The current Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) shows that Democracy is under threat worldwide. 60 of the 137 states surveyed have undermined their democracy in the last 10 years. 58 states have restricted their rights to demonstrate, freedom of opinion, freedom of the press, and the right of assembly. The BTI analyzes transformation processes toward democracy and a market economy in an international comparison method and identifies successful strategies for peaceful change in their WEB pages.
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The Corona virus is putting our democracies to the test.
Democracy International (DI), an NGO based and registered in Cologne, Germany, reports that «the Corona pandemic is reinforcing this trend». The crisis that is afflicting the world right now is very disturbing and the organizations and institutions (such as the DI, our PDCI and many others) that promote democracy and defend human rights must coordinate their efforts to counter this revolutionary trend towards anarchy, the precursor of authoritarianism and totalitarianism.
The PDCI supports DI's exhortation in a recent message, when it urges that «Now is the time to counteract autocratic expansion». They have created the Corona & Democracy Monitor to examine the current challenges to democracy globally in weekly online crisis meetings and webinars. Following this strategy, DI organized last week a webinar on "Elections in Times of Corona": «Clara from France, Achim from Germany, Evgeny from Russia, Matt from the United Kingdom, Nancy from the US, and the other 15 experts quickly agreed: postal or digital voting is often poorly regulated or not regulated at all. But only with flexible, innovative solutions can elections remain fair and safe even in insecure times.»
To continue in our way to safely and freely exercise our basic democratic rights after the Covid-19 crisis, we must find the appropriate responses now. DI is already planning –through the Corona & Democratic Monitor– «the next webinars and interviews on topics such as Corona & Separation of Powers, Corona & Direct Democracy and Corona & Data Protection.»