Democracy Basics

What does “democracy” mean? Is it an ideal that a society can try to get as close as possible? Or can a constitution and elections guarantee a democracy to stay? Which role do media and civil society play? And how can you participate in a democracy?

What does “democracy” mean? Is it an ideal that a society can try to get as close as possible? Or can a constitution and elections guarantee a democracy to stay? Which role do media and civil society play? And how can one participate in a democracy?

In this section, we have collected reading materials and animation videos from the Citizen+ online course “Democracy Basics.” The course was created in 2020 and is based on examples of the history and politics of Germany, Ukraine and Russia. 

The materials are covering the following topics: main principles of democratic processes; election processes in democratic and authoritarian countries with examples of election campaigns, fraud and manipulation; mechanisms of civic control and examples of participation in the public and political life of a country; and functions of media and social networks as a tool for monitoring the state, business and social movements.

Videos

Video
Democracy Basics

How to make the right choice?

Politician Ilya Yashin and political scientist Stanislav Klimovich provide simple advice on how not to be deceived and vote for the right candidate.
Video
Democracy Basics

How the Media Works

Political scientists and media experts on the functions of the “fourth branch” of government
Video
Democracy Basics

Why do we need elections?

Experts and politicians on elections and how they differ from those in authoritarian countries.
Video
Democracy Basics

What is democracy?

Politicians, experts and political technologists explain the basic principles of democracy.

Publications

Online course

The online course “Democracy Basics” consists of five modules, which include animations, interviews with experts and politicians (available in Ukrainian and Russian), educational material, infographics, and quizzes (available in Ukrainian and Russian). The course was created in 2020 and is based on examples of the history and politics of Germany, Ukraine and Russia. Scroll through the page, read, watch and test yourself.

Udemy

News and events

Partners

The project is funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany in the framework of the Eastern Partnership program.

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