President Biden’s “Summit for Democracy” begins tomorrow with the laudable aim to reenergize global commitment to democracy during a dangerous period of backsliding and rising authoritarianism. Yet the process — organization, content design, and participant selection — has been, ironically, less than democratic. The agenda, selection of participants, and drafting of commitments mostly took place behind closed doors and would have benefitted from co-creation with civil society.
The event this week, however, is only the beginning of a process and presents an opportunity for the administration to take a more transparent and inclusive approach going forward.
