Why are citizens taking to the streets to hold governments accountable instead of using only the ballot box? What are the challenges faced by activists and movements seeking to practice ‘democracy from below’? 

The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy is actively involved in the “Democracy Week” that is promoted every year by the Geneva Chancellery of State. This year’s theme was “Democracy and alter-democracy”.

We organised a series of events exploring political participation and civic activism outside the formal institutional realm.

• “Qu'est-ce que la contre-démocratie? Entretien avec Pierre Rosanvallon” Read more and watch the interview here. A version with English subtitles and comments from our research team on each thematic sequence is available here.

• “La contre-démocratie: défi ou chance pour la démocratie?” Read more and watch the panel discussion here.

• “Democracy from below: Practices and limitations” Read more and watch the webinar discussion here.

• “American democracy: a Trumpian blip or a deeper malaise?” Launch of the Centre’s podcast series “Democracy in Question?” Listen to the podcast episode here.

Read also the brief about the Democracy Week written by Shalini Randeria.