Strengthen democracy!

Through its work, the Bertelsmann Stiftung aims to make democracy crisis-proof and sustainable. Here is an overview of our activities and priorities in this area:

Moldovan President Maia Sandu and German entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Otto are the recipients of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's 2025 Reinhard Mohn Prize. According to the award citation, the two recipients have impressively demonstrated how today's much-challenged liberal democracy can be protected, promoted and developed further through commitment and courageous leadership. Thanks to their values and actions, both recipients exemplify the theme of the Reinhard Mohn Prize: "Strengthen democracy!" While Maia Sandu fights for freedom and self-determination in the political arena, Michael Otto has dedicated himself to promoting the democratic idea and its sustainability in business and civil society. The award ceremony for the prize will take place at 11 am on Thursday, February 20, 2025 at Gütersloh Theater. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to attend as guest of honor.

The quality of democracy in developing and transition countries has steadily deteriorated over the past twenty years. Today, there are only 63 democracies compared to a majority of 74 autocracies - this is shown by the latest figures from the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index (BTI). For the tenth time, the BTI is analyzing developments in governance in 137 developing and transition countries. 

Because 2024 was a super election year, the BTI is offering another special service. The BTI's Election Calendar provides a comprehensive overview of the results of the elections, all paired with all of the BTI's information on the states. 

Learn more: How to halt democracy erosion (bertelsmann-stiftung.de)

What the BTI documents for developing and transition countries, our Sustainable Governance Indicators (SGI) do for the 41 EU and OECD states. The Scandinavian countries generally perform well when it comes to sustainable good governance.

Based on the new data set, we compared Germany, the UK, Norway and Denmark in terms of how far the countries have come in terms of the energy transition. Norway is ahead but, like the other countries, still has some homework to do.

Disinformation and deliberately disseminated falsehoods are among the greatest threats to democracy. In Germany as elsewhere, people view targeted disinformation as a danger for democracy – as our study  “Disconcerted Public” shows. According to the survey carried out for the study, 81 percent of respondents say that disinformation endangers democracy.

There is also widespread awareness of the problem at the European level, as another Bertelsmann Stiftung survey makes clear. According to the study, one respondent in two (54 percent) is often or very often unsure if the information they find on the Internet is true.

So how can we become more resilient against disinformation campaigns in social media? In the run-up to the European elections, we’ve assembled a comprehensive list of our recommended responses, which you’ll find here.

Forum Against Fakes – Together for a Strong Democracy was running an online campaign to explain to people what the dangers of disinformation are. Everyone in Germany was invited to participate at www.forum-gegen-fakes.de. The submitted suggestions was compiled by a citizens’ council then presented to policy makers. In the end, 424,000 people took part and 28 concrete proposals were presented to Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser. 

We looked at how people in other parts of the world are fighting back against disinformation in several countries and summarised the findings in seven Reports. 

The European Union needs a union of citizens who have the chance to participate in the policy-making process – early on and in a way that makes it more democratic and more efficient. That is the message of our policy brief “The EU’s participatory enlargement.”

Together with the European Committee of the Regions, the New Democracy project has launched the Becoming a Participation Professional initiative. Thanks to the initiative, 45 young politicians from 25 European countries are being trained as experts in citizen participation.  

At the end of last year, the Bertelsmann Stiftung also founded the Network for Citizen Participation & Deliberation together with FIDE (Foundation for Research on Law and Business). The network’s aim is to improve and anchor citizen participation in Europe.  

The Bertelsmann Stiftung used a series of events to focus on the importance of citizen participation. The importance of the local level, where the EU’s decision-making takes concrete shape, was the subject of a discussion with European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica. It was also the topic of a second discussion, which included the call to firmly anchor citizen-participation models in European policy-making. At another Bertelsmann Stiftung discussion, Art O'Leary, chief executive of Ireland’s Electoral Commission, described how the Irish approach works and how other countries can emulate it.

There is no question that the EU is in need of reform. What such a reform should look like was the question addressed during a discussion with Daniela Schwarzer, a member of our Executive Board, Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian prime minister, and Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Centre. A video of the event is available here. "What's Next for EU Democracy" was the title of another discussion in the series.

The Bertelsmann Stiftung brought together the voices of 1.5 million young people between the ages of 15 and 34 from all of the EU member states, and their messages have been summarized in the Agenda of Hope. Above all, young Europeans are calling for greater citizen participation in EU policy-making.

What would a second election of Donald Trump mean for democracies in Germany and the European Union? Our analysis shows that the changes would be fundamental. His aim is to develop the USA into an ‘illiberal democracy’. This would weaken liberal democracies and strengthen autocratic and anti-democratic actors, including in Europe.

A recent eupinions survey shows how Europeans view the EU's relationship with the US: a clear majority of Europeans are prepared to take greater responsibility for their own interests in a changing world order. This is the key finding of the survey in the 27 member states of the European Union. The figures show a clear shift in opinion in Europe: at the end of 2017, only a quarter of citizens wanted greater European involvement.

How strong is social cohesion in Germany? The book “Anders wird gut” (Different Is Good) – written by Kai Unzicker, our expert for social cohesion, and journalist Verena Carl – provides examples of well-functioning social cohesion in the country.

The Weimar Conversations examined the topic “Transformation of the Public Sphere – Risks for Social Cohesion.” The takeaway from the conversations: Positive change is possible.

Democracy doesn’t work without compromise –  and sometimes not without disputes. In November 2024, the  coalition finally collapsed. The common ground had been exhausted and the disputes made substantive work largely impossible. Nevertheless, our experts gave the traffic light coalition a surprisingly good report card at the halfway point. 

German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius did not mince words at an event organized by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, where he called for “passion for democracy and freedom” in light of the attack on Ukraine. 

Even the youngest children can learn what democracy means. Even three to six-year-olds can acquire democratic skills and learn about social engagement and participation. The Bertelsmann Stiftung was so convinced of this that it launched the "Leon and Jelena" children's book series in 2014. Accompanied by "Das Praxisbuch: Mitentscheiden und Mithandeln in der Kita", 17 picture books now teach children how enriching it is to take responsibility and contribute their own ideas to negotiation processes. In short: for 10 years, Leon and Jelena have been teaching daycare centre children a great deal - and also what it means to grow up in a democracy.

In times of crisis, it becomes clear how valuable a functioning civil society is. Yet civil society also requires structures – including religious ones. The publication "An das Gute glauben" (Believing in the Good) analyses the role faith-based communities play in supporting refugees.

At the same time, however, discrimination is becoming more and more common. Our survey shows that an increasing number of people in Germany say they have experienced discrimination. Of the participating respondents, 13 percent said that, in the previous 12 months, they felt discriminated against (“very often” or “sometimes”) due to their ethnic heritage, as a result of racism or antisemitism, or because they are originally from another country.

As the case of Canada shows, it is possible to implement successful immigration policies, since the country currently expects to welcome a record number of newcomers – more than 460,000 – per year.

#Strengthendemocracy on the other side of the Atlantic: Our colleagues in Washington have analysed the US election in a series of articles. What does Trump's election victory mean for democracy in the USA? How divided is the USA? They analyse the relationship between the USA and the European states and provide a broad overview of the election year in the Election Hub.