It's currently a hot topic: "The rule of law". Many politicians and media commentators maintain that in view of current developments in such European states as Poland, Hungary, France or Turkey the rule of law is threatened and both it and democracy itself are being undermined.
But what exactly does "the rule of law/the constitutional state" mean, and what is the relationship between democracy and rule of law? Is it possible to develop an abstract set of questions (not specific to any particular state but nonetheless practically applicable) on the basis of which -depending on the answers- it would be possible to assert that the rule of law, and thus also democracy itself, are endangered?
This paper seeks to shed light on these questions through a sequence of theses, arguments and core assumptions from which can be derived a series of questions which will allow the status of the rule of law in individual countries to be examined and evaluated.
The following theses and arguments are based on the academic paper "Democracy and the Rule of Law - Two Sides of a Coin?" (in German) ...
ParticipatoryDemocracy.net (DP.net) , founded in March 2003, is a nonprofit association organized under the laws of the State of Florida, USA, and registered under the institutional structure of the Participatory Democracy Cultural Initiative (PDCI) on November 2007. DP net is a pluralist group of individuals engaged in the study, defense and promotion of democracy, working for the common good, respectful of a wide variety of opinions, promoting freedom and advocating equal rights. ...
DemocraciaParticipativa.Net (DP.net), fundada en marzo de 2003, es una asociación civil sin fines de lucro registrada bajo el esquema institucional de la Iniciativa Cultural para una Democracia Participativa (PDCI por sus siglas en Inglés) el 3 de Noviembre del 2007 en el Estado de la Florida, EEUU. DP.net es una organización plural, respetuosa de la diversidad de criterios y de opiniones, integrada por personas dedicadas al estudio, la defensa y la promoción de la democracia y del bien común, así como a promover la libertad y la igualdad en el pleno ejercicio de los derechos humanos. ...
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Proclaimed by the Participatory Democracy Cultural Initiative, Inc. (PDCI) July 1st, 2011 [ Lea la versión en Español ]
The Participatory Democracy Cultural Initiative (PDCI) proclaims that a Participatory Democracy aims to provide everyone with the ability to share their part in making decisions, in the monitoring and enforcement of decisions and in the final evaluation of decisions that affect their national destinies and the welfare of every citizen in the political, economic, social and cultural levels.
Inspired by the fundamental principle of true citizen participation, a participatory democracy means a commitment to:
Establish the International Bill of Human Rights as an indispensable foundation for the Constitutional development of every country;
Promote the separation of the three fundamental powers - executive, legislative and judicial - and the creation of an additional economic power that plays a subordinate professional role of mediation between the executive and legislative branches on budget issues;
Promote within each branch of government the means for direct participation of citizens in decision-making and evaluation of government bodies at local and provincial levels in the proposal (popular initiatives) and adoption of rules and laws at the local, provincial, regional and state or federal levels;
Promote a legislature in which one of its branches reflects through the electoral process the programmatic interests of the different political movements established and recognized, and the other is organized by a progressive system of elected Assemblies responsive to the interests of their respective bases, duly organized in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity;
Define the executive branch as an administrative power devoted to apply and execute the mandates of the people formulated in the Assemblies and the guidelines of the other legislative branch, in accordance with the joint decisions of a Congress thus constituted;
Establish minimum educational requirements for access to public office;
Promote an independent judiciary system and the election of trial judges as candidates selected by professional law organizations and / or human rights advocate organizations and / or candidates running on the basis of many years of outstanding service as public defendants. The appointment and the installation of appeal and higher court judges will follow constitutional standards established by democratic means;
Defend the public interest to prevail over the interests of lobbying groups in matters involving the executive, legislative and judicial branches;
Accept the democratic reality of lobbyists subjected to strict rules of absolute transparency by means of the wide and free dissemination of their aspirations and goals;
Develop monitoring mechanisms to prevent corruption, impunity and abuse of authority, with mandatory sanctions involving the removal of offenders, and their subordination to a judicial procedure established pursuant to legislative decisions;
Establish full transparency in the public administration performance through periodic and binding monitoring procedures established by the economic power, counting with free access to public accounts and procedures; the economic power will introduce monitoring and oversight mechanisms created and maintained by the civil society to grant citizens the power of participation on the economic activities and decisions of the executive and legislative bodies;
Promote collaboration between the State and religious, philanthropic and humanitarian groups committed to perform functions that benefit the community without any interference or influence on public functions and decisions.
The Participatory Democracy Cultural Initiative supports these principles aiming to encourage the ways and means to provide citizens with a decisive capacity for democratic participation, demanding that government programs and initiatives provide equal opportunities for all, condemning the use of violence and promoting dialogue and negotiation in the achievement of policy objectives and decisions affecting the community or the nation.
We believe we own our future and therefore, we must control it. We also believe that greater democratic participation opens the doors of progress and peace to a better world.