Roundtable: Attacks on Civic Space and Democratic Resilience

The Roundtable is the second edition of the partnership between International IDEA and the Bonavero Institute which seeks to enable exchange of ideas among practitioners and comparative experts, and draw insights on themes related to the promotion of responsive, accountable and constitutional governance necessary for democratic stability and reduction of socio-political polarization and conflict.  

This Roundtable focused on the legal and institutional architecture of civic space as a key mechanism of government accountability and discussed repeated patterns of attacks on civic space around the world. It brought together participants from civil society, the media, and think tanks  from eleven countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Türkiye. 

The participants represented countries at various stages on the spectrum of resistance to democratic backsliding, reversal and resilience, and shared experiences on navigating and resisting pressures on civic space, how to engage in supporting  efforts of newly elected political forces to reverse backsliding, while also holding them accountable, and ways to strengthen the capacity of the civic space to weather future attacks. The Roundtable also discussed the shifting role, promise and pitfalls of regional and international actors in supporting the protection, maintenance and promotion of a vibrant civic space.  

The deliberations were informed by a draft discussion paper that distilled various strategies and mechanisms of attacks on the civic space, as well as the reversal of such attacks and building of resilience. Participants provided valuable inputs into the paper, which will be published in September 2025.

International IDEA understands that enhancing the capacity of democratic systems to resist backsliding and build their resilience is critical to reducing the risks of socio-political polarization and conflict, enhancing economic prospects,  strengthening political stability, as well as stemming shifts towards autocratic systems and the attendant tendency to align with powerful global authoritarian states. Accordingly, IDEA will continue its work to study, understand and share knowledge on democratic resistance and resilience, support states seeking to strengthen their democratic political systems and work with international partners to enable an exchange of ideas among communities of democratic actors. 

The Constitution Building and Rule of Law Program will build on the networks and connections that emerged during the Roundtable, and strengthen the partnership with the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights.