In partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the DEC hosted an in-person convening of academic researchers, policymakers and practitioners dedicated to addressing democratic erosion around the globe. We brought together more than 70 participants, hailing from more than 40 distinct organizations and academic institutions.
The objectives of the DEC Annual Convening:
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- Explore trends in democratic backsliding around the world;
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- Foster greater network-building between academics, policymakers, practitioners, and donors;
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- Increase the use of evidence to inform policy and programming on democratic erosion;
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- Co-generate a research agenda for priority issues to explore going forward.
Day 1 aims to explore the most recent trends in resisting democratic backsliding. Sessions will focus both on institutional efforts from the courts and horizontal accountability institutions, and on threats and resistance to vertical accountability involving citizens and civil society. An additional focus will be on threats to elections, given the many elections being held this year around the world.
Day 2 will focus on putting academic evidence into practice, including fostering productive partnerships between academics and practitioners, using data on democratic erosion to understand emerging trends and to inform policy and programming, and co-generating priority research questions for future study.