Democracy Coalition Project



	Convening Group Representatives at The Closing Press Conference at the First Ministerial Conference in Warsaw Photo by Andrezej Rybczynski

Democracy at the UN Readings
Democracy Readings
Community of Democracies
Democracy Issues
Regions

For the most recent Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights compilation of documents or texts adopted and used by various intergovernmental, international, regional and subregional organizations aimed at promoting and consolidating democracy, click here

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Readings on Democracy at the UN

For the July 2004 Issue of the American Prospect, Laura Rozen examines the need for UN reform and highlights the efforts underway in support of a UN Democracy Caucus and speaks to the advantages of having such a voting bloc at the UN.

To access the article from the American Prospect website, click here.

On June 13, 2004, Walter Cronkite wrote an op-ed on efforts to improve the effectiveness and credibility of the United Nations and endorses the efforts to prevent non-democratic countries from getting a place on the UN Human Rights Commission.

To read the op-ed on the Denver Post website click here.

“Making U.N. Fit for Democracy”
by Emma Bonino and Gianfranco Dell'Alba, The Korea Herald, 4 June 2003

"Today's U.N., which entrusts the protection of fundamental human rights to countries that are themselves among the prime violators of these rights, is no longer acceptable. We must modify not only the working mechanisms of the U.N., but also its composition. What is needed is a "World Organization of Democracies," devoted to promoting the original values of the U.N., including democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights."

To access the full article, click here.

"Changing the UN"
a Washington Post Editorial, 3 May 2003

In its May 3, 2003 editorial the Washington Post encourages the UN to "to create...a democracy caucus that could help fight the battle for human rights and unite countries that otherwise seldom work together." This effort would help to change of some of the more "moribund, corrupt, or...ludicrous" elements of the UN.

To view the full article, click here.

"Take Back the U.N.: Democratic Nations must form an independent caucus"
by Nancy E. Soderberg, Washington Times, 29 January 2003

"Just as the United Nations is preparing to face two important tests of its relevance - how it will deal with crises in Iraq and North Korea - one of its key bodies just voted itself into irrelevancy. On Jan. 20, the 53-nation Human Rights Commission elected Libya its 2003 chairman. Libya is a country still under UN sanction for terrorism, with a human- rights record that Human Rights Watch calls "appalling," and which will use its new position to block the committee from taking any meaningful action. What's wrong with the United Nations?"

To view the full article, click here.

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Readings on Democracy

Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and Amir Attaran, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, wrote an op-ed in the June 16, 2004 edition of the New York Times urging the World Bank to withhold aid from anti-democratic governments and to give to poverty-striken democracies.

To read the op-ed on the New York Times website (registration required),
click here.

In the September/October issue of Foreign Policy Rt. Hon. Christopher Patten, External Relations Commissioner of the EU, looks at the prospects for democracy in the Middle East and what the West is doing and could be doing to promote democracy in the region.
Democracy doesn't flow from the barrel of a gun by Christopher Patten

In the June & July 2003 issue of Policy Review US Advisory Board member Larry Diamond writes that he is cautiously optimistic that any country can become a democracy.
Universal Democracy? by Larry Diamond

In the Summer 2003 issue of The Washington Quarterly Jennifer Windosr, Executive Director of Freedom House, discusses the interdependence between democracy and development
Democracy and Development: The Evolution of U.S. Foreign Assistance Policy by Jennifer Windsor

In the July 7, 2003 issue of The New Republic Robert Kagan argues that democracy should remain America’s goal abroad
The Ungreat Washed by Robert Kagan

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Documents Related to the Community of Democracies

Community of Democracies Participation Criteria - At their meeting of September 12, 2000, the Foreign Ministers of the Community of Democracies Convening Group agreed to direct senior officials to prepare proposals that would allow for the establishment of basic criteria for participation in the Community and establish procedures to govern its activities as well as those of the Convening Group.

Community of Democracies: Frequently Asked Questions
November 2002

Community of Democracies
Joint Press Release by the Convening Group
Washington, D.C., May 29, 2002

Warsaw Declaration
  English
  French
  Spanish
  Russian
  Arabic
  Turkish
  Ukrainian
  Georgian

Toward a Community of Democracies Ministerial Conference Communiqué
Warsaw, Poland, June 27, 2000

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Closing Remarks to the Ministerial
Warsaw, Poland, June 27, 2000

The Role of Regional and Multinational Organizations in the Promotion and Defense of Democracy: Final Report of the Community of Democracies' Conference
Washington, D.C., February 20-21, 2002

Meeting of Regional and Multilateral Organizations on Promoting and Defending Democracy. Final Communiqué of the Community of Democracies Convening Group
Washington, D.C., February 20-21, 2002

Joint Statement of Foreign Ministers of the Convening Group during the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations
September 12, 2000

Statement issued by the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies concerning the terrorist attacks in the United States
September 19, 2001

Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly: Promoting and Consolidating Democracy
February 28, 2001

Egypt letter to Bush
June 6, 2002

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Topics

Foreign Policy

American Enterprise Institute
http://www.aei.org/

Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/

The Carter Center
http://www.cartercenter.org/

Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.cfr.org/

Partnership for a Secure America
http://psaonline.org/

Elections

Association of Central and Eastern European Election Officials (ACEEEO)
http://www.aceeeo.org/

International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES)
http://www.ifes.org/

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
http://www.idea.int/

Independent Judiciary

Constitution Project
http://www.constitutionproject.org

International Commission of Jurists
http://www.icj.org/

Freedom of the Press/Expression

ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression
http://www.article19.org/

Committee to Protect Journalists
http://www.cpj.org/

Commonwealth Press Union
http://www.cpu.org.uk

Index on Censorship
http://www.indexonline.org/

International Federation of Journalists
http://www.ifj.org

International Freedom of Expression Exchange IFEX
http://www.ifex.org/

Internews
http://www.internews.org/

OAS/Interamerican Commission Office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
http://www.cidh.org/Relatoria/index.asp?lID=1

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
http://www.osce.org/fom/index.php3

National Security Archives
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/

Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/mfro.htm

Human Rights

Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org/

The Carter Center
http://www.cartercenter.org/

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
http://humanrightsinitiative.org/

Federation internationale des ligues des droits de L'Homme
http://www.fidh.org

Freedom House
http://www.freedomhouse.org

Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org

The Inter-African Network for Human Rights and Development
http://afronet.org.za/afronet.htm

Inter-American Institute of Human Rights
http://www.iidh.ed.cr/

International League for Human Rights
http://www.ilhr.org

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
http://www.lchr.org

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
http://www.osce.org/odihr