Democratising democracy beyond the ballots
Democracy means “the power of the people”, but do Southeast Asians feel they have the power? Do their governments genuinely represent them? Are their voices heard or taken into account? We have elections, therefore we are a democracy.” This isn’t sufficient proof that democracy exists. As the history of Southeast Asia shows, democracy is more than elections. The people need to play an active role in decision-making and be able to express their opinions.
What is Southeast Asian democracy? What values and principles do we base our democracy on? What problems does it need to solve? How did our nationalist leaders articulate democracy? How do Southeast Asians today conceive of democracy?
How do Southeast Asians practise democracy? How do Southeast Asians actually fight for democracy? How do we need to behave? What do we need to do to build better lives for all of us, and live with dignity and justice?
This series will also evolve democratically: it starts with a series of articles proposing principles for Southeast Asian democracy. These will be followed by virtual Democracy Classrooms, to discuss these principles. From self-determination to historical awareness, we will then collectively define and vernacularise what these mean to us. Further events and outputs will look at how we practise and promote democracy in our local communities. Find democratic practices near you! Look up some examples from across the region in this map.
See the case studies across the region:
💡 Click icons to learn about specific events or click “Data layers” button (4th top left icon) to see all data points. To learn more about the map, click “About” (bottom right).
Trouble loading map? See map in full screen →
💡 Hello!
This map is our beta version to visualise the case studies of Principles of Democracy, and we hope to expand this visualisation for better data storytelling for you. If you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can develop this map, please write to us. Thank you!
12 Principles of Democracy
What are the challenges standing in the way of good governance in Southeast Asia? We suggest four major ones that Southeast Asian societies need to address. Our systems of governance should:
- Ensure that decisions made represent all people,
- Incentivise good governance,
- Meet the needs of the people, including food, safety, and freedom from fear and hunger,
- Be sensitive to local contexts.
Accordingly, our proposed principles of democracy aim to address these obstacles. We hope that they go towards making and implementing good decisions, based particularly on local challenges and conflicts in our region.
I want to be politically engaged beyond the ballot! Where to start?
For the majority of us in Southeast Asia, we reside in democratic countries, or so it appears on paper. Not so fun fact: holding a general election is not a good indicator of a democratic country.
Read our Explainers
In order for democracy to exist, we provisionally suggest that it has to be underpinned by 12 principles. New Naratif delves into each principle in our series of explainers and explores how these principles are observed (or not) in Southeast Asia.
Join the Events
After reading each explainer, you can join a Democracy Classroom to discuss with others and learn more about each principle. This is the space where you can explore ideas that you may not feel comfortable doing so elsewhere.
Our latest Explainers
Principles of Democracy: Majority Rule, Minority Rights
Democracy is the rule of the people, for the people, and by the people. But what happens when the people disagree? The majority can easily tyrannise the minority, hence it must be balanced by minority rights. Just as democracy must guarantee the expression of the popular will through majority rule, it must guarantee that the…
Introduction: What is Southeast Asian Democracy?
As Southeast Asians, we all agree that we should have rule of the people, but we disagree on whether it is actually occurring. Thus, what is in dispute is not whether we should be democracies but what democracy is, and how it should be defined and practised in Southeast Asia. What, then, is Southeast Asian…
Principles of Democracy: Self-determination and Consent of the Governed
A common false dichotomy argues that there is a trade-off between self-determination for individuals and self-determination for the country as a whole. But these are not mutually exclusive—on the contrary, they are one and the same: Self-determination for the collective is achieved through seeking self-determination for each and every individual within the collective.
Acknowledgement
This project was made possible by a grant from the Democracy Discourse Series.