📋 Tender Overview
Im not talking about political scandals. Im talking about opinion polls. And while politicians sometimes get too excited about them depending on how good the polls are at the moment they help us build better democracies. By engaging citizens and providing information about what is and is not going well in a society and thereby holding governments accountable.Opinion research is therefore also a good introduction to this conference on democracy in Africa and the G7 countries. Of course our countries in the G7 and also in Africa have different political styles and cultures our democracies are all unique and differ greatly. But opinion polls show two developments that all our nations have in common.On the one hand a large majority of our populations support democracy. According to an Afrobarometer survey - Professor Gyimah-Boadi will tell us more about that in a moment - around 70 percent of people in Africa believe that democracy is preferable to any other form of government. The values are quite similar in the G7 countries.On the other hand surveys also show that citizens are less and less satisfied with how democracies work and what they achieve.This shows that the democratic progress that has been achieved in recent decades is genuine and desirable - in Europe and in Africa. At the same time however there is no doubt that democracy has come under pressure.In difficult situations citizens feel that their governments are not delivering fast enough. I think weve seen that in the pandemic and now with rising energy prices. And in some countries heads of state are themselves ignoring election results mocking the legitimacy of democratic institutions.Democracies are also under pressure because at first glance they dont seem to have the tools to produce quick solutions. Unlike leaders in autocratic regimes leaders in democracies thank God have to work out majorities in parliaments and governments. That takes time - and above all it takes longer than in an autocratic regime where a so-called strong leader bangs on the table and says This is how we do it now. We need time to make decisions to convince parliamentarians to make fundamental reforms.And unlike autocratic regimes democracies give populists and autocratic forces the opportunity to spread fake news false narratives and disinformation about their actions but also about democratic decisions - we saw that in the pandemic. With this instrument they aim to undermine trust in our open societies.So the challenges facing democracy are real. And they dont exist in isolation from each other. They affect us all. That is why I am convinced that we as democracies should join forces to see how together we can best deal with these challenges across countries and continents.But before I elaborate further I would like to address a few important points.First of all There is no such thing as a perfect form of democracy. Rather there are different types and variants in many different places some have coalition governments others a presidential system. What connects us all is our commitment to the rule of law separation of powers human rights and fundamental freedoms. In democracies you can win elections with populist moves we just saw that. But to be successful as a government in a democracy one must govern responsibly.Also democracies are never finished they are more like a process. They change and develop constantly - because people also change and develop.
