South Africa: Defending Democracy - "Institutions and the People" Debate

analysis

Democracy Works Foundation in partnership with Social Surveys Africa recently co-hosted a dialogue entitled, "Defending Democracy - Institutions and the people" on 7 May at the Women's' Gaol, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg. Speakers included Dr Reuben E. Brigety, Dean of the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University and former US Ambassador to the AU, Thembinkosi Dlamini of Oxfam South Africa and Heather Sonn Pather, Managing Director of Gamiro Investment Group, moderated by Busi Dlamini, Democracy Works Director.

After several decades in which Democracy was considered a relatively unquestioned and largely functional 'good' in many countries globally, it is now increasingly contested in those same spaces. There are deep-seated disagreements about who or what is to be resisted or defended; and few spaces in which people with a diversity of views can debate constructively to build new narratives and networks. The event was designed to facilitate such a discussion across sectors, generations and national contexts.

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