11 March 2009

New research programme on global democracy established

A global research programme facilitated and coordinated through a convening group of ten persons based in ten world regions was established last year with core funding from the Ford Foundation. The programme's new website was now launched. The BGD Programme brings together academic researchers, civil society activists, entrepreneurs, journalists and officials to "explore how ‘rule by and for the people’ can be understood and practiced in relation to global issues". One of the programme's lead questions is how affected people can participate in and control the governance of global concerns. BGD's administrative office is located in the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. In November 2008 findings of the programme's pilot project on Civil Society and Accountable Global Governance were presented at the United Nations in New York (in the picture, taken by Durlabh S. Maharishi).

The programme is organised around five main projects which address (1) Conceptualising Global Democracy, (2) Citizen Learning for Global Democracy, (3) Including the Excluded in Global Policymaking, (4) Structural Redistribution for Global Democracy and (5) Intercultural Constructions of Global Democracy. "In the course of its research, the programme is also likely to touch upon the creation of a global parliamentary assembly," said the programme's convener for Western Europe, Jan Aart Scholte with University of Warwick. The inaugural meeting of the convening group was held in April 2008. To learn more about the programme and the presentations at the UN, visit programme’s website www.buildingglobaldemocracy.org.

www.buildingglobaldemocracy.org