World Assembly - Action Plan

People have discussed various forms of global democracy for many years, but have not progressed beyond agreeing on its importance.

Current conditions have allowed us to actually progress to the third step:

1. Goals

First we need to agree on a goal: To establish a non governmental World Assembly with no pre set agenda that can have tremendous moral force because it includes all people in a democratic process, allowing everyone to hear and be heard, without requiring any governmental consent.

2. Theory

Second there must be a very concrete starting point that illustrates how it is possible for everyone in the world to participate in a democratic and practical manner - whether they have internet access or not and especially must include the 25% of the world that is illiterate. Anything short of this becomes a method for self selected elites to communicate. This write up provides such a starting point, which can be modified with experience.

3. Pilot Project

Third these procedures must be tested on a small but representative scale to see how they work in practical settings. On September 22, 2003 a Student World assembly was started involving students at universities on all five continents. Over the course of a year these students will test various aspects of a global democracy:

Raising and discussing issues themselves with no pre set agenda
Voting for delegates to represent them
Forming committees to explore issues in greater depth, hear expert testimony and report back to the full assembly
Attending an in person convention in July and electing officers

This process will be repeated several times until the software and procedures are fully functional.
Please visit the student run web pages describing this in more detail:
www.StudentWorldAssembly.net

4. Expansion

Fourth is a viable plan to scale this up to cover the whole world in a reasonable period of time and at an affordable cost without involving existing governments. This involves identifying existing groups who would be most interested in the spread of democracy and who have the resources to cover the globe and groups willing to provide start up funding. They will be inspired by the actual workings of the Student World Assembly. Such groups include NGOs, religious organizations, retired politicians and especially volunteers.
The most natural constituent will be the thousands of students from around the world involved in the Student world Assembly who graduate and want to continue their involvement. They will already know how the World Assembly functions and will have shown their interest and willingness to help.