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VII. International Forum for Democracy
There is another way in which the Endowment can reach out to democratic groups in countries of lesser priority -- namely, by including them in regional or worldwide programs aimed at promoting interchange and solidarity among democratic forces.
The Endowment's two smaller categories of grant programs, research and international cooperation, support projects that are potentially of value to all countries seeking to achieve and maintain democracy. In addition, the Endowment seeks to complement its grant-making program with other activities aimed at encouraging reflection and discussion about key issues in the struggle for democracy. It sponsors the Journal of Democracy, a quarterly published by the Johns Hopkins University Press that contains articles by distinguished scholars and leading democratic activists and intellectuals. It also hosts a major biennial conference on democracy that brings together an international cross-section of prominent democrats from around the world.
Building upon these activities, and drawing upon its unparalleled worldwide network of contacts with key democrats, the Endowment intends to increase its efforts in the realm of ideas and information under the heading of the International Forum for Democracy. In this new era, when so many countries have already completed the daunting task of toppling dictatorial governments but now face the more complex problems of democratic consolidation, it is imperative to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the process of democratic development. One consequence of the wave of democratization during the past decade is that there is now a vastly expanded range of experience from every region of the world that can potentially provide valuable lessons about successful strategies for building democracy. The best way to profit from this experience is to bring together those who are or have been on the front lines of democratic change with their counterparts from other countries and with scholars who can provide them with a useful comparative and historical perspective.
To further these aims, the Endowment hopes, among other possible initiatives, to develop an information base on international programs to promote democracy and to establish a library housing important books and documents on democracy. The work of the International Forum for Democracy should be useful to democrats everywhere, but its most important benefits will accrue to the Endowment itself. The International Forum will enable the Endowment to enhance its own knowledge base and thereby help it both to make better-informed choices with respect to program planning and priorities and to assess more effectively its grants program. The Endowment will consult closely with Congress to ensure that any activities undertaken in the context of the International Forum are regarded as fully consistent with the Endowment's legislative mandate.
The activities of the International Forum will also provide a means and opportunity to keep former members of the Endowment's Board of Directors actively involved in its work. Additionally, the Forum should present an opportunity for reaching out to more U.S. citizens, including students, and involving them more extensively in the worldwide effort to build democracy. Such broadened participation would enhance the understanding in the U.S. of the Endowment's activities and objectives. More importantly, it would contribute to the spread of democratic values and ideas around the world and to a deeper appreciation here of the meaning of our democratic heritage and system of government.
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