Artificial intelligence and democracy

“What happens when suddenly people attack the integrity of the electoral process? Well, you actually need to have knowledge then because otherwise you are defenseless.  If you know how elections work and how in many countries it's technically almost impossible to rig the election, then you will be protected against disinformation.”International IDEA's Head of Communications Alistair Scrutton talks to Alberto Fernandez Gibaja, Head Digitalization and Democracy about all issues related to misinformation, disinformation and the likes of AI in relation to the 2024 Election Super-Cycle. 

International IDEA’s Anna Dziedzic spoke to Dr Yu Jie Chen to hear her reflections on the 2024 Taiwanese elections. They discuss the implications of the new status quo – in which neither of the two major parties hold a majority of legislature seats – and the increasingly sophisticated ways that Beijing seeks to influence Taiwan’s elections. Dr Yu Jie Chen is an Assistant Research Professor at Academia Sinica in Taiwan and an Affiliated scholar of the US-Asia Law Institute of New York University School of Law.

Kevin Casas-Zamora, secretario general de IDEA Internacional y Daniel Zovatto, el director regional de IDEA Internacional en América Latina y el Caribe conversan sobre la evolución de la democracia en la región, los retos de la democracia y cuál debería ser la proyección de IDEA Internacional hacia el futuro. Daniel Zovatto ha sido durante 26 años el director de IDEA Internacional en América Latina. En enero de 2024, será sustituido por Marcela Ríos Tobar. Este podcast es una conversación entre amigos, y expertos que ahondan en innovación política, y es también una despedida llena de gratitud a Zovatto por sus valiosísimos servicios para el Instituto y para el avance de los valores humanos y la cultura política.

The 'Global State of Democracy 2023 Report – The New Checks and Balances' highlighted that there are trends of contraction around the world, but also bright spots of hope. A day after International IDEA’s #GSoD2023 Global Launch event, Marcus Brand, Head of International IDEA’s Myanmar Programme talked to Kunthida Rungruengkiat, Director of the Progressive Movement Foundation about the state of democracy in Thailand.Is Thailand an example of contracting democracy? Is it even a democratic system? And what are the lessons of the past 10 years of struggling for the return to democracy?Guest: Kunthida Rungruengkiat, Director of the Progressive Movement FoundationHost: Marcus Brand, Head of International IDEA’s Myanmar Programme

Drawing from the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic the LEGITIMULT (Legitimate Crisis Governance in Multilevel Systems) project  aims to identify a model of political legitimate crisis governance that takes into account the interplay between international, national, regional and local governments and institutions.Its guiding research question “Which conditions contribute to democratically legitimate crisis governance?” will allow governments and policy makers to better face the crises of the future. The aim is not only to have effective responses, but that these measures respect and guarantee basic human rights and freedoms.  This is the first of a three-episode series featuring LEGITIMULT, its findings and tools for addressing and solving future crises. LEGITIMULT is funded through Horizon Europe and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Host: Miguel Angel Lara Otaola. Senior Advisor for Democracy Assessment at International IDEA. Guests:Eva Maria Belser – Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law and Co-Director of the Institute of Federalism, University of Fribourg. Francesco Palermo- Professor of Comparative Public Law and Director of the Institute for Comparative Federalism at EURAC Lucia Radici- Project Manager for Legitimult at EURAC 

Hace 45 años de que la tercera ola de la democracia bañara las costas de América Latina. Se perciben grandes avances, y hoy las elecciones competitivas son la regla en la región, a excepción de Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela. Sin embargo, la última década ha traído un descontento generalizado con la democracia, que en ocasiones da paso a que triunfe el canto de sirenas del populismo autoritario. Este podcast explica cuáles son los retos de la democracia en la región y qué podemos hacer como ciudadanos para defender la democracia y las libertades que tanto nos costó conseguir.Yasnaya Guibert, oficial de Comunicaciones en IDEA Internacional y Miguel Ángel Lara Otaola, oficial de programa sénior en la unidad de Evaluación de la democracia, conversan sobre la democracia en América Latina y el Caribe.

The prevailing view is that with primarily human-generated content, democracy has suffered widespread erosion due to the proliferation of misinformation and the manipulation of specific narratives that enhance polarization. To what extent can the growth of massive content creation thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) deepen democracy erosion? What tools are at our disposal to protect democracy from AI threats? International IDEA's Communications Officer, Yasnaya Guibert, talks to Alberto Fernandez, Senior Advisor on Digitalization and Democracy of International IDEA about AI and democracy, from the basic concepts to creative proposals like a global constitutional AI.Background reading: https://www.idea.int/es/news-media/news/es/chatgpt-y-democracia

A conversation between International IDEA's Secretary-General, Kevin Casas-Zamora and Martin Wolf, the author of the recently published book The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism.Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, and one of the world’s most respected journalists, with his columns read eagerly by policymakers and the public around the world. He was awarded the Commander of the British Empire in 2000 “for services to financial journalism”. His latest book The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism was published this year to widespread acclaim and touches upon many issues at the heart of what we do at International IDEA.Guest:·       Martin Wolf, British journalist and writer.

In this joint International IDEA and Electoral Integrity Project episode on ‘Elections during Times of Crisis’, Therese Pearce-Laanela speaks with the authors of a new book ‘Elections during Emergencies and Crises: Lessons for Electoral Integrity from the Covid-19 Pandemic’. Guests: Toby S. James, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, the University of East Anglia, UK. Alistair Clark, Professor in Politics, the University of Newcastle, UK. Erik Asplund, Senior Programme Officer, Electoral Processes Programme, International IDEA.Host: Therese Pearce-Laanela Background Reading: Elections during Emergencies and crises: lessons for electoral integrity from the covid-19 pandemic 

The ongoing 2023 constitution-building process in Chile, and its relationship with the failed 2021-2022 constitution-building process.GuestsIsabel Aninat: Dean of the Law School, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, and member of International IDEA´s Board of AdvisorsJavier Couso: Public Law Professor, Universidad Diego Portales, and Utrecht UniversityBackground Reading: https://constitutionnet.org/country/constitutional-history-chile