Event Details - World Philosophy Day: Encountering Democracy

Encountering Democracy: Concepts and Policies of Democracy Building at the United Nations

Political sensitivities around alternative models of democratic systems have prevented the adoption of an agreed definition of "democracy" in the UN Charter. However, democratic values shape important dimensions of United Nations policies and programs. The democratic peace theory, for example, whose basic principles are rooted in the Kantian concept of "perpetual peace", influenced some aspects of UN work in the field of peace and security. The presentation will analyze the conceptual foundations of the democracy assistance work of the UN, the challenges posed by the rising populism to multilateralism and the implications of the current "democracy recession" for the credibility and legitimacy of democracy building initiatives worldwide.