The origin of democracy can be traced to ancient Greek civilisation. It has gained popularity across the globe as shown by the increase in the number of ”free” countries in the Freedom House Annual Survey. Democracy can be generally summarised as follows: a meaningful and extensive competition among individuals and organised groups for all effective positions of government power; a highly inclusive level of political participation in the selection of leaders and policies, at least through regular free and fair elections; and a high level of civil and political liberties: freedom of expression, freedom of press, and freedom to form and join organisations.

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Practically most countries in the world today are “democratic” as they “support” formal electoral institutions and processes. Some countries even attempt to portray themselves as democratic even though they limit popular participation. Democracy has gained currency as reflected by the people’s wishes the world over to participate more actively in governance and to voice their views on issues that matter to them. People yearn to speak openly, give comments on public affairs, and criticise their government. However, how far have thinkers, practitioners, and even supporters of democracy succeeded in promoting and putting into practice democratic principles? Has democracy thrived or declined? Despite the attempts by governments in the west to promote and institutionalise democracy, some governments in Asia and in the African continent, for instance, regard democracy as exclusively “western concept”. Some also argue that the western-led democracy is incompatible with the cultures of “non-western” people.

Democracy is also facing with teething challenges of the 21st century. The rise of China has tilted the balance of power in the Asia Pacific and has posed a significant challenge to democratisation in the region. In Russia, the continuing crackdown on civil society and independent media is a direct challenge to democractic principles. In the Middle East, the rise of radical Islam has posed a threat to democracy. In Africa and Latin America, problems of corruption and violence continue to fester to an unimaginable degree.

Given this dichotomy between the “ideal” and “reality” of democracy, the Department of Politics and International Relations proposes to host this year’s E & D Conference with the theme “Does Democracy Have a Future?”. It is hoped that through this conference, academicians, politicians, political parties, bureaucrats, researchers, the media and general public would be able to deepen their understanding of democracy and to debate on the future of democracy.