secondary education31. At school,
pupils learn about different identities, groups, forms of social action, decision-
making processes and government systems and what these differences mean in a
democracy. This involves topics relating to the concept of citizenship and involve-
ment in society. The intention is for pupils to be encouraged by the teaching
programme to become politically active, or in any event socially active. New Zealanders
are also convinced that pupils learn much more in practice than in the classroom.
The Commission wants pupils to learn the following facts:
- a citizen has reason to become active in a social action group or a community
- individuals identify themselves in different ways and belong to different groups and
communities
- groups operate in different ways in relation to the aim and the rules of the group
and the roles that citizens play in decision-making processes
- individuals and groups use different methods to become involved in society and to
participate in social activities
- people have rights and responsibilities
- the government of New Zealand uses a particular decision-making model, other
countries use different ones
- the political processes in New Zealand make it possible for all citizens to participate
at the national and international levels.
85
Wallace Awards
In June 2005, the commission handed out various awards to a number of people
who had developed initiatives to increase the turnout at the 2005 elections.
Categories in which awards were given were: organising projects in a number of
classes; teaching excellence; dealing with elections in class in a creative manner;
and finally, successfully encouraging more political participation by young people.
Youth Law sponsorship

This relates to a legal services centre for young people that gives advice about
questions relating to elections and ways of becoming socially or politically involved
and helps young people to familiarise themselves with democracy. The centre has
an informative function and works pro-actively in addition to providing information
on request.
53 Journalists
People in New Zealand are aware that the news media play a critical role in
democracy. Whether citizens can become well-informed citizens partly depends
on the media. The media can also encourage citizens to participate actively in
elections and paint the picture that citizens have of public institutions.
The Commission issued the book ‘Covering Elections – A Guide for Journalists’,91
published by the ‘New Zealand Journalists Training Organisation’. In response to
this book, training courses and workshops were organised which were open to 150
journalists.
The underlying idea is that a healthy democracy and a free, critical press will only
be in balance when the media and the public institutions work together produc-
tively in society. The danger is that a poor relationship between the institutions will
lead to decreasing social cohesion. New Zealand is experiencing a trend of declining
participation and decreasing turnout at elections, and the media has been assigned
an important task in reversing this process.
54 Education and information for everyone
The Commission has not only thought about education for young people and
journalists, but has also set requirements that apply to education in general.
Accessible information must be provided about elections, primarily via the website.
This information must be of a high quality and must be suitable for all target groups.
Specific sources must be added for certain target groups, for example for young
people, migrants and Maori.
It is also important to collaborate with other parties, particularly non-governmental
86
organisations. Long-term goals must be laid down, because increasing the turnout
at elections cannot be achieved in a sustainable way in the short term. Citizens
must understand politics, must build up confidence in this area, must have an
understanding of the relevance of voting for their own lives and must be confident
that politicians will listen to them and finally each citizen must be aware of the
power of his or her vote. The Electoral Commission will devote itself to achieving
these goals in the coming years.
87
88
Belgium
55 Introduction: King Baudouin Foundation
All the information that appears in this study about Belgium comes from the
King Baudouin Foundation.92 Nevertheless, the government’s attitude towards
promoting democracy in Belgium is clearly visible, thanks to the Foundation’s
many reports on government policy. The government and the Foundation also
often work together in their efforts to make democracy sustainable.
The Foundation was specifically set up to make the lives of Belgian citizens ‘better’.
Various departments are responsible for information and projects relating to
numerous social aspects (such as social vulnerability, health, art and culture,
justice, participation in associations and voluntary work, the economy and the
social environment). Social participation is one of the Foundation’s central
concerns. Information about and the activities of the Foundation which are relevant
for this study are set out below.
56 Media
In the publication ‘Tussen Woord en Daad’ the Foundation asks whether and how
the mass media can increase the social involvement of citizens. Television is seen
as an important medium for reaching citizens, because it is the most common
recreational activity in Belgium and the rest of the western world and can be
informative in nature. The Foundation wants to work together with journalists to
get a debate going about this question. The publication summarises and explains
journalistic practices which can contribute to participation and involvement. These
are discussed briefly below.
Information
First of all, the publication refers to the importance of understandable and
accessible information. Since democracy is based on the participation of well-
informed citizens, it is not surprising that this component is highlighted. The
media therefore has a filtering and organising role to play in respect of reporting
complex social problems which, furthermore, not infrequently require prior legal,
economic or political knowledge. Accessibility is seen as important because the
information must be and remain available to the citizen. References to sources also
increase the accessibility of information.
Secondly, importance is attached to information geared towards social (inter)
89
action. This means that the media must pay sufficient attention to civil society,
with the non-governmental organisations that act as the cement of any democracy.
Citizens must know not only how to reach the political arena via interest groups,
but also what to do if they want to undertake voluntary work.
Thirdly, the publication refers to the importance of positive information. Concrete
successes achieved by politics do not have to go unnoticed, but reporting must not
go too far the other way either. The media should be critical, but there must be a
balance and the media should, as far as possible, try to accurately reflect what is
actually happening in society.
Fourthly, the publication touches on information about structural problems.
The background to problems should be illuminated but it is important for
journalists not to do this by focusing solely on individual people. People may
however be used as a metaphor for the situation or to make the report clearer.
Fifthly, the publication highlights critical information, also called the media’s
critical monitoring or watchdog function. This basic principle of journalism is
still important, but may also be focused on the media’s own sector. Critical
introspection is always needed, because a journalist partly determines public
opinion and this is a serious responsibility. This issue is related to the ‘Public
Journalism’ movement from the US.
The role of the government

The report also looks at the question of what role the government can play in
dealing with this issue. Reference is made to a fund for media democratisation,
support for initiatives and collaborative projects focusing on activities to strengthen
citizenship and participation. This has already been suggested at the international
level a number of times, in the form of a collaborative proposal between govern-
ment and media organisations. The fund could be supported from advertising
income from commercial media or, for example, levies.
57 Democracy Portal
Another organisation affiliated with the King Baudouin Foundation, the Democracy
Portal www.knooppuntdemocratie.be (supported by three ministries93), wants to
teach pupils from the fifth year of primary school up to and including the final year
of secondary school about democracy and the democratic institutions, give them a
sense of how these work and encourage the pupils to participate in politics. To this
end, the Democracy Portal organises day programmes for the various classes.
Every school can register for a day programme.
The programme consists, depending on the pupils’ age group, of an afternoon
90
spent getting to grips, in an easy and accessible manner, with democratic practices
such as participation and involvement. Another opportunity offered by the Portal is
constructing a city where democracy - given the game’s structure - is central. This
game, Democracity, is a didactic game in which a maximum of 28 people can
participate. A third possibility is a visit to a democratic institution and a discussion
about participation and involvement. The oldest pupils are encouraged to assess
the institutions critically and party programmes are discussed.
Teachers have also been taken into account, in the form of teaching material and
informative links so that they can prepare for their lessons and pupils’ questions.
The Portal has set up a recruitment website which makes teachers aware of the
service offered. The message is that the Portal offers teachers opportunities to turn
their pupils into citizens-in-the-making.
58 Voluntary work
As its title indicates, the report to the King Baudouin Foundation deals with
Elements for a policy in respect of voluntary workers and voluntary work94. The report
was drawn up because of the changing social and legal circumstances that
voluntary workers have to face. Belgian voluntary organisations are becoming ever
more businesslike since they have to comply with the administrative rules set by
the government. Moreover, individual voluntary workers are also having to deal
with regulations that make their work, which is to a large extent socially engaged
work, less attractive and more complicated.
There was a great deal of commotion in Belgian voluntary organisations after the
publication of the book ‘status of voluntary workers - problems and solutions’. The
author tried to cut through the legal tangle that voluntary workers have to deal
with. This proved to be no easy task. Voluntary work is seen as one of the
foundations of democracy, and the Belgians according believe that the
administrative side of voluntary work should be made as easy as possible to enable
voluntary workers to give their full attention to the social problems.
2001 was designated the ‘International year of voluntary workers’. This meant that
a great deal of political attention was paid to the topic and, also because of the
research work of the King Baudouin Foundation, this led to a number of starting
points for revising the legislation.
91
92
III Analysis
A Introduction
Studying the various policy practices to promote democracy gives us a better

understanding of the different ways in which attempts are being made to
strengthen the sustainability of democracy. The practices have been clustered
into four categories, based on type. These categories are:
- Democratic structure (B)
- Political representation (C)
- Civil Society (D)
- Citizenship (E)
The above clusters are used to explain what the various countries are doing to
strengthen democracy. Section II gave extensive information per country and per
policy practice. The context and the reasons for the particular action on the part of
the government and the aims of the policy programme or the social institution
were discussed. The policy practices were numbered in section II, and this number
will always be used when referring to these practices in the following analysis.
A (theoretical) introduction is given per cluster, so that it is clear what links the
practices discussed. The practices are then analysed, with brief references to a few
particularly notable practices. This is followed by a conclusion, giving the most
important findings for the relevant cluster.
B Democratic Structure
Introduction
The democratic structure is a system based on legal or administrative precepts

and that determines how elections are organised and - more fundamentally - to
what extent direct and indirect forms of democracy alternate with one another.
The Netherlands is, to a large extent, a representative or indirect democracy.
This means that the periodic elections play an important role in democracy,
politicians are judged by their performance and new people’s representatives are
elected. This is the time when citizens make their voices heard.
Some practices from abroad are geared towards strengthening representative
93
democracy by focusing on elections. This offers an interesting overview of practices

designed to increase election turnout. Other countries are focusing on more direct
forms of democracy, and this gives us an informative picture of the advantages and
disadvantages of referenda. The practices are analysed below. The practice number
refers in each case to the more extensive discussion of the practice in section II.
Analysis of policy practices (Democratic structure policy practices

5-8-9-11-14-19-20-25-29-31-33-38-35-39-43-45)
The countries discussed below are trying to increase sustainability by focusing on

the democratic or electoral structure.
Elections
Different countries have different ways of strengthening their democratic structure.
All policy practices focus on increasing the democratic legitimacy of public
institutions. This is done by having well-organised elections, among other things.
In Canada, legitimacy and impartiality, ensuring that all citizens have the
opportunity to participate, and guaranteeing a high election turnout are central.
The provision of information is very important in this respect, but efforts are also
being made to find ways of publicising the elections more effectively, striking
examples of which are the distribution of political crossword puzzles and the
‘Elections Trivia Game’, a quiz one can play at home (policy practice 5). Canada is
looking for ways to increase the legitimacy of its parliament and is doing this by
aiming to achieve as high an election turnout as possible.
Denmark, Norway and Great Britain have been using ‘postal voting’ for a number
of years now. In many countries, postal voting is only available for citizens who live
abroad, but now voters who are not very mobile or who find it difficult to leave their
homes for other reasons, can also cast their votes a number of weeks in advance
(policy practices 11 and 31). Postal voting is also purely intended to increase
election turnout and thereby achieve a more solid mandate for the elected
parliament.
In Austria, it is expected that ICT may be able to contribute to the legitimacy of
public institutions. Austrians hope that cyberdemocracy (policy practice 38) will
increase turnout and result in reduced exclusion of certain groups of citizens.
The question of privacy and security, something that also constitutes an obstacle
in the Netherlands, still poses a problem, however.
It is not known whether these measures are effective in terms of increasing election
turnout.
94
Direct democracy
Switzerland (policy practice 39) uses a combination of indirect and direct
democracy. Swiss research shows that the success of the assemblies of all citizens
depends on the size of the municipality. The smaller the municipality, the more
influence a citizen has, the more he or she identifies with the topics on the agenda
and the greater the degree of social control. Lower turnout at elections in small
municipalities is offset by other forms of participation. Citizens probably have more
contact with one another, something that creates social cohesion. Other research
also shows that social cohesion and active citizenship strengthen one another.95
Decisions taken at the local level in Switzerland are therefore generally regarded as
having a high degree of legitimacy. Citizens have a relatively large amount of
influence, which encourages involvement and confidence.
The municipalities in Switzerland are relatively small, have a large amount of
autonomy and the municipal borders have remained unchanged for a long time,
which means that citizens have been on the same wavelength for generation after
generation and interests are clearly demarcated. The combination of autonomy and
the citizen’s high degree of decision-making power ensure that the decisions are
usually accepted. People in Switzerland are highly satisfied with the democratic
structure at local level, according to the researchers from the university that carried
out the study.96 See policy practice 39 for a more extensive discussion of the
results.
According to the theory, this is a way to strengthen the basis of democracy. Such a
structure, where local autonomy in combination with a deeply rooted citizens’
culture ensure a lively democracy, does a great deal for sustainability. In Switzerland,
however, these characteristics of local democracy are a given. It cannot simply be
assumed that elements from this coherent package would also have positive
consequences elsewhere.
Equal access and responsiveness

Korea is aiming for a society where inclusivity and equal opportunities are
important values. There must, particularly in relation to political issues, be fewer
obstacles and more women, young people and disabled persons must be given the
opportunity to have their say and make a difference (policy practice 43). Korea is
still struggling with corruption and fraud at elections, which is regarded as very
damaging to a healthy democracy.
In both Great Britain and South Korea, a debate is underway about the financing
of political parties, with the central question being whether it is right for large sums
of money to come from the business community, which may give this sector a
disproportionate degree of influence. This can hamper equal access (people
without any money should also be able to express their opinions via a political
95
party). These are interesting practices because questions about this topic are
currently being raised in the Netherlands as well. See policy practices 35 and 45.
Finland is struggling with the question of how improved representation in the
broad sense (not just in terms of politics, but also of the administration) can
resolve the current problems, such as a lack of confidence. According to the Finns,
this can be achieved if the government shows itself to be more open and as having
a large amount of relevant knowledge. It is seen as extremely important that
citizens trust the information provided to them by their government, otherwise the
government’s task will be unnecessarily hampered. See for example the ‘Hear The
Citizens project’ under policy practice 25. Germany is also trying to move towards
a more responsive government, see policy practice 14.
By aiming for equal participation, the countries discussed expect to achieve greater
acceptance and less smouldering dissatisfaction among specific groups. The opinion
shared by the countries considered is that minority groups must also have a
platform to speak out, since only then will a country have an ‘inclusive society’
(without the structural exclusion of certain groups) and a legitimate state. The
concept of inclusivity is identified as an aim for a number of countries. According
to some, this aim can be achieved in terms of the democratic structure by focusing
on equal opportunities.
Institutional commitment
The US offers another initiative to increase the sustainability of public institutions,
with universities and schools working together to strengthen ‘institutional
commitment’ among pupils and students (policy practices 8 and 9). The idea
behind this attempt to encourage political commitment among young people is,
among other things, that this will give public institutions an ongoing rationale in
the future, as a result of which sustainability will - it is assumed - increase.
Conclusions with regard to democratic structure
Many of the countries studied are trying to interest more citizens in elections.
Declining turnout is a fact in many wealthy, established democracies. Although this
is often a steady decline, there is nevertheless concern about the future of political
institutions. One example is reviewing policy relating to political parties. The
assumption that political parties are losing their significance in the current infor-
mation society appears to be emphasised by a number of countries.
In addition, policy often focuses on the accessibility of elections. Information and
communication technology offers new possibilities, but countries are wary of the
detrimental side effects of these. Postal voting is used to fulfil citizens’ desire to be
96
able to vote anywhere, anytime. Countries are also trying to achieve accessibility in
other ways, namely by providing citizens, and particularly the more vulnerable
citizens, with better information about elections and casting their vote. In any case,
increasing the turnout at elections is based on strengthening the democratic
structure.
By increasing equal access to politics and greater responsiveness on the part of the
government, some countries hope to achieve a more inclusive society. It may be
that the concepts have a causal relationship. However, it is unfortunately not
possible to make hard and fast pronouncements here on the basis of the material
studied. It can however be said that it is likely that participation is good for demo-
cracy and that the exclusion of certain groups is not.
In summary, it can be said, as regards the practices focusing on strengthening the
democratic structure, that it is likely that positive results will be achieved in the
various countries, but that no spectacular increases in election turnout are to be
expected.
C Political Representation
Introduction
The Netherlands is a representative democracy. Many countries are thinking about

sustainable ways of strengthening the representative function of the bodies that
represent the people. This is also a topic in academic literature. The literature uses
the term ‘mimetic representation’ for the form of representation where the elected
representatives act as a conduit. The term ‘aesthetic representation’ is used in the
literature for the other concept of representation.97 The first variant or concept of
representation leads to efforts to achieve an exact reflection of the population.
Someone who prefers mimetic representation would rather have a parliament in
which all population groups are represented. Such a person would also be an
elected representative who would rather directly communicate the interests of
the citizen in politics, without filtering these through his own opinion as well.
- In the case of aesthetic representation, the elected representative allows more of
his own ideas to come to the fore. He uses what he himself thinks to remodel the
interests of the population into an opinion in his own way. In practice, such an
elected representative will give more weight to his own convictions, ideology or
principles in the decision. A mimetic elected representative, in contrast, will also
first think what the population or the voter would want or think at that point.
- The policy practices from abroad that focus on strengthening the representative
function of elected representatives are analysed in the light of the above concepts.
97
Analysis of policy practices (policy practices

4-16-21-23-24-28-30-42-44-46-54)
Elected representatives
The study highlighted various ways of achieving greater responsiveness on the part
of government and politicians. The method mentioned most often is training
elected representatives. The idea is that the attitude of the elected representative
is extremely important for more public accountability, openness and participation.
If elected representatives do not take their task seriously, the government becomes
to a certain extent less reflective and responsive. They translate the wishes of the
citizen and should expose abuses. The problem is however that many
representatives easily turn inwards, that is, they turn their backs on the people.
Canada set up a development programme to make members of parliament aware
of their ‘higher purpose’, which is an example of endeavouring to achieve better
aesthetic representation. Inter-parliamentary networks are also an example of an
instrument by means of which an overall understanding of the public interest can
be developed (policy practice 4). Elected representatives in various countries can
learn from one another. This applies not only to content-related knowledge but also
to views and skills in respect of representation itself.
An important role has also been set aside for political parties in terms of the
accessibility of politics, for example in South Korea (see also policy practices 21-22-
23-28-30-32-35-42 from other clusters). In the policy practices, the political parties
emerge as the guardians of democracy in the broadest sense of the word. For
example, they are seen as responsible for the accessibility of politics and for
keeping the provision of information to citizens up to standard. In short, political
parties have been given an important role to play and the policy practices that
focus on political parties recur in different clusters.
In Finland, another development programme focuses on municipal councillors
(policy practice 28). They must tackle the question of what their democratic task is.
Their action patterns are being scrutinised, with the relationship between voter and
elected representative taking centre stage. The aim is to achieve a local democracy
with a stronger external focus. The belief in Finland is that local representatives
have a pioneering role. They must act as guardians of the public interest, instead
of automatically adopting the wishes of voters. A good elected representative must
do what is best, based on due consideration, even where the majority are against
this.
The citizen as represented and as potential representative

It is not only the intermediary, on the part of the government, who will have to find
98
a new way of making more contact with citizens, citizens must also do their bit to
improve representation. Many countries have identified the need for citizens to get
involved in politics to give the politicians input for their policies. But then citizens
must know how to get to their representative. The following initiatives are aimed
not only at getting the citizen to play a cooperative role in the representation
process, but also at guaranteeing a growth in the number of new politicians.
There are various initiatives where children’s opinions are heard in the interests of
achieving better representation, for example in Germany (policy practice 16). The
topics are ones on which children are the experts, with the (democratic) idea that
they (usually) know best what is good for them. Learning as part of political
education is one of the considerations here as well, as is the fact that although
politicians may not be elected by children, they do represent their interests (‘the
entire population’…).
In addition to the representation of the population at the national level, there are
also countries which encourage citizens to enforce good representation at the local
level. After all, the local administration is, according to some, the first point of
contact for citizens. To encourage citizens to participate and stand as candidates
in local politics, various countries are setting up policy programmes which ensure
that obstacles that discourage people from standing as candidates are removed
(see policy practices 23, 24, 28 and 54).
In some countries, there is a need for more insight into the question of why various
groups in society continue to be underrepresented in the various political and
social organisations. The groups concerned are young people, people from a
foreign background, people with a low income, elderly people, citizens born in
another country, and people with low levels of education. British research98 shows
that there is a clear difference between men and women, but that this also depends
on the nature of the participatory activity. Turnout at elections is approximately the
same for men and women, for example. Women are more likely to express their
political opinions by signing a petition or boycotting products. Women are less
active in the various aspects of political parties (standing as candidates, donating
money and supporting a campaign). Voluntary organisations also have more men
than women. See policy practices 21 (Sweden), 30 (Great Britain) and 44 (South
Korea) for initiatives in this regard.
The countries are aiming for equal numbers of women and men in their represen-
tative bodies. These countries are based on mimetic representation. The question
is whether it is a problem if the council or parliament is not an exact reflection of
society. A country based on aesthetic representation would not see any problem
with this. There is however a difference of opinion about this. It can however be
said that it is likely that a healthy democracy does not need its parliament to be an
99
exact reflection of society, but it is nevertheless not beneficial if some groups in

society are clearly underrepresented in politics.
Conclusions with regard to political representation
What is striking is that the so-called ‘gap between voters and elected representatives’
is clearly identified as the basis for the solutions which the various countries
provide to promote democracy. In some countries, achieving improved mimetic
representation is central (politics reflects society as closely as possible), in other
countries, achieving improved aesthetic representation is central (encouraging and
training elected representatives to be aware of their ‘higher purpose’). Access to
politics for all groups in society is seen as the most important aspect for
strengthening aesthetic representation. On the one hand, the bodies representing
the people must consist of as broad an amalgamation of different people as
possible, and on the other, contact between voters and elected representatives
must be good and minority groups must also be heard.
The main point made in respect of strengthening aesthetic representation is the
importance of training representatives to stay close enough to the people (looking
outwards) to be able to see what is going on, on the one hand, and on the other,
to keep enough of a distance to be able to see the whole of society and make an
assessment which is in the ‘public interest’.
Which practice could offer prospects for the Netherlands? One of the two approaches
can be chosen. For example, strengthening mimetic representation. In that case, the
aim is to reflect the various population groups in parliament and in the (municipal)
councils as accurately as possible. The elected representatives can also be
encouraged to draw in society as much as possible, to speak to citizens and be
directly inspired by them. A number of practices from section II could serve as
examples for this.
If improved aesthetic representation is preferred, then training programmes,
workshops and networks which spur the elected representatives on to think about
the ‘public interest’ and about how they can identify this, would be the route to
follow. Different interests are weighed up in a manner that prevents too great a
distance arising between voters and elected representatives, yet which offers
enough scope for the representative to be able to make an assessment based on
0his own (political) principles, in other words based on a pre-structured view of the
problems and solutions.
The third possibility consists of taking both forms of representation and the policy
practices that accompany them to heart. Although the two forms are to some extent
mutually exclusive, they could be used to supplement one another. Aiming for a
100
better reflection of society in parliament may best go together with training courses
which make representatives aware that it is their task to find ways of representing
the public interest.
D Civil Society
Introduction
From this point onwards, we will leave the level of public institutions (democratic
structure and representation) and deal with society. Both the various countries and
the academic literature point out that a democracy cannot function well without a
strong civil society. Civil society consists of numerous organisations and collabora-
tive ventures between organisations that stand between the state and the individual
and that fight for the interests of certain groups in society. These are almost always
non-profit institutions. Civil society is seen as the cement that holds democracy
together. According to some,99 interest groups contribute to a responsive admini-
stration, which means that citizens get the feeling that their views are being heard
earlier than would be the case in a democracy with structures geared less towards
consensus and which has weaker links with civil society.
Although citizens in the Netherlands have few possibilities to have a direct say (for
example, via a referendum), they do therefore have opportunities to find a platform
where they can express their opinion. It is important from this point of view to give
civil society the room to carry out its function in democracy. The various countries
are therefore attempting to improve the links between politics and civil society and
to make it stronger. With a view to making democracy (which derives its power
from its base, society) more robust and sustainable, this is, in itself, a justified aim.
Within the framework of representation that is, according to some, increasingly
losing its effect as far as elected representatives are concerned (the ‘displacement
of politics’), close collaboration with civil society may be an attractive alternative.
Analysis of policy practices (policy practices 6-13-14-15-22-23-27-40-41-45-47-

49-51-55-56-58)
Young people in civil society

A number of countries, including Canada and Finland (policy practices 6 and 27),
have developed education programmes which focus on voluntary work,
collaboration and creating a sustainable community. In some cases, young people
learn how to deal with other cultures and religions and are expected to develop
tolerance and respect as a result. By making young people aware of civil society
101
and the benefits this offers, it is hoped that this will continue to exist and that
society in general will achieve a higher level of sustainability and stability. This can
in turn benefit the legitimacy of democracy.
Civil society often also has an educational function itself. By participating in a
voluntary organisation, for example, a citizen can build social ties and acquire skills
which may also be of great importance in a democracy.
Transparency and access

Some countries are convinced that if civil society organisations are to be able to
supplement politics, there must be proper structures for the provision of
information by the government to society. Germany has done this (policy practices
13 and 14) by obliging ministries to send draft bills to social organisations which
have an interest in the relevant bill, to give them a chance to participate at an early
stage. Other organisations and the public can easily view the information, since it
is published on the internet. This transparency and collaboration between the
government and society is regarded as necessary to ensure that all institutions
function in the best possible way in a healthy democracy.
Another way of encouraging civil society and social involvement is to set up and
monitor networks in society (policy practices 15, 27, 49 and 51). The right parties
from the public, private and social sectors then combine their knowledge and
resources, as a result of which a powerful contribution can be made to all kinds of
problems. The countries in question expect these collaborative projects to play a
supporting role in democracy.
In Belgium, there is a strong need for a government whose task is to provide the
basic conditions required for a healthy, sustainable democracy. This is a democracy
characterised by social involvement, social activity and social cohesion, enterprising
citizens and voluntary co-optation. The government must not however stand in the
way of a flourishing network of associations by interfering too much from above.
To prevent this and to increase access to voluntary organisations and their activities,
the law in Belgium relating to voluntary work has been adapted to lighten the
administrative and tax burden for voluntary workers (see policy practices 55 and
58). It is expected that more voluntary workers will be able to continue their work as
a result of this, and that more voluntary workers will be recruited. Spain (policy
practice 47), Italy (policy practice 40) and Germany (policy practice 15) are also
focusing part of their policies on voluntary work.
Meetings in the public domain

Most of the countries studied share the opinion that adequate social activity is
required for a healthy public life. Citizens must participate in voluntary organi-
102
sations and must be encouraged to do so. An example of how this aim has been
dealt with in Sweden can be found in policy practices 22 and 23. In Italy, the
government has encouraged private individuals to donate money to good causes,
see policy practice 41.
It is expected that it will only be possible to keep democracy healthy by ensuring
that there are adequate ties within society, in terms of which consideration must
also be given to the future. People must be given opportunities to meet, to get to
know one another and exchange experiences. The idea is that this will strengthen
social cohesion, which may in turn have a positive effect on the political and social
activity in a community.99 For a discussion of policy relating to public meeting
places, see policy practice 22. For the promotion of a cohesive society, see also
policy practices 45, 49 and 51.
The importance of new organisations is also recognised in Sweden and is based
on the assumption that the way people form organisations in the current society
is different to what it was twenty years ago. The composition of organisations has
changed, together with the method of working: this is much more network-oriented
and polycentric. Digital organisations are also appearing more often and may play
an important role in the public domain, despite the absence of any physical
component. For an example of how a government can deal with this, see policy
practices 22 and 49.
Conclusions with regard to civil society
A number of points have come to the fore in the above discussion of current
thinking about the role of civil society. On the one hand, civil society is supported
by the government so that it can carry out its democratic task well. On the other
hand, the government provides incentives in society itself, with the intention of
strengthening the role of civil society ‘from the bottom up’.
The first government activity relates to the policy practices in terms of which civil
society is provided with information, so that it can carry out the task of intermediary
between the government and citizens as well as possible. This relates primarily to
the provision of information and collaboration with social organisations.
The second, more subtle government activity relates to a whole series of
government programmes in terms of which citizens are encouraged to participate
in voluntary organisations and networks in society are organised and encouraged.
What is in any event clear, is that various countries attach great importance to civil
society. These are not only countries such as Belgium, Germany and Sweden,
which, as consensus democracies, are known to ascribe an important role to civil
society, but also to countries such as Great Britain (and the United States), which
103
are structured much more along the lines of the ‘Westminster model’ and have,
from time immemorial, lacked any natural inclination to consult frequently with
civil society.101
E Citizenship
Introduction
Some find that current society needs more critical and, at the same time, more
socially responsible citizens. There is, in other words, a greater need for citizenship.
Because there are differing views of citizenship (the requirements for democratic
citizenship are different to those for nationality), a number of characteristics will
be discussed here which are frequently identified when democratic citizenship is
defined.
Citizenship is characterised by autonomy, with the important addition of an ‘explicit
social component’.102 A citizen is independent and socially involved. He or she
does not prevent others from freely exercising their rights. A citizen also cares for
the public domain in the broadest sense of the word. This may mean that citizens
exercise social control, go to vote, do voluntary work or even make a contribution
to (local) politics.
It is said that citizenship functions as a shock absorber for society. When citizens
are exposed to harmful external influences (such as terrorism), there are always the
ties between all kinds of groups in a society that can prevent a real crisis. Citizens’
attitude can therefore also have a stabilising effect on society. Citizenship means
that people learn to form their own opinions about certain topics (‘engaging with
values’) and dare to actively disseminate these. Without citizenship, democracy is
an empty shell, because it is the citizen who decides what will happen. For this
reason, well-informed, involved, competent citizens are needed.
Journalists have a very important role to play in democracy, one that is different to
that attributed to many other professions whose members must set an example
(policemen, teachers). Some countries regard the reliability of the information that
comes from journalists as extremely important if a democracy is to be robust.
This applies not only to citizens, to enable them to assess political issues based on
the correct facts, but also to politicians, to enable them to weigh up the relevant
interests. It is clear that journalists, and the media in general, play a role in thinking
about sustainable democracy in various countries.
Various countries have formulated policy with the aim of promoting citizenship.
Citizenship education and political education are regarded as extremely important
in the countries studied. The recommendation from the Dutch Education Council
104
(2003) indicated that ‘promoting citizenship must be a statutory task for all
schools’.103 According to the Council, schools must encourage pupils to develop
into socially involved citizens. The problems in respect of decreasing social
cohesion and changing attitudes on the part of citizens (particularly as a result
of individualisation) mean that a lot of attention is being paid to education.
This applies to other countries as well, where the implementation of citizenship
policies is in some cases more advanced.
Analysis of policy practices (policy practices 1-2-7-10-12-18-26-33-34-37-48-

50-52-53-57)
According to some, the attitude of Dutch citizens has changed over recent decades.
Citizens are more responsible, and possibly more tolerant of certain groups
(homosexuals), but less tolerant of other groups (‘foreigners’). It has also been
said that citizens are more ‘self-involved’. They criticise the government, but at the
same time refuse to commit themselves at elections and to take advantage of other
opportunities to participate. A striking number of countries are looking for ways to
define and encourage citizenship, one of the many capacities that an individual has
in society.
In section II, citizenship (education) was a topic that was repeatedly highlighted as
a solution to the current problems in the relationship between the government and
citizens. The approaches to this did however differ per country. Some countries
focused on citizenship education, other countries on political education. The fact
that these are two different matters will be explained in greater detail below using
the examples from the various countries.
Citizenship education
Citizenship education takes place at school. In some countries, space has been
cleared in the curriculum for primary and second education. The teaching
programmes differ widely per country and per target group. Young pupils (from
the age of 7 onwards) are exposed to democracy and politics in a playful manner.
Games (‘Democracity’, see policy practice 57) and group discussions are the
methods used. For pupils aged from around 9 years and up, some countries offer
a teaching package that is also intended to make a contribution to citizenship, in
terms of which history and topography are taught in the light of politics (policy
practices 1 and 2). In secondary schools, the emphasis is placed on forms of
government, politics, social studies, voluntary work, the rights of the citizen, ethics
and social justice (policy practices 1, 2 and 7).
There are also policy programmes that encourage citizenship without making a
105
distinction on the basis of age. All kinds of courses are organised – mainly by
social organisations – which make citizens aware of their rights and obligations
in a democracy and which inform them about voting procedures, political involve-
ment and participation. For example, there is an initiative (policy practice 26) that
teaches citizens to look critically at reporting in the media.
Political education
Political education has a strong didactic character, but goes further than the
classroom alone. In some countries, this is seen as supplementing citizenship
education, whereas in other countries, there is a strong conviction that citizenship
cannot be learned from classes or the pure transfer of knowledge. Citizenship,
politics and democracy must be experienced and citizens need skills (in addition
to knowledge) to enable them to express their citizenship.
The programmes and projects that deal with enabling young people (in particular)
to put what they have learned into practice vary enormously from country to
country. In some countries, a trip to a political organisation is one of the standard
elements of the educational package (for ideas, see policy practices 33, 34, 37 and
50).
Youth parliaments in Denmark, Norway and Portugal (policy practices 12 and 48)
ensure that potential future representatives get an early lesson in democracy.
A youth parliament can open doors to the political arena for young people.
Furthermore, the learning experience gives participants a better understanding of
the possibilities encountered by a politician. All this creates a smoother relation-
ship between voters and elected representatives as well as greater understanding
between the two parties.
A number of countries refer to the importance of youth and school councils in the
co-determination of each school. Great Britain has gone one step further with a
pilot project where pupils’ representatives also sit on the board of governors (policy
practice 34). In this way, political education becomes an intensive experience,
especially when it goes together with elections by fellow pupils. All young people
therefore learn ‘politics in miniature’, which can be a valuable experience for the
rest of their lives as democratic citizens.
See policy practice 52 for additional ideas about political education.
Public Journalism
A specific journalism movement has now developed in a number of countries
(including the US and Belgium), which, according to its supporters, ensures that
public opinion will be influenced by the media in a more democratically responsible
manner than is now the case.
106
Public Journalism (policy practices 10, 18 and 53) is a journalism movement that
has now been incorporated into professional training for journalists in the US.
Since journalists inform citizens about the course of events in politics and elicit
public responsibility and accountability from public institutions, the media is also
called the watchdog of democracy. In this way, citizens can monitor the govern-
ment and the democratic circle is complete.
In addition to its watchdog function, the media is important for guiding public
opinion. Unfortunately, the media, which acts as an intermediary between politics
and citizens in a democracy, has also suffered from a loss of legitimacy and confi-
dence in the eyes of the latter.104 Within the Public Journalism movement, this
problem has been identified and attempts are being made to reinstate the value of
journalism. One concrete recommendation that has been made to journalism
colleges, for example, is that journalists could also report positive events in politics,
instead of always highlighting the dark side of society and the government.
Conclusions with regard to citizenship
In many countries, extra homework is required not only of the public institutions
(clusters 1 and 2) and the social institutions (cluster 3), but also of the citizen.
After all, the latter plays a crucial role in democracy. At the same time, academics
and policymakers as well as the media are saying that citizens are ‘apathetic’,
uninterested, not very involved and usually rather negative about the government’s
performance. This is a rather negative analysis of the problem that should perhaps
be put into perspective, but it is nonetheless likely that there is something wrong
with the attitude of citizens. It is not possible to say whether this is because
politicians are not responsive, because the media guides public opinion or because
citizens would rather do other things than get involved in politics.
The various countries in the study believe that they have identified a problem in
this area and have also come up with solutions. These usually relate to citizenship
education and political education. It has been explained above that the two ways of
educating citizens to become democratic citizens have very different implications.
Citizenship education takes place primarily in the classroom, whereas political
education goes further and also means that the knowledge and skills are used in
practice.
One point of agreement between the two ways of promoting citizenship is that this
is, in a large number of practices, seen as a ‘long-term affair’. The overwhelming
majority of the practices are also geared towards children and young adults.
The policy programmes have clearly been created based on the assumption that
citizenship education must be structured according to the principle of ‘lifelong
107
learning’. If the authors of the policy programmes are right, then this must be
started early on in life.
It is also clear from the summary of the practices that for a consistent policy
programme to promote citizenship, the findings in relation to citizenship education
can best be combined with the findings about political education. Transferring
knowledge (‘what is democracy?’) and practising skills (for example, debating with
fellow pupils or politicians) form a two-step plan that may possibly be more
successful than introducing only one of the two forms of training in citizenship and
politics.
108
IV Co n c l u s i o n s
This study started out with a number of assumptions about ‘democracy’. These
came from the theoretical literature,105 but were confirmed by informal channels.
There was an impression that – in addition to the Netherlands – other established
democracies were also suffering from declining (political) participation, decreasing
involvement in social problems and politics on the part of citizens, and reduced
confidence in the public administration.
The Democracy Programme needed to take stock of the practices used to promote
democracy in other wealthy countries. Based on the idea that these countries were
also suffering from the above problems, it was expected that these practices could
provide inspiration for the creation of a coherent programme to promote demo-
cracy. The study was launched with the questions ‘what is needed to make a
democracy robust and sustainable?’ and ‘what solutions found by other countries
may also prove to be solutions for the Netherlands?’.
In principle, all the policy practices could serve as sources of inspiration to deal
with the problems in the Netherlands. Closer analysis could show that the
Netherlands has no need for a specific policy practice. It is however not possible
to determine the chances of success of a foreign initiative implemented in the
Netherlands. Such a pronouncement would require the investigation of the
environmental factors of all the countries, including the Netherlands.
The following are a number of general conclusions that can be drawn, bearing in
mind the question ‘what is needed to make a democracy robust and sustainable?’.
The first observation can be taken directly from policy officials in Sweden:
“Democracy Needs Time”. Many policy practices and social initiatives have long-
term objectives. This says something about the nature of the problems and also
about the requirements that the solutions will have to meet. Short-term solutions
can at best give a positive impetus to the turnout at elections, for example, but the
effect of such solutions will soon die out. It is important to have an idea of the
causes of the problems and their symptoms. Precisely because democracy is
something that (also) needs to be promoted from ‘the bottom up’, a short-lived
policy programme can offer no solution.
It is also striking that many countries provide incentives at various points in society
with the aim of promoting democracy. Countries which have a well-advanced policy
in relation to promoting democracy (for example, Sweden and Australia) are working
on the turnout at elections as well as on gearing policy towards society, on equal
and better representation and on developing even broader programmes to promote
109
citizenship. The overview of the various practices leads to the idea that there is
something to be gained in all four domains and that this is also necessary in order
to promote something as multiform, complex and social as a democracy.
Furthermore, the fact that the practices can be divided into four categories is
already a conclusion in itself. All the practices focus on at least one of the four
elements of democracy. In many cases, the practice is geared towards a combi-
nation of different elements. In some cases, a practice has the aim of both
promoting civil society and increasing participation and government responsive-
ness. The four domains are therefore closely interwoven, and stimulating one
domain may affect the others, which means that the various practices can
supplement one another.
Finally, it can be stated, based on this study, that ‘confidence’ is something that
has been found to be very important in many of the countries. In the eyes of the
contact persons and sources in the affluent, established democracies, confidence
in public institutions is on the wane. The idea is that this confidence can to some
extent be rebuilt by means of the policy practices discussed above. This result is
not surprising, because confidence was an important aspect of the question posed
to all the contact persons. What is surprising, however, is that the concept of
confidence often explicitly appears in the descriptions of the policy programmes.
Confidence is therefore a topic with which many countries are struggling.
This confirms the hypothesis which led to this study (that in all wealthy and/or
established democracies one experiences the same problem, namely declining
confidence). This is an important result because it says something about the aims
and the envisaged results of the policy practices. These aims and envisaged results
are useful to the Netherlands (and the other countries of this investigation)
because they focus on the (partial) resolution of a problem that is also regarded as
urgent in Dutch political life as well.
110
Notes
1
New South Wales Discovering Democracy Professional Development Committee:
http://www.curriculum.edu.au/democracy/aboutdd.htm
2
‘A system of national citizenship indicators’, 1991
3
Whereas the People… Civics and citizenship education, 1994
4
Dickson 1998, The development of civics – A NSW perspective, Teaching History, 58-61
(quoted in Discovering democracy; Discussion paper 4)
5
Gutman, Amy 1987, Democratic Education, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press
(Quoted in Discovering Democracy: discussion paper 5)
6
The Democracy Canada Institute: A Blueprint – IRPP working paper number 2005-02c,
May 2005
7
http://www.parlcent.ca/index_e.php
8
/www.elections.ca/home.asp?textonly=false
9
www.cwy-jcm.org
10
http://www.ncoc.net/
11
http://www.wethepeople.gov/
12
http://www.civiced.org: Center for Civic Education USA
13
American Association of State Colleges and Universities: www.aascu.org
14
www.youth04.org
15
www.nytimes.com/ref/college/adp-davenport.html
16
www.kettering.org
17
www.koningboudewijnstichting.be
18
www.kettering.org
19
OECD International Futures Programme Seminar on Power and Democracy in Denmark
and Norway, 25th October 2004, OECD Headquarters, Paris
20
www.ft.dk (Folketing) ‘Parliamentary Elections and Election Administration in Denmark’
21
www.ft.dk (Folketing)
22
Ministry of the Interior in Germany, section O 5
23
Ministry of the Interior in Germany
24
Ministry of the Interior in Germany
25
www.b-b-e.de
26
http://www.bpb.de/
27
www.projekt-p.de
28
http://www.kinderpolitik.de
29
www.bundestag.de
30
Government communication 2003/04:110 Policies for Democracy, submitted to the Swedish
111
Riksdag Stockholm, 11 March 2004

31
Riksdag Stockholm, 11 March 2004; page 32
32
33
34
Riksdag Stockholm, 11 March 2004; page 34 ff
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
Oikeusministeriö (Ministry of Justice): w w w.om.fi/tulostus/29378.htm
42
Ministry of Justice – Finland: Government Policy Programmes; Citizen Participation:
www.om.fi/tulostus/29378.htm
43
Ministry of Finance – Finland: Government Policy Programmes; Citizen Participation:
44
Ministry of Finance – Finland: Government Policy Programmes; Citizen Participation:
45
Source: Katju Holkeri Ministry of Finance, Finland
46
47
48
49
Electoral Commission – Great Britain; Corporate Plan 2004-2005 to 2008-2009
50
Source: Electoral Commission UK via Dutch Embassy in London
51
52
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/about-us/policypubs.cfm
112
53
54
55
56
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/about-us/relatedwork.cfm
57
www.citizen.org.uk
58
www.new-politics.net/publications/bulletins/practical-citizenship/
59
Dutch Embassy in London
60
Institute for Citizenship: w w w.citizen.org.uk
61
www.citizen.org.uk
62
www.CitizenshipFoundation.org.uk
63
http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/templates/search/searches/20051108-123643-
fundingxpo/page1.htm
64
Delivering Justice, Rights and Democracy DCA strategy 2004-2009/Business Priority
Areas: http://www.dca.gov.uk/dept/strategy/dcastratfull.pdf
65
http://www.demokratiezentrum.org/dz2.php?Nav=main/whois
66
Peter Filzmaier – Demokratiezentrum Wien – w w w.demokratiezentrum.org - Politische
Bildung und Demokratie
67
Peter Filzmaier – Demokratiezentrum Wien – w w w.demokratiezentrum.org
68
Bundeskanzleramt Osterreich (w w w.austria.gv.at)
69
Peter Filzmayer - Demokratiezentrum Wien – w w w.demokratiezentrum.org
70
Ladner, A. Size and Democracy on local level: The Case of Switzerland, University of Bern
71
Size and Direct Democracy on Local Level: The Case of Switzerland
72
Dahl & Tufte (1973) Size and Democracy, Stanford: Stanford University Press
73
Roberto Marraccini – Lega Nord
74
Source: Cittadinanzattiva : civicus civil society index, report on Italy, Giovanni Moro and
Ilara Vannini
75
www.korea.net/korea/html/B/01/policy_4.html
76
77
78
www.mainecleanelections.org
79
80
81
Source: Dutch Embassy in Madrid
82
http://www.hablamosdeeuropa.es/hdeu/
83
www.Madrid.org
84
Hans Kruishoop – Dutch Embassy in Portugal
85
http://www.parlamento.pt/ingles/note.html
86
http://www.cao.go.jp/about-cao/pmf2005/18-19.pdf:
87
Cabinet Office- Japan: h t t p : / / w w w.cao.go.jp/about-cao/index-e.html
113
88
http://www8.cao.go.jp/youth/english/whitepaper/2003/2-8.html
89
Cabinet Office – Japan: h t t p : / / w w w.cao.go.jp/about-cao/index-e.html
90
www.elections.org.nz/hands-up.html
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Electoral Commission, Covering Elections – A Guide for Journalists, Colin James
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www.koningboudewijnstichting.be
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http://www.koningboudewijnstichting.be/code/page.cfm?id_page=125&id=578
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http://www.koningboudewijnstichting.be/code/page.cfm?id_page=153&ID=86
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Putnam, R. D. (1993) Making Democracy Work. Civic traditions in modern Italy, Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
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Ladner, A. Size and Democracy on local level: The Case of Switzerland, University of Bern
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Ankersmit, Frank: Aesthetic Politics, Stanford: Stanford university Press, 1996
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Lijphart, A. (1999) Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six
Countries, New Haven, Yale University Press
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Putnam, R. D. (1993) Making Democracy Work. Civic traditions in modern Italy, Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press.
101
Lijphart, A. (1999) Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six
Countries, New Haven, Yale University Press
102
Leenders & Veugelers: Waardevormend burgerschap. Een pleidooivoor kritisch-democratisch
burgerschap; in: Pedagogiek, 2004, p. 367
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Leenders & Veugelers: Waardevormend burgerschap. Een pleidooivoor kritisch-democratisch
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Nye, J. S. and J. P. Zelikow, D., et al., Eds. (1997). Why People Don’t Trust Government.
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See: Niklas Luhman, Joseph Nye & Philip Zelikow, Bo Rothstein, Wetenschappelijke Raad
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Layout and printing

II Policy practices per country 15

Denmark and Norway 31

Information from the eighteen countries offers an overview of policy programmes

on education. As part of ‘lifelong learning’, in some countries all (secondary)

Working method and explanation

Phase 3 involved analysing the information or practices received and classifying

II Policy practices per country

1 ‘Discovering democracy’; civics and citizenship education:

Education is regarded as an important means of promoting democratic citizenship

2 ‘Discovering democracy’; Teaching democracy in the primary

According to Australian policymakers, school teachers must have a strong conviction

3 The Democracy Canada Institute

4 The Parliamentary Center

The first institution is the Parliamentary Center7. This is a non-profit organisation

The second institution in Canada in the area of representative democracy is

6 Canada World Youth

Canada World Youth9 designs institutional education programmes for teenagers

7 Center for Civic Education

8 American Democracy Project

In addition to the aforementioned institutions, the US has another organisation

Youth’04.org14 is a non-profit organisation (part of the Center for Democracy) with

10 The Kettering Foundation

The Kettering Foundation16 is an organisation which deals primarily with the

Denmark and Norway

It is possible to vote in advance in all municipalities. In most cases, the office

12 The Youth Parliament 2005

13 Modern State, Modern Administration

14 E-democracy, Call Centre and Open House

15 Bundesnetzwerk über Burgerschaftliches Engagement

The second component of the German government’s policy practices to promote

16 Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung

17 Werkstatt für Demokratie

The Werkstatt für Demokratie28 is another organisation that is specially geared

18 Workshop for journalists

and gathering more knowledge about the methods of promoting democracy.

20 Time for Democracy

People with disabilities

22 Participation between elections

involved in EU policy, particularly because of the fact that this is playing an

Public meeting places

Exclusion between elections

Exclusion during elections

a high level of political participation. Verbal information would have to be passed

24 Citizen Participation Programme

Background and aims

25 Hear The Citizens – Draft Wisely

Another project of the Citizens Participation Programme relates to encouraging

also find out more information on the website www.dopolitics.org.uk.51

30 Gender and Political Participation

In the paper of April 2004,52 researchers make suggestions to the Electoral

31 Securing the Vote55

32 Youth Voting Network, recommendations to British institutions

A report entitled ‘A Young Person’s agenda for democracy’ (2002/2003) contains

Politicians and young people

Government and Elections Commission

33 Institute for Citizenship

Introducing citizenship education

Citizenship in the classroom

Supplements to the policy by the Institute for Citizenship

Aims and working definitions

This is an independent charity that aims to encourage individuals to develop more