Beyond the Walls – Rethinking Parliament as Public Space

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  

Frank Biermann is a research professor of Global Sustainability Governance with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. He discusses with International IDEA Communications Director Alistair Scrutton ideas about how to tackle the planetary crisis in the face of rising unilateralism, authoritarianism, and anti-environmentalism.Background reading: The Earth System Governance project

In this episode of Peer-to-Peer, we speak to Saket Ambarkhane about the impacts of natural hzards on Indian elections and the growing concern over the effects of climate change on future elections. With Ambarkhane, we explore how different events, such as the heatwaves during the 2024 election, impacted various steps of the electoral process like campaigning, polling day, and voter turnout.Ambarkhane also explains how the different levels of EMBs (federal vs regional) have mitigated such events and the numerous tools India uses to build resilience against natural hazards.Guest: Saket Ambarkhane is an elections expert, having previously worked for the Electoral Commission of India and International IDEA.  Hosts: Erik AsplundBackground Reading: Natural Hazards and Elections in India: Lessons in Adaptation and Mitigation The Impact of Natural Hazards on Elections

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing in the sphere of electoral administration, still its impact has yet to be fully understood. What lessons on electoral AI from the 2024 Supercycle election year can we bring into 2025? How might Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) plan to incorporate AI into their work and what consequences would this have for democracy?In this podcast episode, Juliane Müller, Associate Programme Officer at the Digitalization and Democracy Programme sits down with Prathm Juneja, PhD candidate in Social Data Science at the Oxford Internet Institute and expert for International IDEA's AI for Electoral Actors project to answer these questions and more.This episode is the first 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-actorsBackground Reading: https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/artificial-intelligence-electoral-management https://www.idea.int/news/democratic-foundation-electoral-ai-1https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/global-digital-compact-democracyhttps://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/codes-conduct-rise-fair-and-ethical-political-campaigning-online

A pesar de los avances en la representación política de las mujeres en América Latina, persisten desafíos significativos, como la violencia de género en la política. En esta conversación con Marcela Ríos Tobar, directora regional de IDEA Internacional para América Latina y El Caribe, exploramos hallazgos, repercusión y recomendaciones para hacer frente a este problema que a veces se trivializa o subestima.Según el informe y un estudio de ONU Mujeres, el 80% de las mujeres entrevistadas en 15 países manifestaron que limitaron su participación en las redes, y el 40% se autocensuró.  El impacto de la violencia política de género requiere soluciones de conjunto para prevenir y mitigar sus efectos.Violencia política de género en la esfera digital en América Latina: https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/violencia-politica-de-genero-en-la-esfera-digital-en-america-latina?lang=es 

International IDEA's Outreach and United Nations Liaison Officer, Amanda Sourek, talked to Ambassador Bob Rae, who serves as the 80th President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and has been the Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN since 2020. Bob Rae discussed the role of youth in politics, the deadlock in the Security Council, the crisis in Myanmar, Russia's war against Ukraine, the 2030 Agenda, how democracy is portrayed at the UN, and the role of civil society in multilateral engagement. Background ReadingUN Charter: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charterBob Rae’s biography: https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/un-onu/new-york-rep.aspx?lang=engVision and activities of Ambassador Bob Rae as the 80th President of ECOSOC: https://ecosoc.un.org/en/about-us/vision-and-activities-president 

Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Honorary President of the Club of Roam and co-author of Earth For All: A Survival Guide for Humanity’ has gathered the knowledge of an international team of scientists, economic thinkers, and multidisciplinary experts, to five extraordinary turnarounds to achieve wellbeing and prosperity for all, reduce social tension and ensure strong democracies within planetary boundaries. She discussed with International IDEA's Communicators Director Alistair Scrutton how to achieve global sustainable policies win a world of economic inequality, backsliding democracies and political polarisation.Background Reading: 'Earth For All: A Survival Guide for Humanity’