REVERSE CHRONOLOGY OF ORGANIZATION ACTIVITY

March 2010: We had a strong publicity effort for Zimbabwe, which pushed total downloads over 6,000: 4,600 for the Shona translation and 1,800 for Ndebele. We have also passed 7,000 downloads for Burmese.

December 2009: We are very pleased to announce a new translation of Lessons in Democracy, by Ritta Chigome and Cornellius Nyereyemuka, into the Shona language of Zimbabwe. Shona is the language of the majority in Zimbabwe, and is used by the principal figures both in the regime of Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

The Shona translation joins the Ndebele translation that we have already published, for Ndebele speakers in the south of Zimbabwe and also related groups (Zulu cultures) in Botswana and South Africa. The two languages are used by some 90% of Zimbabwe's population.

October 2009: We are pleased to report that the number of downloads of the Burmese translation of Lessons in Democracy has passed 5,000. However, because the translation has been distributed in other ways as well, we believe readership of the work is well in excess of this figure, and includes at least 1,000 people inside Burma itself. This means a significant number of Burmese now have a thorough grounding in the principles and institutions of democracy. They will be well prepared to implement the democratic system for Burma once it is free.

May 2009: We are very pleased to announce two new translations of Lessons in Democracy:

- Azerbaijani, by Razi Nurullayev and Ogtay Gulaliyev

- The Ndebele language of Zimbabwe, by Nqaba Terence Ndlovu and Makhosi R. Gondonga

Note: We also have a new photo essay from Zimbabwe.

We will be working in the coming months and years with our partners in Azerbaijan and Zimbabwe, to use the translations to help educate the people of the two countries about democracy.

April 2009: We have published a short book about the global economic tumult - What Really Happened: The Financial Crisis Guide

The Guide has two objectives: to reveal the different components of the crisis, so everyone, particularly all the people who lost their homes, jobs and savings, can understand what happened; and to lay out a plan by which it can never occur again.

It is further being posted on the Lessons in Democracy website, because the crisis so vividly illustrates the underlying conflict between unrestrained corporate behavior and democratic governance.

We are very pleased to announce the first translation of our Lessons in Democracy, into the Burmese language, by Ko Lwin Aung Soe. More translations are on the way.

The basic idea for the translation is that if the people of Burma want democracy, they should be interested to learn about it. Conversely, if they learn about it, and understand how their lives would be changed, practically, with freedom and human rights, they should be willing to fight for it.

This means that the lessons are not solely an educational initiative. They will have a political impact as well.

The lessons are "A" democracy guide, not "The" democracy guide. There are many approaches to teaching democracy - ours is only one of them. Our approach begins with an emphasis on the underlying principles. When people who live in dictatorships ask about democracy, they don't start with questions about the system's formal mechanisms, like elections and political parties, or its presidential and parliamentary alternatives. Instead, they want to know about the ideas: What is democracy, really? What would it mean to me? How would my life in a democratic nation be different, and better?

Again, for Burma, this implies that the initiative will have a political impact as well as educational. For a start, it will counter SPDC propaganda. The people will understand exactly why the SPDC constitution, the 2010 election, and "disciplined democracy" are not democracy at all. Further, they will realize that human rights are not limited to freedom from repression. They have a right not to be poor; to have good health care; to have good schools for their children; to preserve Burma's beautiful natural environment; and many other rights as well.

Lessons in Democracy is a long-term initiative. It takes years to devise ways to expose a national population to the ideas of democracy, certainly in a dictatorship like Burma. If you can help us distribute the translation, we will be off to a good start. (Thanks!)

New forum topic: Personal versus group responsibilities

January 2009: New forum topics:

W hat is democracy?

The philosophy of democracy, and theocracy

The philosophy of democracy, and personal responsibility

December 2008: In support of the election in the United States of Barack Obama, and his commitment to bring real change to Washington, D.C., we have added two basic policy statements about government to the democracy forum.

The responsibilities of government

Government funding and design

These are two of the hitherto unpublished lessons from the full version of Lessons in Democracy.

Also, Lessons in Democracy was described in the August to October World Youth Movement for Democracy bulletin.

October 2008: Comments on the forum addition about government secrecy, and our responses (see link below).

We have an addition to the democracy forum: Democracy and Government Secrecy

September 2008: Lessons in Democracy, the third in the Dictator Watch family of websites, is launched!.