DEMOCRACY LOCAL

Democracy Local: A Planetary Publication of, by and for Everyday People Governing Themselves

Democracy Local regularly publishes stories, reports, data and other content from around the world on how everyday people govern themselves and their communities. If you have a story, idea, or data to share, please contact Democracy Local publisher Joe Mathews at joe@democracylocal.com. If you're a media outlet or NGO that would like to republish Democracy Local content, please contact Joe as well. You can subscribe to our newsletter below.

"True democracy cannot be worked by 20 men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village." — Mahatma Gandhi

Photo credit: Inhabitants of Plachimada protest Coca-Cola factory. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NL

Photo Credit: George M. Groutas via Flickr CC BY 2.0 Deed

What is 'Smart Democracy...

Also: how to meet me; summer school, vampires, comparing French and...

Art Credit; Public domain via Wikimedia.

Bucharest and Los Angeles

Dracula Talks Democracy

'Democracy and vampires have much in common' says 600-year-old count...

Tblisi (Georgia)

20 Days in the Caucasus

Inspiring struggles for democracy in lands of conflict.

I Wrote the Magna Carta

And You Can Too, Democracy Cities!

Pressure Inspires City Democracy

Don't underestimate Turkey, Ukraine, or democracy cities.

Stuttgart (Germany)

My Local Ballot Is Too Big!

What to do about voter confusion? Here's a tool.

Valley of Silent Screams

Rights violations in communities of Kashmir

How Belgium Leads the Way

Belgium is a democratic innovator. What can the world learn from its...

Photo courtesy of Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality Publishes Final Report press release, December 2022. Creative Commons License 2.0. Via Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/oireachtas/

Email Newsletter

The Meaning of Irish Defeat

A Roundup from Barcelona to Nelson Mandela Bay

The Revolution in Northern Syria

An extraordinary magazine story on the enduring but unlikely feminist...

How Culture Frustrates Democracy

Our patriarchy and economic obsessions have slowed democracy—and...

California Ballot Measures from 2010 via Flickr by Josh Heller

This Poll Makes You Deliberate

A digital version of the Deliberative Poll encourages democracy, more...

Lead photo by Anders Henrikson, 2014 (Creative Commons license)

The Democracy Column

Please Don't Save Democracy

It's not a penalty shot. Or a dollar in the bank.

Barcelona Panorama from Parc Guell in the pubblic domain

Barcelona v Bogota: The World...

You can see the event on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

You can see the event on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CzYBlDPPbM How do you know if your town or city is a...

A campaign sign in Central Jakarta, February 2024. photo by Joe Mathews

How Losers Can Win

Karachi candidate declares his victory rigged. Indonesia mends its...

After the Mayor's Death

After suicide and scandal, Korean local democracy finds new life.

The presidential and vice presidential candidates of Taiwan's ruling DPP party (Photo by Joe Mathews)

Can Democracy Survive 2024?

2024 is the biggest election year in history. That may be bad for...

Refugees resist on roof @ Berlin Gallery: www.montecruzfoto.org/31-08-2014-Demo-guertelstr-Refugees CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed

Thuringia Germany

One-Third of My Neighbors?

The polls say the AfD has 1/3 support in my community. What does that...

School group at Asian African Conference Museum, Bandung, Indonesia

Do You Live in Democracy?

This is the first issue of our weekly newsletter....

How Security Law Puts Us at Risk

Article 23, the new security law, tramples rights and daily life in...

Illustration Courtesy Asia Democracy Chronicles

The Hong Kong Disapora's Power

How Hong Kongers continue to fight for democracy from abroad.

Photo from Asia Democracy Chronicles

The City-State's 1% Illusion

Singapore tax increase leads to demands for tax relief.

Let LA's People Redo Charter

...

Polling place in Surrey, British Columbia (Canada) for global Khalistan referendum

Vancouver and Chandigarh

The Global Vote On Sikh Autonomy

The Khalistan referendum is not just about the Punjab. It's a preview...

The first gathering of the People's Assembly in Athens, Sept. 27 (photo by Joe Mathews)

The Next Democracy, On Athens Hill

Democracy was first...

Seoul of Seoul photo by Bruno Kaufmann

Planetary Newsletter

March to Democracy Events

A busy March for democracy.

Photo by Stephan Uttom Rozario

Dhaka (Bangladesh)

This Election Stole Christmas

Dhaka was quiet at Christmas—as Bangladeshis fear traveling because of...

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, at World Economic Forum in Switzerland in 2009. Photo by Remy Steinegger, for World Economic Forum, via Flicker https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/3488093359 and Creative Commons license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Stop the Next Putin at Home

Want to join the global fight against authoritarianism? Then...

Aleksandra Wiśniewska (above), a 29-year-old political novice, who is now the youngest woman MP in Poland’s parliament. Courtesy of Aleksandra Wiśniewska/Instagram.

How to Win an Unfair Election

An exchange in Lodz reveals how the Polish opposition managed to defeat...

HK's District Elections Are...

More rules on district elections undermine democracy

Recife (Brazil)

Reviving Brazil's Local...

Letter from...

Gonzales (California)

This Small City Puts Its Kids First

What if California actually decided to put the needs of its poor kids...

Balta (Ukraine)

Ukraine Was a Local Democracy...

As I write this, Russian troops reportedly are moving north through the...

South Pasadena (California)

Save The World With Local Democracy

... Local Democracy.... September 15 is the ...

Cologne (Germany)

I Went Back In Time to City Future

... a City's Democratic Future.

I was more than a little...

https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2023/07/11/saving-democracy-action-funds/ideas/connecting-california/

How Do We Pay for Democracy?

Increasing Civic Participation Is Expensive, But a New Idea—Democratic...

PHOTO CREDIT: A celebration outside the Louvre after Macron’s election victory in 2017. SOURCE: Photo by Lorie Shaull, via Flicker https://www.flickr.com/photos/number7cloud/34527195605 and Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Grenoble (France)

France: Too Central For Democracy?

Might this month’s French elections be the prelude to another French...

Santa Monica (California)

Go to Bed, My City Council

Late-night decisions backfire

시장의 죽음 이후

Українські міста були лідерами...

CC 4.0 license. Demonstration in Hong Kong north coast against pseudo-universal suffrage., 2015

Make Voting Rights Universal

Truly universal suffrage doesn't exist. Let's change that.

Photo Credit Photographer: Florent MECHAIN/TravelMag.com travelmag.com, via Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0.

Chittagong Hill Tracts

Waiting in Pain

In Bangladesh's...

This file was produced by Ayuntamiento of Madrid, the City Council of Madrid, and provided through Diario de Madrid. Diario de Madrid website. Creative Commons CC BY 4.0.

Berlin and Los Angeles

Make Your Council Bigger

Better cities have bigger city parliaments.

Mexico City Is My Real Capital

In California, we're closer to CDMX than DC. And not just...

Photo credit: Budapest, by Jorge Fraganillo, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 Deed

Budapest and Helsinki

Cities Carry Torch of Democracy

In Europe, progressive cities such as Budapest, Amsterdam, Helsinki and...

Los Angeles si București

Dracula Discută Democrație

'Democrația și vampirii au multe în comun'