NEWSLETTER #16
22 June 2006
www.democracy-international.org
recipients: 2048
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Content
0) EDITORIAL: CAMPAIGN
1) HOW TO BUILD AN ORGANISATION
2) ONESEAT.EU
3) BERLIN: REFORM OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY
4) DI-BOOK PROJECT: UDPATE
5) ATHENS: EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM
6) ECI-CAMPAIGN
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0) EDITORIAL: CAMPAIGN
by Ronald Pabst
It is a magic word for everyone involved in grass-roots activities: campaign. The basic idea is simple: You make some fuss, attract public attention and force politicians to act according to the common sense. The problem is: it is not so simple. As soon as you start you have to solve a lot of problems.
But a lot of groups have already organised successful campaigns. It is very good to look closely how they organize their work and learn from them.
Therefore DI publishes a report about the work of Mehr Demokratie. Hopefully it is useful for your work. I am looking forward to receiving your feedback. Please inform me about your experiences useful for others. Let’s share our knowledge.
Additionally you find in this newsletter: updates about our book project, the latest success in Berlin and our participation in the European Social Forum in Athens. Cecilia Malmström (MEP) explains the background of the widely known campaign “One seat” which refers to the European Citizens Initiative.
Last but not least: You are invited to come to the next ECI meeting.
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1) HOW TO BUILD UP AN ORGANISATION
This paper offers an overview about the development and structure of Mehr Demokratie. We learnt a lot about conducting campaigns for direct democracy within the past decades.
www.democracy-international.org/howto.html
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2) ONESEAT.EU
The European Parliament is located in Strasbourg and Brussels. An initiative started by members of the parliament is trying to change this. The initiator explains why the campaign refers to direct democracy.
democracy-international.org/oneseat.html
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3) BERLIN: REFORM OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY
The parliament of Berlin has passed a law making it easier for citizens to start popular initiatives and to initiate referendums. Mehr Demokratie has accompanied the process with a campaign.
democracy-international.org/berlin-reform.html
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4) DI-BOOK PROJECT: UDPATE
We will publish an international edition of the book “Direct democracy: facts and arguments about the introduction of initiative and referendum“ by Jos Verhulst in about 10 European languages. The Dutch version of the book inspired many people in Belgium and the Netherlands to start working for direct democracy.
democracy-international.org/book-update.html
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5) EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM
Andrew Tompkins reports about the 4th European Social Forum (ESF).
democracy-international.org/esf2006.html
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6) ECI-CAMPAIGN
Time has come to review once again our progress in preparing the campaign and to decide on further strategy. Therefore, we would like to invite you to our next
ECI and Friends Civil Society Meeting on Tuesday, 27th June 2006, 14:00-18:00
in the Madariaga European Foundation (Rue Royale 87, 1000 Brussels).
www.democracy-international.org/eci-meeting.html
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Ronald Pabst / Carsten Berg / Lars Bosselmann
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