With only a few minutes to spare before a new day is upon us we should mention that today, Monday 15th September, is the UN international day of democracy and, unless I’m much mistaken, this country decided against celebrating the day in style. However that's not to say others didn't. According to the Daily Times, Pakistan celebrated the occasion with zeal and fever, while all Canadians (especially those eligible to vote) were wished a happy International Day of Democracy by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion. 

But a healthy democracy is more than just about elections and citizens turning out to vote. Instead we need to find out about the democratic health of a country. Thanks to a pamphlet we published earlier this year you can do just that.

The Everyday Democracy Index (EDI). The EDI is a tool for assessing the democratic health of European countries across many different dimensions. That includes not just formal dimensions of democracy but also more everyday features of democracy – how important democratic principles and practices are to the cultures of workplaces, to people’s community life, to the way they interact with public services, and even to the way they talk to their friends and family.

This pamphlet sets out the argument and methodology behind the first EDI, which covers 25 countries in the European Union area. Europe is  home to some of the world’s oldest democracies as well as some of its youngest. Across many of them the same debates are gathering momentum: Why are people voting less? Why are political party memberships dropping? Why is trust in politics so low?

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