Published on the Keseb website.
The Defending and Strengthening Diverse Democracies report is a culmination of a multi-month analysis consisting of literature review and interviews with 75+ civil society leaders from Brazil, India, South Africa, the United States, and those working transnationally.
These four former colonies – representing 25% of the world’s population – offer critical insights that can deepen our understanding of the crisis facing diverse democracies. Additionally, these countries surface immediate priorities for pro-democracy civil society intervention, particularly for practitioners and philanthropists.
From its inception in Athens, dēmokratia was designed for a homogenous group of people with similar racial, social and economic privileges. Yet, with its inherent values of individual choice and collective voice, democracy offers the most compelling vision and system of government for human flourishing. This is especially salient for multiethnic and pluralistic societies.
Democracy builds its foundations on diversity and on the contest of ideas in the political space. Today, this very idea of diversity within a democracy has become a ubiquitous wedge issue that has fueled authoritarian, ethnonationalist, and xenophobic movements in the U.S. and across the globe.
With democracy at a critical inflection point, it is imperative to open the aperture of analysis beyond a single country in order to uncover patterns and levers to reverse democratic erosion.
Keseb’s report, Defending and Strengthening Diverse Democracies:
- Highlights the drivers of democratic regression in Brazil, India, South Africa, and the United States, and trends across them
- Surfaces opportunities to defend and strengthen pro-democracy civil society efforts in each country
- Calls for a cross-country ecosystem approach to counter enduring authoritarian forces and build inclusive and resilient democracies.
