Esteban Szmulewicz reflects on ‘Democracy on the Front Lines’ in Salzburg
Esteban Szmulewicz, a PhD candidate at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, spoke at the annual Salzburg Global Weekend, organised by the Salzburg Global Seminar with the theme 'Democracy on the Front Lines'. Key speakers included Nobel Peace Laureate the Ukrainian Civil Rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, and renowned scholar Timothy Snyder.
Szmulewicz attended a workshop on citizens' participation and democratic innovation, which brought together both members of the Board of Salzburg Global as well as Fellows of the organisation. The workshop dealt with the crucial importance of power by ordinary people: producing democracy on a daily basis, to rethink and reform civic and human rights education; to open new avenues of political engagement in culture and other spheres, especially for younger generations; to work hard on restoring trust in institutions and interpersonally in order to tackle lack of commitment, disconnection and loyalty; and to increase deliberation to counteract demagoguery and extreme polarisation.
These points of discussion were further elaborated on in a column that Szmulewicz wrote for the Salzburg Global Program, titled ‘The Challenges of Balancing Representation and Participation: Insights From the Chilean Constitution-Making Process’.
Image: Christian Streili (Salzburg Global Seminar)