Beyond The Ballot: The Democracy Download

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“No democracy is perfect, and no democracy is ever final. Every gain made, every barrier broken, is the result of determined, unceasing work.” – President Joseph R. Biden, International Day of Democracy September 15, 2021.

On December 9th & 10th, President Biden will host the first of two Summits for Democracy, a virtual conference for government, civil society, and members of the private sector, aimed at providing a space where supporters of democracy can listen, learn and engage with a diverse range of actors committed to critical democratic renewal around the globe. The Biden Administration has extended invitations to 109 countries, plus Taiwan, to attend the summit.

Prior to the start of the summit, the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), together with its core three partners from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), invites you to check out the democracy, rights and governance (DRG) resources which include several events. All of this information is captured here, in this special edition of Beyond the Ballot, designed to provide an overview of events and resources on the biggest challenges facing the vitality of democracy.

Be sure to register for one, or many of the events taking place in the next two weeks to learn more about what changemakers are doing to support resilient and inclusive democracies.

Events

Elections and the Digital Transformation

Join the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening in uncovering how democratic actors can mitigate digital threats and help ensure technology works to advance the integrity of elections and political processes.

December 7, 2021, 12:00 PM EST

House Democracy Partnership

Advancing Integrity through Parliaments – How Parliaments Can Lead the Fight Against Corruption and Kleptocracy, December 3, 2021, 8:00 AM EST

Parliament’s Role to Defend & Safeguard Human Rights: Inclusive Lawmaking, Holding Bad Actors Accountable, and Protecting Mechanisms to Redress Grievances, December 7, 2021, 8:00 AM EST

International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Summit for Democracy Disability-inclusive Democracy Side Event, December 3, 2021, 9:00 AM EST

Turning the Authoritarian Tide through Civic Education, December 7, 2021, 3:00 PM Kyiv Time

International Republican Institute

Pushback to Authoritarian Influence: Insights from Africa and Latin America, December 7, 2021, 10:00 AM EST

National Democratic Institute

Democracy’s Defenders: What’s at Stake and Why It Matters, December 6, 2021, 10:00 AM EST

Community of Democracies

Youth Assembly for the Summit for Democracy, December 6, 2021, 10:00 AM EST

Democracy! The Podcast

Featured in Foreign Policy and Politico, Democracy! The Podcast is brought to you by CEPPS, with support from the United States Agency for International Development, through the Global Elections and Political Transitions Award. The entire first season has dropped and is available to you now, wherever you get your podcasts. Each episode takes an in-depth look at some of the biggest challenges facing the vitality of democracy around the world. Produced in partnership with the IFES, IRI and NDI you’ll hear from some of the most experienced experts working in the field of democracy, human rights, and governance and learn from first-hand accounts as they share how they tackle real-life problems and help move countries towards a more democratic process for all.

This season’s highlights:

Secretary Madeline Albright speaks out on some of the most urgent issues facing women around the world today.
The next generation of activists tells us what they are doing to make sure their voices are heard in government.

Find all ten episodes on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, and Amazon.

More CEPPS Resources

We currently operate programs in 50+ countries in partnership with USAID. We use our global reach of experts and our long-term relationships with local partners to offer unique solutions to some of democracy’s biggest obstacles.

CEPPS resources available to the DRG community include:

The Countering Disinformation Guide: an analytical framework, literature review, case studies and guidebook that informs programming to counter disinformation in political systems and societies worldwide.
Raising Their Voices: How effective are pro-youth laws and policies?: a critical guide to increase the capacity of practitioners, local actors, advocates and stakeholders to foster meaningful youth engagement in political and electoral processes.
The Election Data Academy: modules and data digitization tools for democracy practitioners, local civil society groups, and civic-tech groups around the world on a range of election observation and electoral reform initiatives.
Political Parties in the Digital Age: informs democracy and government implementers about the use of technology in case-study countries and on wider regional trends and outlines effective and ineffective digital strategies for political parties in budding democracies across the globe.

Find all of CEPPS’ current activities online.

Connect with Us

Make sure to follow CEPPS on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay up to date with all of our democracy resources. For more information, check out cepps.org.