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The twentieth century will not go down in history as the century of information technology, space travel or nuclear power. It will not be remembered as the century of Fascism, Communism or Capitalism. Nor will it be the century of two world wars.

The twentieth century will be the century of democracy. During the twentieth century, for the first time in history, democracy became a global standard. Make no mistake, the standard has not been really achieved anywhere, and democracy is continually crushed everywhere in the world. However, with a few notable exceptions such as Saudi Arabia and Bhutan, every kind of regime lays claim to its democratic legitimacy. And they do that because they know that democracy has become the standard for the world’s population. That is a revolutionary fact.

Democracy is never complete. The rise of democracy should be seen as an organic process. Democracy cannot stop developing and deepening, just as a person cannot stop breathing. A democratic system that remains static and unchanged will degenerate and become undemocratic. It is just such a process of ossification that causes society’s current malaise. We have to face up to the fact that democracy in our societies is in dire straights.

Our current, purely representative democracy is in fact the response to the aspirations of more than a century ago. This system was suited to that time, because the majority of people could find their political views and ideals reflected in a small number of clear-cut human and social beliefs, which were embodied in and represented by Christian, socialist or liberal groups, for example. That time is long past. People’s ideas and judgements have become more individualised.

The appropriate democratic form in this context is a parliamentary system complemented with the binding citizens’ initiative referendum (direct democracy), because such a system provides a direct link between individuals and the legislative and executive organs. The greater the degree to which citizens incline towards individual judgements, and political parties lose their monopoly as ideological rallying points, the higher will be the demand for tools of direct-democratic decision-making.

Democracy is the basic condition for and the key to an open and peaceful society of free human beings.

In an increasingly globalized world, policy and decision-making become more and more distant from the citizens. The processes of European integration and globalization lead to an ever expanding centralisation of power in the hands of governments and non-elected bureaucrats. The power of citizens and parliaments is constantly weakened because of the ever greater role of international organizations like the WTO, the IMF, NATO and the European Union. The autonomy and independence of states is significantly reduced, national policy becomes more and more limited. The power of lobbyists and corporations increases.

The fight for a better democracy can no longer be limited to our communities, regions and states. If we are really concerned with democracy, we need to develop international answers to the ongoing capitulation of policy and the substantial loss of democracy.

We should begin with the European Union. It is the largest and most integrated supranational state-like entity in the world and is increasingly becoming a model for other regions in the world.

Above are extracts from the Direct Democracy book (see right) and our founding statement. You can download the entire book here, and you can download the whole founding statement here (pdf, 189 kB).