Political parties play a vital role in democracies and perform valuable political and social functions.

The differences between the social democracies and the US show up strongly in category after category. In the social democracies, less than 10 of children grow up in relative poverty (meaning households with less than half of the country s median income).

Disgruntled Democracies

When Democracies Collide

Our democracies rely on elections.

The Great Democracies New Harmony

Three Paths for Indebted Democracies

However, our democracies have not yet been able to sufficiently meet the social needs that remain present throughout our territories in the form of hunger, unemployment and vulnerability.

The first relates to strengthening democracies.

Nor is its effect on established democracies straightforward. While democracies have arguably become more vibrant, their politics have become more volatile.

They cited social science studies that show that democracies rarely go to war with each other. But, more carefully stated, what scholars show is that liberal democracies almost never go to war with each other, and it may be that a liberal constitutional culture is more important than the mere fact of elections.

Recognizing and respecting the rich and diverse nature of the community of the world's democracies, which arise out of all of the world's social, cultural and religious beliefs and traditions,

Recognizing and respecting the rich and diverse nature of the community of the world's democracies, which arise out of all of the world's social, cultural and religious beliefs and traditions,

Modern democracies share at least seven preconditions

Almost all of the world s developed countries consider themselves, and are, social democracies mixed economies with very large governments performing a wide array of welfare and social insurance functions, and removing large chunks of wealth and commodity distribution from the market. The United States is something different.

BUDAPEST The re run of the Greek parliamentary election on June 17 is only the latest symptom of the most serious crisis to plague Western democracies and open societies since the 1960 s. Liberal democracies in the West today are struggling to avoid and in doing so are exacerbating a crisis of identity, which puts the existing social contract at risk and threatens their implosion.

We believe that we must develop an Ibero American agenda that reinforces the quality of our democracies and their capacity to respond to citizens' expectations in terms of protecting their rights and meeting their social and economic needs.

So the next step for our democracies are transparent and verifiable elections.

Initiatives such as the Community of Democracies may contribute to these goals.

That said, when it comes to respecting minority rights, democracies have a far better record than autocracies. This is one of the main reasons why, throughout history, democracies have rarely fought each other.

These countries, once models of economic hope and democratic promise in Latin America, have become examples of democracies without legitimacy or credibility. Although they have made significant social progress in recent years, they have become centers of popular unrest.

There is no denying that advanced democracies largely failed to preempt the financial and sovereign debt crises, while most emerging economies pursued better economic policies. How can modern Western democracies impose strict fiscal discipline?

Democracies make even more of a mess of these resource booms than autocracies.

Mongolia, as host of the Fifth International Conference of New or Restored Democracies and as a participating State of the Community of Democracies, welcomes the importance attached to democracy in the report and the proposed Democracy Fund.

For starters, national politics in key countries is largely moving away from cooperation, with rising inequality and social fragmentation making it difficult for governments, especially in democracies, to make tough decisions. At the same time, populations are rejecting regional and global institutions.

Democracies such as India may seem at times to move too slowly and be prone to paralysis. But they provide the arenas of consultation, cooperation, and give and take among opposing social groups that are crucial in times of turbulence and shocks.

But modern technology also has implications for well established democracies. It is far more difficult to generate social consensus and to govern in a world in which citizens can choose what they read, watch, and listen to, and with whom they talk.

Leadership change in most democracies is a relatively transparent process it follows national elections. To be sure, even open democracies have their share of opaque jockeying and deal making in what used to be called smoke filled rooms.

Unfortunately, most democracies are often unwilling to fight against the perversion of the UN Human Rights Commission. The European Union represents 25 democracies and often inspires countries to seek their freedom, as it has in Ukraine and Lebanon.

Reaffirming the leading role played by the United Nations in developing and promoting democracy and human rights, and recognizing the role of other processes, including the International Conference of New or Restored Democracies and the Community of Democracies,

Reaffirming the leading role played by the United Nations in developing and promoting democracy and human rights, and recognizing the role of other processes, including the International Conference of New or Restored Democracies and the Community of Democracies,

To give full support to the political and institutional structures of emerging democracies in Africa.

More such campaigns are necessary to sustain new and fragile democracies in the developing countries.

And it should never, never, empower brutal dictatorships to sit in judgement of responsible democracies.

I dare suggest that, in their place, we use five parameters to qualify our democracies.

Recognizing also that the international conferences of new or restored democracies over the past eighteen years, since 1988, have strengthened international cooperation among new and restored democracies with a view to consolidating the integration of democracy, peace and development,

But a look at the record shows that democracies possess more effective weapons to fight terror than do authoritarian regimes. Indeed, it is when democracies abandon their ethics and fail to resist the authoritarian temptation that they become weaker.

The report, Child Well Being in Rich Countries, takes a holistic view of the conditions of children in the United States, Canada, and Europe 29 countries in all. The top ranked countries, where children are best off, are the social democracies of Western Europe.

This is not a good time for political parties, especially those with traditional orientations. Gone are the times in the older democracies when one could count on two major parties one social democratic, the other more to the right of center dominating the political scene.

Recognizing that, while all democracies share common features, there is no one universal model of democracy,

Noting further the Forum on Emerging Democracies, held at Sana'a from 27 to 30 June 1999,

Distinguished academics at the same time argued that democracies had this incredible range of side benefits.

On that measure, we are twice as unequal as some of the other successful market democracies.

They can provide one of the safeguards for honest elections in both emerging and established democracies.

It impedes sustainable development through the destabilization of States, particularly emerging democracies and nations in transition.