Georgetown University – Democracy and Governance Program & International IDEA: The Stories of Democracy Project: reminding ourselves of the importance of democracy

From the 1970s to the early 2000s, there was a global movement of founding and transitional elections as countries moved from conflict or authoritarian rule to democratic governance. Many of these elections took place during a historical period which has been termed the “Third Wave” of democracy. Thousands of individuals from around the world were engaged by their nation’s electoral institutions, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations to administer or assist in conducting as well as observing these elections. Some lost their lives in doing so. Such commitments suggest that there is a personal dimension to an individual’s engagement in these elections which needs to be documented for historical purposes.

The exchanges which these individuals had with each other represented an unprecedented union of people from many different countries coming together in a common purpose to support elections and democracy. While scholarly research has been conducted into the strategies and impact of electoral assistance, there is no repository to archive the personal experiences of individuals involved with these initiatives, meaning the potential insights these experiences can bring to policymakers and practitioners are lost. To avoid the loss of these valuable sources, the Stories of Democracy Project was created with the objective to establish a historical collection of photographs, videos, audio recordings, documents, and other memorabilia from individuals who participated in electoral administration, assistance, or observation. This collection of stories is ongoingly expanded on a regular basis – stay up to date on the latest stories here or reach out to Georgetown University’s Senior Fellow for the Center for Democracy and Civil Society, Jeff Fischer, at jwf33@georgetown.edu, to submit your story ideas for consideration. Partnerships – Democracy & Governance Program – Georgetown

These elections were conducted at a time when democracy was in an ascendancy. The current global wave of democratic backsliding, however, means that the vision of this period in history, along with the experiences of those who participated in these elections, have started to fall into obscurity. By capturing their stories, this can be prevented. As a result, current and future generations will be able to learn about the personal sacrifices and commitments necessary to make elections and democracies function. The project brings these insights together into a collection organized by election and individual.  In addition to the human dimension perspective, this project will be valuable for researchers in that it provides a consolidated historical archive of experiences and insights not available from other sources. While it is recognized that some of the countries featured in the stories are currently experiencing challenges in governance, the stories describe a time when democracy held promise for them and an aspiration which they can re-achieve.

https://www.idea.int/initiatives/stories-democracy-oral-history-project