CIVICUS discusses the potential for a United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Democracy with Andreas Bummel, founder and executive director of Democracy Without Borders, an international civil society organisation (CSO) that advocates for democracy as a human right.
Civil society is calling on the UN to create a Special Rapporteur on Democracy. The campaign argues that while the UN monitors specific human rights through specialised rapporteurs, democratic freedoms receive no systematic international oversight, even though authoritarian leaders are hollowing out democratic institutions behind democratic facades. The proposed rapporteur would investigate electoral manipulation, judicial capture and civic space restrictions that current mechanisms can’t systematically track. Building on regional precedents such as the Inter-American Democratic Charter and supported by existing legal frameworks, this initiative would provide the early warning system and international attention that democracy defenders need to help counter authoritarian regression.
