Improving Our Democracy One Conversation at a Time

Improving Our Democracy One Conversation at a Time

America is in a state of crisis. No matter where we look, there are challenges that serve as indictments of our democracy. The pandemic has claimed over 330,000 lives. Working class people face the worst economic prospects since the Great Depression. Racial wounds have been exposed as people voice their anger and frustration towards injustice. Simply put, America does not appear to be living up to its highest ideals. The one thing that seems to unite a highly divided American people is that the current situation is unsustainable, to say the least. That’s a bad predicament for the future of our democracy.

The Scramble for Power

The Scramble for Power

Citizens cast their ballot for their European representativesalmost three weeks ago, but the election night frenzy of exit polls and press conferences was followed by a peculiar calm after the storm. There hasn’t been much clarity on a way forward, let alone progress, when it comes to forming a new European leadership. Meanwhile, voters can easily feel disaffected or excluded from the process as unlike in most national contexts, media coverage, and therefore public pressure, is low and institutional arrangements to form a government are blurry at best. It is no wonder then that potential outcomes are plentiful, information scarce and decision-making inscrutable. 

Europe has Voted - The aftermath of the European Elections 2019

Europe has Voted - The aftermath of the European Elections 2019

On Friday the British Guardian headlined that “the European Elections have left things clear as mud”. We at BridgeEurope shed light on the most important post-election developments in the lead-up to the European Council Summit on 27 June 2019 that Donald Tusk declared to be the formal deadline for a compromise on the Union’s future leadership constellations.

Interview with Ralph Sina and Holger Beckmann about the 2019 European Elections

Interview with Ralph Sina and Holger Beckmann about the 2019 European Elections

BridgeEurope sat down with Ralph Sina and Holger Beckmann of the ARD Broadcasting Centre in Brussels in the week preceding the 2019 European Elections to talk about the elections and the challenges ahead for the next European Parliament and the European Union as a whole. Ralph Sina is a renowned German journalist who served as a correspondent in Nairobi and Washington D.C. and is currently the Brussels Bureau Chief for the ARD, one of two major public-service news outlets in Germany. Holger Beckmann has a background in economics and currently reports alongside Ralph Sina on the European Union and politics in Brussels. 

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

Since its foundation in 1976, Alde is together with its youth organisation LYMEC (nowadays: European Liberal Youth) the liberal voice in Europe. Initially, it was a merger between nine parties from Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (3). After changing its party name several times, it finally adopted “Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe” as its official name in 2012. In 2004, the Liberals wanted to strengthen their position in the European Parliament and subsequently merged with the Centrists from the European Democratic Party, with whom they entered into the European parliament for the first time after the elections in the same year. They are the 4thlargest party, currently holding 69 seats in the parliament.