Democracy Today All of us working within Parliaments across the Commonwealth face the challenge of how to engage our citizens in the decisions that affect them and their lives. Perhaps more than ever, we see a range of reports identifying high levels of citizen disenchantment with democratic institutions. Many factors impact different nations to different extents. These include a lack of political literacy, low satisfaction or trust in politicians and governments, and the increase in complex governance arrangements that can risk a lack of transparency.2 The word ‘democracy’ itself derives from the Greek words dēmokratia, from dēmos ‘the people’ and kratia meaning ‘power or rule’.3 At its heart, democracy is about giving people a say in the decisions that affect them. By developing outreach, engagement and education activities that sit at the heart of our strategic planning, Parliaments can find inclusive ways to open up our processes,
engage citizens in decision making, and educate young people who will become the future of our democracies.
I N T R O D U C T IO N : PA R L IA M E N T I N T H E 2 1 ST C E N T U RY
1. Introduction: Parliament in the 21st Century
2030 Agenda and SDGs Globally, a core element of the 2030 Agenda commitment to end poverty and set the world on a sustainable path to inclusive development is that people must be included at every stage of decision-making, from initial policy design to implementation and monitoring. Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) has two targets that refer to the role of Parliaments: • Target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels • Target 16.7: Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.4
2. S. A. Ercan and J.-P. Gagnon, ‘The Crisis of Democracy: Which Crisis? Which Democracy?’ (2014) 1 Democratic Theory 1 at 1. 3. J. Cresswell, The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins (Oxford University Press, 2010). 4. C. Rodriguez, Inter-parliamentary Union, and United Nations Development Programme, Parliaments and the Sustainable Development Goals: a self-assessment toolkit (2016) p. 2. ENGAGEMENT, EDUCATION & OUTREACH HANDBOOK FOR COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS
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