Democracy Beyond Elections

Declining trust in government is one of the defining forces of the current political era. To restore faith in democratic systems, governance must move beyond the intermittent act of voting to create durable mechanisms for direct, deliberative engagement.

In response to this need, Columbia World Projects is partnering with New York City’s Civic Engagement Commission, FIDE-North America, and New America on the Democracy Beyond Elections initiative to transform the concept of civic engagement into operational policy.

Since 2019, the program has worked alongside the New York City government to implement "The People’s Money," a citywide participatory budgeting process that gives residents direct control over public spending. Expanding on this foundation, the project now collaborates with federal officials and international experts to integrate citizens' assemblies into the American governance structure, and provides the technical roadmap agencies need to deepen democracy and build institutional legitimacy.