The Ditchley Foundation

The Ditchley Foundation brings together leading practitioners and experts from around the world to help shape policy on the major international issues of the day. Its unique blend of intellectual rigour, informality and discretion, in a glorious rural setting, promotes new understanding, fresh thinking, and better decision-making.

The Future of Democracy in the World: Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Conference

The Ditchley Foundation hosted a conference in January 2015 with the support of the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee to consider ‘The Future of Democracy in the World’. The invitation-only conference was chaired by former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, The Rt Hon. Baron Judge QC.

800 years after Magna Carta, democracy has become the most common form of government across the world, but the last few years have seen it under challenge from a number of quarters. Concerns may be exaggerated – demonstrably, when people are given a say, they want the basics of popular choice, freedom and rule of law. Democracies often look more chaotic and confused than dictatorships, but they have hidden strengths and resilience, arising from their popular legitimacy and the robust civic spirit and institutions which should underpin them.

This conference brought together politicians, officials, constitutional thinkers, academics and journalists to consider what a modern democracy needs to succeed and recommended approaches to anchor its success more firmly for the future and ensure that coming generations will not value it less than their predecessors.

A full report of the conference is now available. Click here to read the report in full. 

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David Davis

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