ANNUAL REPORT 2004 Democratization Civil Society and Democratic Governance Civil Society and Democratic Governance For the ODIHR, the fundamental aspect of civil society given society with a culture of seeking the common is the voluntary participation of citizens in all aspects good through deliberation. It is only through such a of community life – both local and country-wide – ei- culture of democracy that institutions will be able to ther directly or through organizations or institutions. function democratically both internally and in relation The extent to which this participation is transparent to one another. and effective is a measure of the quality of democratic governance within a given country. Over the past 15
Post-conflict reconciliation: In the aftermath of years, the ODIHR has sought to strengthen this partici- any conflict, one of the most difficult tasks is rebuild- pation in line with the OSCE commitments on civil soci- ing relations. An atmosphere of mistrust creates ten- ety in general and on NGOs in particular. sion that can prevent the reconciliation process from moving forward. An important role for civil society on Since 2004, the ODIHR has been taking a more com- both sides is to identify common interests to help re- prehensive approach to strengthening democratic duce existing tension and find starting points for dia- practices in 2004, working both with civil society and logue. with government institutions. Activities The Office’s strategy is to complement other programmes aimed at strengthening institutions, legal reform, and promotion of the rule of law by putting the In 2004, the ODIHR carried out activities in the follow- emphasis on strengthening democratic processes ing areas: through increasing transparency and expanding participation in policy-making.
Democratic governance;
Civic diplomacy; and In addition, the ODIHR continues to support reconcilia-
NGO participation in OSCE events. tion efforts in post-conflict areas and to facilitate the participation of NGOs in major OSCE events. 1. Democratic governance Main issues OSCE Human Dimension Seminar on Democratic Institutions and Democratic Governance
The interconnection between democratic governance and democratic culture: More than a decade of The ODIHR hosted some 200 academics, representa- work in the area of democracy-building has shown tives of governments and NGOs, policy makers, diplo- that democracy is more than a checklist of institutions mats, and OSCE staff in Warsaw in May at a Human Di- and laws. A true, functioning democracy also relies on mension Seminar on Democratic Institutions and the compatibility of norms, rules, and traditions of a Democratic Governance. 27