How Civil Society Engagement Can Strengthen Democracy in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer Arthur Gwagwa evaluated civil society organizations #39; democracy work in Zimbabwe, both in collaboration with and outside of political party structures, and the...
By: National Endowment for Democracy
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How Civil Society Engagement Can Strengthen Democracy in Zimbabwe - Video
Direct and Representative Democracy Chapter 1
This video is about Direct and Representative Democracy Chapter 1.
By: Anna Szalay
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Direct and Representative Democracy Chapter 1 - Video
Following the terror attack that targeted cartoonists and killed 12 people at the offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France 3 aired a special broadcast of Cartoonists: Foot Soldiers of Democracy on Jan. 9.
The film, which premiered in the official selection at Cannes last year, follows imperiled artists from around the world in places as varied as Russia, Israel and Palestine, includingAi Weiwei in China and Jean Plantu Plantureaux in France, and focuses on the necessity of cartoonists to speak truth to power, even in the face of censorship and threats to their safety.
Read more Global News Outlets Divided Over Whether to Show New Charlie Hebdo Cover
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with French director Stephanie Valloatto and Romanian-born co-writer/producer Radu Mihaileanu about the dangers cartoonists face for "saying the things nobody wants to say."
You call cartoonists footsoldiers, which seems to state they are in a battle. What are they fighting for?
Milhaileanu: Cartoonists are on the front line. They are the first ones taking the pulse and they are saying to the public, Pay attention. What happened (at Charlie Hebdo) is exactly what the film is about. The film is about 12 cartoonists around the world, some in very difficult countries with dictatorships and some of them what we call democracy in France, the U.S., Belgium, Israel, and even they say our democracies are really in danger. What happened (at Charlie Hebdo) isnt just a question of was there enough defense by police, but its a question of how did we get here and why are they alone out there on the frontlines? Thats what the film speaks about.
Vallaotto: This term was really important for us, because it is like a war and they are on the frontline with a cartoon. With a cartoon when you see it you dont forget. Its the first thing you see in a newspaper. The image is stronger than words and will stay in your memory. With cartoons they are on the frontline always, and with their pencils they are like footsoldiers against many attacks, but they go on each day making cartoons.
What kinds of dangers do they face?
Vallaotto: Cartoonists are in danger every day. The danger is constant. Each day in each country there are many, many threats from politics, economics, the religious - jail, safety. The film shows cartoonists from Venezuela, China, Russia, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria, and for each cartoonist the threats are the same. Its a struggle for them for freedom of expression and democracy. They are always under threat if they draw against religion. After the (Charlie Hebdo) event, and this is really important for me, I dont think the future will be the same for them now.
Read more 'Charlie Hebdo' Post-Attack Issue Sells Out, eBay Bids Top $1,100
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'Foot Soldiers of Democracy' Filmmakers on the Threats Cartoonists Face Around the World (Q&A)
Walter Berns, a political scientist and philosopher who rebuked liberalism with an impassioned conservative view of American democracy, constitutional government and patriotism, died Jan. 10 at his home in Bethesda. He was 95.
The cause was pulmonary failure, said his wife, Irene L. Berns.
Dr. Berns was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, the conservative think tank in Washington, and a former professor at Georgetown University, where he attained emeritus status in 1994. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded him the National Humanities Medal, an honor recognizing Dr. Bernss decades as a constitutional scholar.
Part historian, part political scientist and part philosopher, he sprinkled his writings with references to the Bible, Shakespeare, Camus and Lincoln. Much of his work, the legal scholar Jeremy A. Rabkin wrote in an overview of Dr. Bernss career, reflects the classical view that democracy depends on the character of the citizens, so their opinions and beliefs, their personal habits and degree of self-discipline in a word, their virtues will matter to the prospects of democratic government.
Dr. Berns argued against unbounded individual rights and for restrictions on pornography, which he believed eroded self-restraint.
Those who are without shame, he remarked, will be unruly and unrulable; having lost the ability to restrain themselves by obeying the rules they collectively give themselves, they will have to be ruled by others.
During public debates over the morality of capital punishment, he maintained that the United States should continue to impose the death penalty.
If human life is to be held in awe, as it should be, he wrote in an academic journal in 1980, the law forbidding the taking of it must be held in awe, and the only way the law can be made awe inspiring is to entitle it to inflict the penalty of death.
Dr. Bernss books included Freedom, Virtue and the First Amendment (1965), The First Amendment and the Future of American Democracy (1976), For Capital Punishment (1979), In Defense of Liberal Democracy (1984), Taking the Constitution Seriously (1987) and Democracy and the Constitution (2006).
His 2001 book Making Patriots drew attention, particularly in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that year. Dr. Berns wrote the book not to address academics, he said on PBSs NewsHour program, but to address the general population, especially young people, and give them good reasons why they should love this country, because this country deserves to be loved.
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Walter Berns, political scientist and philosopher, dies at 95
FTA Keynotes (3): From Knowledge Economy to Innovation Democracy
"From Knowledge Economy to Innovation Democracy: collective action in the shaping of progressive futures" was the speech by Andrew Sterling, Professor at the...
By: EC #39;s Science Service JRC Audiovisuals
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FTA Keynotes (3): From Knowledge Economy to Innovation Democracy - Video