"Doing Democracy is what I practise every day" - civil society and academia at two-day networking event

Doing Democracy - the core idea behind the event's title is that democracy is not something that can be taken for granted, but must be practised anew every day. "Democracy depends on being constantly revitalised and defended," emphasised Viadrina President Prof. Dr Eduard Mühle at the start of the event. How "doing democracy" is organised in Germany and Poland in the face of current challenges was discussed just as intensively over two days as well as the role that academia and civil society play in the face of threats towards democracy.

It was a cross-border project in many respects, with students, researchers and representatives of civil society coming to the Viadrina and the Collegium Polonicum. It was not only the cross-border location with a campus in two countries that symbolised this. The timing, as part of the celebrations to mark 35 years of the German-Polish Neighbourhood Treaty, also provided the perfect backdrop for the networking event.

The lack of need to understand reality - the scientific perspective

Despite the festive occasion, the public talks were anything but Sunday speeches. Prof Dr Radosław Markowski from the SWPS University of Warsaw, for example, repeatedly contributed some painful findings from his studies. In the opening discussion on the question "Why link science and civil society in the field of democracy?", he emphasised that there is a growing group of people who have no need to gain knowledge about reality. "Part of society is more lost than we originally thought," said Markowski. The problem is not just ignorance, but an attitude of knowledge avoidance, which he called a "new form of fear of freedom" after Erich Fromm and which paves the way for populist leaders with simple truths. Markowski emphasised that this knowledge must not remain in academia, but must also be incorporated into the work of civil society.

Tackling democratic scepticism - the role of civil society

The composition of the participants showed just how great the need is among representatives of civil society to network with researchers. "I was extremely pleased to be invited to this event," said Karola Kunkel from the Halle Peace Circle. "Basically, our contact with science is far too limited for the fact that we have very similar long-term social interests," she emphasised, but also referred to the lack of capacity and precarious conditions under which associations like hers sometimes work.

A challenge that Carsten Herzberg from the Mitmachen e. V. association is also well aware of - some of its programmes are currently under acute threat of cutbacks. For him, the change in perspective between German and Polish organisations and between the realities of science and civil society was particularly important at the event. "I believe that it is a key point to tell each other about our own experiences and working environments, which are very different." His own working environment is characterised by austerity measures as well as the realisation that individual participation tools such as citizens' budgets alone will not save democracy. This is why his organisation combines participation with education. Teaching young people how they can get involved in their cities, educating them about disinformation and practising basic democratic principles is a mosaic that can definitely strengthen democracy.

Olga Żmijewska founded the Sztuka Wolności (Art of Freedom) Foundation in her home village in Masuria after studying at the Viadrina. "Doing democracy is something I practise every day; I translate academic discourse into a different, practical language," is how she describes her work. For her, returning to the countryside is an approach to regaining lost trust. "I appeal to politicians to support people in returning to the places they come from. These are our treasures with great potential for trust."

Participation between democracy and populism

The panel discussion "Opportunities for democratic participation in the age of disinformation" at Frankfurt City Hall on Thursday evening also focussed on gaining trust. The panel discussed how participation formats can counteract democratic scepticism from a practical and academic perspective. Krzysztof Izdebski from the Batory Foundation in Warsaw raised a central problem: "What we see time and time again is that people take part in participation formats, but they are not heard." In his view, participation needs to be standardised so that, for example, it becomes mandatory for citizens to respond, even if their ideas are not implemented.

The Municipal Development Advisory Board (KEB) for the design of Słubicer Straße in Frankfurt (Oder) shows how results can end up in the drawer as large-scale participation formats. Although the format of Prof Dr Gesine Schwan's Berlin Governance Platform was able to bring together all relevant groups and adopt a proposal, this was not accepted by politicians. Despite such setbacks, Gesine Schwan believes that after ten test runs throughout Germany, municipal development councils are a good way of promoting democracy: "The participants often say that it was the most strenuous thing they have ever done. But they also realise that we are often not as far apart as we thought." Ultimately, the discussions in such committees are an exercise in democratic processes.

Krzysztof Izdebski summarised a fundamental problem with attempts at democratic participation: "We are losing credibility because the language of democracy and participation is being appropriated by right-wing populist groups." In the narratives of populist parties, it is portrayed as undemocratic to rely on nuance and cooperation instead of exclusively following the voice of the people. "When we take action against hate speech, we are portrayed as censors," said Izdebski, citing one example.

Conclusion at the Future Lab

The Future Lab at the end of the networking event revealed just how nuanced and rich in perspective the work was. Here, working groups presented their ideas on topics such as youth participation, hate speech and minority rights. It became clear that there can be no one-size-fits-all solutions to the complex challenges. The closing event thus confirmed what Prof. Dr Radosław Markowski had already emphasised at the start with regard to different political cultures: "We don't have to strive for universal recipes, I don't see them."