Democracy Local

LONG BEACH
The Ballad of Ricardo Gonzalez
A Song for a City Worker, and the Community That Saved Him
MOSI
COLUMN The Local Assembly Beautiful Enough to Run a Nation
The Kgotla Mixes Democracy, Culture, and Technocracy to Govern Botswana
Credit Chad Davis, https://chaddavis.photography/sets/ice-in-minneapolis/ and CC 4.0
MINNEAPOLIS
ZÓCALO When Spectacular Cruelty Meets Authentic Community
Historian of Democracy Shows How His City’s Organizing Empowered Its Response to ICE
Banner image by Asia Democracy Chronicles
BHOPAL
ASIA DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES Bhopal's Neverending Toxic Tale
40 Years After Union Carbide Caused Thousands of Death, Facility Still Poses Health Risks
ILOCOS NORTE
ASIA DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES Transition Without Justice
Burdens of Renewable Energy Shift From Governments to Local Communities
ANKARA
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS BRUNO KAUFMANN? Ankara and Denizli
2 Turkish Cities Are Models of Local Democracy in an Authoritarian Nation
Gonzales Youth Council members, past and present. Photo by Joe Mathews
GONZALES
COLUMN The Best City Council Never Grows Up
A Small Town's Powerful Youth Council Turns 10—And Opens a $28 Million Center
SIEGBURG
EVENT Digitalization and Democracy
An event at a German city hall looks at how we shape digital democracy.
BEIJING
LOCAL SNAPSHOT The Hotel Where You Will Never Stay
The Jingxi Is for Communist Party Gatherings Only.
KARAJ, IRAN
ASIA DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES Anywhere But Home
Iran Deports Afghans, Including Ethnic MInorities, to a Homeland Where They Never Felt Safe
SINGU TOWNSHIP
ASIA DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES Cut Off But Still Connected—For Now
As Myanmar Continues Digital Repression, Starlink Is the Only Lifeline
Image by Google Gemini
READINGS
NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW Crisis of Confidence in Public Problem-Solving
And the Role of AI, And What It Means for Local Democracy