Democracy is a way of making decisions based on the principle that the people affected by those decisions should also have a say in them. Democracy can exist wherever decisions need to be made – in a country, in a classroom, in a family, or within a group of friends. How we organize our shared decision-making varies, and there are different ways of practicing democracy in different contexts.
At the same time, democracy is in decline in many parts of the world. The number of democracies is decreasing, while more and more countries are moving in an authoritarian direction. What does this mean for people and societies? And how can we understand the strengths, challenges, and future of democracy?
In the exhibition Democracy Does Not Exist – We Create It!, research and personal stories are presented to illustrate how democracies and non-democracies function and develop around the world, based on five fundamental building blocks that also form the exhibition’s themes:
The exhibition does not provide ready-made answers. Instead, you are invited to reflect on what democracy means and how it is shaped by people’s actions. New stories and perspectives will be added along the way, and as a visitor you have the opportunity to contribute your own experiences, thoughts, and questions.
The exhibition is a collaboration between the museum and the research institute Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) at the University of Gothenburg, which tracks the development of democracy in more than 200 countries.