When an unlikely group of partners set out two years ago to take the global pulse on democracy, we had no idea what sort of response we’d get. The group, which included everything from Hollywood filmmakers to democracy advocates to the US government, asked the world to tell us what “Democracy is…” Thousands of videos and photos and tweets later, the one thing we can say for certain is that there are a lot of opinions on the matter. And while it was kind of cool that Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih participated in our Twitter contest, the thing I find most inspiring about the “Democracy is…” project is the response we’ve received from young people.
Thousands of young people from more than 130 countries around the world have answered our question. And the answers are as varied as the places they come from. Some talk about the benefits of democracy in their societies. Some talk about the flaws in their political systems. Others, from closed societies, talk about their aspirations to experience rights and freedoms they’ve only heard about.
This year’s winners run the spectrum. The winners from Nepal and Ethiopia talk about the ideals of democracy – diversity and fairness. The winner from Spain proposes a single worldwide democracy where everyone gets a vote. The winner from Indonesia takes an ironic and amusing look at the imperfections in his own democracy.
But the two I find the most haunting are those that explore life where democracy is curtailed. Juan Pablo Patiño from Colombia shows us the wrenching experience of a child whose life is torn apart by a senseless guerrilla war, and Farbod Khoshtinat from Iran paints a stunning portrait of what he and a whole generation of young Iranians are demanding of their government.
And as inspiring as these videos are, there are hundreds more. You should check out all the finalists and semifinalists. It’s great to see that young people around the world have so much to say. And if you want to hear more about their opinions, you can follow the conversation on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear what you have to say, too!
Published Date: August 06, 2010