It is easy to get depressed about the state of global democracy these days, isn’t it? The rise of right-wing demagogues, the stifling of the media, the continued dysfunction of state institutions. Our headlines seem to be about nothing else. But the recent Deliberative Democracy Institute (DDI) at the Kettering Foundation filled me with hope about the future of participatory government. By Blair Glencorse Yes, there are challenges everywhere, but there are also incredible people at the grassroots levels in communities - from Fiji to Brazil, and from Romania to Kenya - doing what is needed to support deliberation and [...]