After two decades marked by a quantum leap in the number of
countries formally considered as democracies, it is widely
understood that new and emerging democratic states confront a
complex, many-layered set of often competing political, social
and economic challenges. In the sphere of institutional design
and development the key challenges - holding free and fair
elections, establishing functioning political parties,
entrenching an independent judiciary among them – are readily
identified, relatively well understood and thus the focus of
domestic political-reform efforts and international assistance.
But another critically important challenge is less appreciated
or emphasised: that of promoting and developing democratic
values and principles within a society. For if it is vital to
put the institutional architecture of democracy in place, it is
no less so to have a strong foundation of shared and applied
democratic values and principles - for without these "bricks and
mortar", in the long run the whole constru