Through its CivWorld initiative, Demos is engaged in an ongoing exploration of how to build a truly democratic global system. This work, led by Distingushied Senior Fellow Dr. Benjamin Barber, engages scholars and practitioners from both the United States and around the world in several projects. These include:

• The Paradigm Project aims to develop a new framework that offers both a philosophical foundation and practical guidance for movement toward more democratic forms of global goverance. The project seeks to update democratic theory, largely developed in an earlier era of nation-state sovereignty, for a new age of global interdependence, and it examines a number of policy steps to democratize existing international institutions, deepen global civil society ties, and experiment with new forms of global governance. The project engages leading thinkers from the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

• The Interdependence Day Forum is an annual event that convenes participants from around the world to discuss and showcase the theory and practice of democratic interdependence. The most recent Interdependence Day, held in Brussels in September 2008, included 100 panelists from over 25 countries. Planning is now underway for 2009 and 2010 Interdependence Day Forums to be held in Istanbul and Berlin. 

• Interdependence Youth Network is an effort to educate tomorrow's leaders about the challenges posed by global interdependence and the new strategies that are emerging to meet those challenges. Building on an inaugeral Global Interdependence Youth Summit in 2008, we will work to create new linkages among globally minded youth and to strengthen those linkages during future annual youth summits.

To learn more about CivWorld and its other projects, including the Art of Common Space initiative, click here.

• Benjamin R. Barber - Director, CivWorld and Distinguished Senior Fellow
• Holly Lane - Executive Assistant, CivWorld
• Lauren Coakley Vincent - Projects Coordinator, CivWorld
• Harry Merritt - Program Associate, CivWorld

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