2009 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, September 13-16, Seoul/Korea

09/13 (Sunday)

06:00 Briefing tour to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Korea DMZ Peace & Life Valley

18:00 Welcome and handing-over reception from the host of the 2008 Global Forum, Switzerland, to the 2009 Host, Korea, given by the Swiss Embassy in Korea

09/14 (Monday)

Opening Ceremony

09:00 Registration

09:15 Introduction video on the 2008 Briefing tour in Europe and the Global Forum on Modern Direct Demokracy in Aarau/Switzerland

09:30 Welcome address by Sei-ung Ham (President / KDF) and congratulary address by Yoon-soo Kim (Head / Won-Buddhism Seoul Diocese)

09:50 Introduction statement “Superdemocracy – a Global Task” by Bruno Kaufmann (President / IRI Europe)

10:00 World Tour to Modern Direct Democracy - Regional Assessments & Outlooks

Asia: Ramon Casiple (Director / Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER) in the Philippines)

Europe: Theo Schiller (Professor / Marburg University in Germany)

Latin America: David Altman (Professor / Universidad Catolica in Santiago de Chile)

North America: Joe Mathews (Senior Fellow / New American Foundation)

10:30 Opening keynote address: “Modern direct democracy in times of financial turmoil – lessons and keys towards sustainability” by Urs Rellstab (Deputy Head / Economiesuisse)

10:50 Q&A

11:15 Into new territory: “Why Korea could pave the way towards a better democracy across the globe” by Mike Gravel (former US Senator, Chairman / The Democracy Foundation)

11:30 Greetings from the Venice Commission: “The Venice Commission and the code of good practice on referendums as an international standard” addressed by Boowhan Han (Lawyer, Substitute Member / Venice Commission for Democracy through Law)

11:40 The Global Forum Process: introduction to the workshops

12:00 End of opening ceremony

13:00 Lunch

Plenary Session

15:00 Roundtable on the options and limits of modern (direct) democracy across the world.

"Transformation of the civil society of Japan and direct democracy" by Yasuyoshi Hayashi (The Hope Institute Japan)

"Direct democracy: challenges for Bangladesh" by Adilur Rahman Khan (Odhikar, Bangladesh)

"The Austrian system of direct democracy by Gregor Wenda (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Austria)

"The case of Bulgaria 2009: the new law on referenda and civic initiatives" by Atanas Slavov (Balkan Assist, Bulgaria)

"Direct democracy in Finland - stagnant water" by Rolf Buechi (IRI Europe, Finland)

"Using or misusing direct democracy" by Pal Reti (HVG Newsmagazine, Hungary)

 

16:30 Direct and participatory democracy in Korea by Seung-Soo Ha (Professor / Jeju National University Department of Law)

17:00 End of 1^st day session

09/16 (Tuesday)

09:30 Introduction to the thematic workshops

10:00 Thematic workshops – session1

a) Education and infrastructure forum

b) Local direct democracy forum

c) Activist forum

Omnibus for direct democracy in Germany

d) Transnational democracy forum

12:00 Lunch

13:00 Thematic workshops – session 2 (until 16:00)

18:00 Public event on the International Day of Democracy

09/17 (Wednesday)

09:00 Reports from the thematic workshops and discussion

10:30 Coffee break

11:00 Plenary keynote: “Popular sovereignty and globalization” by Adam Lupel (Editor / International Peace Institute)

11:30 Plenary keynote: “Bringing American initiative and referendum process forward” by Robert Stern (President / Center for Governmental Studies)

12:00 Towards the 2010 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy

12:30 End of concluding plenary

13:00 Lunch

19:00 Farewell reception at Bong-eun Temple