Acting

Pacto pela Democracia’s Institutional Strengthening initiative seeks to consolidate and develop the coalition’s organizational structure, ensuring the conditions needed for increasingly strategic, sustainable, and long-term action in defense of Brazilian democracy. The initiative brings together efforts to improve institutional management, governance, internal processes, and the operational capacity of the Executive Secretariat, strengthening the foundations that support the Network’s collective work.

At the same time, the initiative invests in strengthening institutional communications and expanding the coalition’s public visibility. This enhances its capacity to build narratives in defense of democracy, enrich public debate, and disseminate the knowledge produced by the Network. It also seeks to strengthen Pacto pela Democracia’s convening and coordination capacity, expanding its presence in strategic debates and its engagement with civil society, institutions, and national and international partners.

This process is directly connected to building solid foundations for the organization’s institutional and financial sustainability, ensuring that Pacto pela Democracia remains prepared to respond to contemporary democratic challenges while preserving its collaborative, pluralistic, and bridge-building approach. By investing in structure, planning, and sustainability, the coalition strengthens its capacity to influence public affairs and expands its contribution to building a stronger, more resilient, and participatory democracy.

Pacto pela Democracia seeks to promote the values of democratic coexistence both internally, among the organizations in its Network, and through its public engagement and advocacy. To this end, it works to strengthen the coalition internally, improving how these values are fostered, perceived, and experienced in the organizations’ daily work.

The Network’s Executive Secretariat works to build an increasingly prepared coalition capable of engaging publicly by valuing diverse perspectives and broadening pluralism. It strengthens dialogue and active listening as central principles of collective action, thereby helping to improve public debate on democracy and its values.

In this way, the coalition seeks to celebrate and keep democratic values alive in Brazilian society by promoting broader ideological pluralism and strengthening internal listening processes. To achieve this, it invests in learning spaces and in improving the Network’s everyday dialogue, always respecting differences and engaging a wide range of stakeholders in the various initiatives led by the coalition.

We understand that the defense and sustainability of democracy depend directly on the continuous strengthening and improvement of formal institutions. This means not only ensuring their stability and effective functioning, but also expanding and enhancing civil society participation across Brazil’s branches of government, making the political system more responsive, transparent, and aligned with democratic principles.

To this end, the program brings together integrated strategies involving political advocacy, communication, social mobilization, knowledge production, and the strengthening of public debate. These areas of action seek to influence decision-making processes while promoting greater public understanding of and engagement with institutional processes, thereby contributing to the improvement of democratic practices and the protection of the democratic rule of law.

Within this framework, initiatives such as the Strong Democracy Agendas and Open Chamber stand out as key structural efforts to create more favorable conditions for guaranteeing rights in Brazil.

The crisis facing democracies is a serious global phenomenon. Data from the V-Dem Institute show that three out of every four people worldwide now live under autocratic regimes and that, for the average citizen, the quality of democracy has declined to levels last seen 50 years ago. This “authoritarian epidemic” is no coincidence: the movements driving this wave of autocratization operate in a coordinated and strategic manner at the global level.

If threats are organized across borders, protecting democracy requires a response on the same scale. Since its founding, Pacto pela Democracia has monitored and engaged with the world’s leading pro-democracy coordination spaces, alongside the organizations that make up its Network. This work is consolidated through participation in strategic forums, direct dialogue with international leaders and decision-makers, and the sharing of lessons learned from the defense of Brazilian democracy with actors from different countries.

The goal is to amplify the voice and capacity for action of Pacto’s Executive Secretariat in major global debates, serving as a bridge between the Network and pro-democracy actors from around the world. Pacto is committed to supporting and strengthening safe spaces for pro-democracy coordination, exchanging tools for the defense of the democratic rule of law, and mobilizing a global solidarity network grounded in shared democratic values.