Democracy and Human Rights in a Changing World: A Discussion with Ambassador Maritza Chan

In this episode of Democracy IDEAs, Amanda Sourek speaks with Ambassador Maritza Chan, Costa Rica’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a leading voice on gender equality, disarmament, and AI governance. Ambassador Chan reflects on her historic leadership roles, Costa Rica’s principled multilateral engagement, and the future of Women, Peace and Security in the digital era. From advancing consensus on AI governance to championing prevention and women peacebuilders, this conversation explores how small states shape global agendas—and why democracy, human rights, and gender equality remain essential to building a more just international order.

In this episode, Sharon Pia Hickey Programme Officer at International IDEA’s Constitution-Building and Climate Change and Democracy programmes speaks with Thai lawyer Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, Executive Coordinator, and Co-Founder of Community Resources Centre Foundation about the landscape of climate and environmental litigation in Thailand. Drawing on her experience with cases focusing on extractive industries, development projects, and public interest law, Sor tracks her path from realising the importance of protest and shares a message for climate lawyers across the region.Background reading: Let the courts decide? The Potential and Limitations of Climate Litigation from a Democracy Perspective

There are many lessons to be learned from what collectively came to be known as the 'Supercycle Election Year' of 2024. Together with the European Partnership of Democracy (EPD), International IDEA have published the report ‘The Election Year 2024 and Tech Policy around the World’, which identifies key features and gaps in tech policy around the world with implications for democracy to synthesize a series of regulatory recommendations for the European Union.In this podcast, we sit down with Juliane Müller from International IDEA and Sofia Calabrese from EPD, the authors of the Supercycle report. Together, they discuss what institutions, coordination strategies, and regulatory instruments are needed to protect the integrity of elections. Drawing on examples from around the world, they share insights on how to address the challenges of web-based election cycles through international regulatory standards, interagency collaboration, and cross-sectoral multistakeholder engagement. They also explore how coexisting EU frameworks such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the AI act, the EU Democracy Shield, and the EU Omnibus package can work in contradiction to simultaneously reinforce and undermine democratic protections.To get the full picture, read the ‘The Election Year 2024 and Tech Policy around the World’.

Christina Voigt is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo and Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. In this podcast episode, she discusses the concept of climate justice, the evolving legal landscape around climate change, and the role of international courts therein, with Sharon Hickey, Program Officer with the Climate Change and Democracy and Constitutional Governance and Rule of Law programs at International IDEA, in light of her Stockholm Series lecture 'Repainting the Climate Justice Canvas: How the World's Highest Courts are Leading the Way'.Background Reading: Let the courts decide? The Potential and Limitations of Climate Litigation from a Democracy Perspective

The regulatory landscape surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Latin America is evolving rapidly, and with it, the role of AI in elections is also changing. The issues of AI-amplified disinformation and political polarization have become top priorities throughout the electoral cycle. However,  addressing these challenges is placing an immense strain on governments and electoral institutions across the region. Compounding the issue is the fact that AI technologies are largely developed and controlled by private companies, creating barriers to accountability and transparency that undermine electoral integrity. If governed in ways that uphold democratic values, AI can enhance efficiency and reliability in electoral management. It can also be leveraged to fight-fire-with-fire and counteract AI-based threats. The key question is: how can Latin American governments develop long-term strategic visions that harness the benefits of the technology while keeping its risks at bay?Sit down with Juliane Müller, Associate Programme Officer at International IDEA's Digitalization and Democracy Programme, and Natalia Zuazo to examine the need for holistic AI-frameworks in the context of Latin America and the Caribbean. Natalia is a digital policy expert, founder of the digital transformation consultancy SALTO, and a senior consultant for UNESCO's regional office in Montevideo. She is based in Argentina, and works regionally with the intersection of technology, human rights, and governance. Natalia collaborated with International IDEA as a regional expert during the AI for Electoral Actors workshop in Panama in May of 2025.This episode is the third in a series for the AI for Electoral Actors project that aims to raise AI literacy among EMBs in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Balkans and Eastern Europe.Listen to the first episode here and the second episode here.Background reading: AI for Electoral Actors

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is spreading to all corners of the world, but its impact varies wildly between the contexts in which it's developed and deployed. If considerations are not made for how AI might interact with national and regional ethics and regulation, it risks exacerbating harmful externalities for already marginalized groups, democratic institutions, and the environment.In this episode, Juliane Müller, Associate Programme Officer at International IDEA's Digitalization and Democracy Programme is joined by Alia Yofira to discuss these implications and how AI literacy and institutional capacities are crucial to adequately address them. Alia Yofira is an associate researcher at the Jakarta-based Safer Internet Lab (SAIL), a gender, human rights and tech researcher at PurpleCode Collective, and the resident expert on AI regulation and legislation in the Asia Pacific region for International IDEA's AI for Electoral Actors project. She specializes in feminist and human rights-based approaches to policy advocacy in the tech sector.This episode is the second in a series for the AI for Electoral Actors project that aims to raise AI literacy among EMBs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans and Eastern Europe.  Read more about the project: https://www.idea.int/project/ai-electoral-actors

What do parliamentary buildings really say about democracy? Are they open, welcoming spaces for citizens - or distant symbols of power?This special podcast episode launches the fourth guide “Parliament as a Space and Place” - in a series of eight Citizen Engagement Guides, by Inter Pares - Parliaments in Partnership, which is implemented by International IDEA and in collaboration with the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN), with support from the European Union.Timed to commemorate the International Day of Democracy, this podcast explores how parliaments function both as physical spaces and symbolic places that shape public trust, identity, and participation.Featuring global experts and real-world examples - from Berlin’s iconic glass dome to mobile parliaments that bring democracy to rural communities - this episode shows how architecture and design can either build bridges between citizens and their representatives or reinforce barriers.Join us as we unpack how parliaments can move beyond walls to become truly inclusive spaces of belonging, connection, and democratic engagement.Background reading: Parliament as a Space and Place GuideGuides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments More on Inter ParesGuests: Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Chair of the International Parliament Engagement Network, and Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.Anna-Maria Pawliczek, Senior Officer, Division Int 4, International Exchange Programs, International Parliamentary Cooperation, German BundestagAbout the Host: Jessica Benton Cooney is a Senior Communications Consultant for International IDEA’s Inter Pares: Partnerships in Parliament project, where she leads strategic communications for this European Union–funded initiative to strengthen global parliamentary development.

This is the fourth and final episode in a podcast series featuring LEGITIMULT a project that examines how measures taken during the Covid-19 crisis by international, national, and subnational governments have affected multilevel institutions and intergovernmental relations. The aim of the research is to develop a model of legitimate crisis governance. In this episode, we focus on the citizen juries on crisis management in Europe, convened as part of the project following extensive research. The aim was to connect the project’s findings with real-world practice and engage with diverse segments of society. These juries brought the project’s academic work into a practical context, helping to explore what legitimate crisis governance means for citizens. By bridging academia and practice, the initiative sought to close the gap between science, policymakers, and the public on crisis governance. The juries also provided a platform for citizens to share how they perceive crises and to take part in shaping how societies should respond.  The episode shares key insights from these discussions and takes you behind the scenes of organizing citizen juries—an evolving innovation in democratic engagement. Joining the conversation are LEGITIMULT team members who played a leading role in designing and facilitating these juries: Greta Klotz, Post-Doc-Researcher and Project Manager, Institute for Comparative Federalism, Eurac Research. Chiara Salati, Post-Doc-Researcher, Institute for Comparative Federalism, Eurac Research. Jakob Frateur, PhD researcher at the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp. Hosted by:  Gentiana Gola, Adviser for Europe at the Democracy Assessment team and LEGITIMULT Project Manager for International IDEA LEGITIMULT is funded through Horizon Europe and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).  

The digitalization of political campaigning has transformed the ways in which political parties and candidates interact with voters. While offering new avenues for political engagement and outreach, digital campaigning also raises critical regulatory and transparency challenges—ranging from opaque online advertising, third-party influence, and data-driven microtargeting to foreign interference. In response to this evolving landscape, International IDEA has produced the report Political Finance in the Digital Age: Towards Evidence-Based Reforms, which is a comprehensive examination of how digital campaigning intersects with political finance systems. It analyzes the regulatory implications of online campaigning, and the roles of oversight institutions, civil society, and tech companies. The report provides actionable recommendations to help ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in political and campaign finance in the digital era.In this episode, Khushbu Agrawal, Adviser for Money in Politics and Editor of the report speaks to Dr Wouter Wolfs, the lead author, exploring the emerging trends, regulatory gaps, and innovative practices drawn from the 13 case studies, which form the basis of the global report.Guest: Wouter WolfsBackground reading: https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/political-finance-digital-age-towards-evidence-based-reforms

This is the third of a podcast series featuring LEGITIMULT, its findings and tools for addressing and solving future crises. This episode builds “Lessons from Covid-19 – Journalism in a Post-Pandemic Future” media workshop (more details below), and delves into the topic of crisis reporting. The conversation highlights the media’s dual role in both informing the public and holding those in power accountable, as well as the crucial distinction between facts and opinions in journalism—especially through journalists’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. 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.   LEGITIMULT is funded through Horizon Europe and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Guests: Ms Amina Manzoor, Science Journalist at Expressen, Sweden Ms Therese Bergstedt, Science Journalist focusing on public health and climate issues at Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden Hosted by: Dr Alexander Hudson, Senior Adviser in the Democracy Assessment Unit, International IDEA  Background Reading: Workshop summary article: Lessons from Covid-19 – Journalism in a Post-Pandemic Future  Blog post inspired by the media workshop: In times of crisis: How to keep calm and carry on