The Center for EU Enlargement Studies and the Foreign Policy Association of Moldova cordially invite you to the workshop
Embedding Democratic Values: The Role of Civic Education and Media in Democratization
Venue: Regency Hotel (Strada Sfatul Ţării 17, Chișinău 2012)
Date: March 21 (Monday), 2016
Language: English / simultaneous translation to Romanian
Democratization is a complex process that entails both critical choices of new institutions, and most importantly, the rooting of those institutions in the societal ethos. Most of the literature on democratic transition and consolidation has been dominated by the study of institutional crafting, especially in post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, where not only political but also economic and social institutions had to be created in the aftermath of the fundamental transformations starting to occur after 1989. However, the footprint of a healthy democracy cannot only be measured in terms of institutional performance, but it has to include citizens’ engagement with the new institutions, and, in fact, a change of mentality that reflects their attachment to the new system.
Thus, the process of embedding democratic values and creeds in a pre-existing belief system marred by features of mistrust, fear and corruption created by totalitarian communist regimes and hardships of transition is a difficult task. We consider that the construction of a democratic political culture – one that reflects interest in and understanding of the new system, and also the desire to participate, motivated by political efficacy – is a process worth exploring, from both academic and practical points of view. During these unstable times, it is the people’s attachment to democratic values that may keep governments in check and preclude them from slipping into populist and anti-democratic measures.
With this event, the Center for EU Enlargement Studies continues the series of discussions around various aspects of democratic change in order to study the phenomenon of social transition and how democratic values become embedded in societies in transition. The discussions are organized in the framework of the project entitled “Frontiers of Democracy: Embedding Democratic Values in Moldova and Ukraine”, but their scope of enquiry reaches beyond and encompasses democratic change in the wider Central and Eastern European region. The project “Frontiers of Democracy: Embedding Democratic Values in Moldova and Ukraine” is supported by the International Visegrad Fund and is part of the “Frontiers of Democracy” initiative of the Central European University.
Please find the program of the event attached.
Due to limited seats, registration is required by March 18 (Friday) at veghzs@ceu.edu!