International IDEA speech at the international follow-up conference on new and restored democracies

Since the end of the cold war democracy has been a buzzword, slowly being filled with substance.

During the past 10 years democracy has advanced, but it is also increasingly challenged. Challenged because it does not live up to high expectations of rising living standards; Challenged because we confuse principles with institutional choices; Challenged because democracy must be built within countries, by the people who will live by its performance and under its principles.