Compromisso 7

Commitment #7 | Educational Service for Participatory and Digital Citizenship

Commitment lead

General Secretariat of the Government (SGGov)

What is the commitment?

Develop and implement non-formal educational programming, which addresses the fundamental principles of democracy, human rights and civic and digital participation.

With Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals as a framing vision:

Provide information about the functioning and organization of the Government;
Promote participation and civic awareness;
Promote Knowledge about Democracy;
Encourage Digital Participation.

Progress

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Macro Activity 1

56%

Macro Activity 2

Macro Activity 3

100%

Macro Activity 4

50%

Legend:

Macro Activity 1: Creation of a simulation of the functioning of the Council of Ministers in partnership with civil society

Macro Activity 2: Creating podcasts on political topics, with the intervention of citizens

Macro Activity 3: Conferences and webinars on human rights and citizenship issues

Macro Activity 4: Results assessment

What is the status of the commitment?

Macro Activity 1 - Creation of a simulation of the functioning of the Council of Ministers in partnership with civil society

Seventeen sessions were held until June 2026.

Macro Activity 3 - Conferences and webinars on human rights and citizenship issues

A total of eight sessions were held up to December 2025.

Macro Activity 4 - Results assessment

Reports covering the years 2024 and 2025 have been completed and delivered.

What problem does the commitment aim to address?

Removal of citizens from the political system and reduced exercise of participatory and digital citizenship.

According to the report The Global State of Democracy 2023, carried out by The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), democracy has been contracting in all regions of the world, in half of the countries included in the report, they found declines in at least one indicator of democratic performance.

Europe remains the best-performing region in the world, led by a number of consolidated democracies. However, from these initial high levels, there have been significant declines in specific indicators of democratic performance in many of these established democracies, such as Austria, Hungary and Poland, signaling that action is needed to counter this trend. It is said that a total of 17 countries suffered erosion in the democratic indicators analyzed in the last five years, and Portugal was no exception, after, in 2020, it registered a drop in three of the parameters that measure the quality of democracies.

Portugal, despite everything, remains a healthy democracy and although it shares with other European countries some deficit in the corruption component and the lack of greater openness to citizens' participation in government decisions.

What are the causes of the problem?

According to the Study Institutions and quality of democracy: political culture in Southern Europe, carried out by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, “The crisis of trust in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece is clearly linked to the incapacity of the governments of national democracies and the European Union to generate prosperity, employment and economic security for ordinary citizens over the last 30 years. The era of globalization has thus brought harmful consequences to the relationship between citizens and democratic regimes.”

What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?

Increased public participation by citizens:

Transmit and share knowledge in the areas of democratic culture, human rights and active citizenship;
Stimulate the development of skills for Democratic Culture - Attitudes | Values | Capabilities | Critical knowledge and understanding;
Encourage citizen participation – Institutional mechanisms |discovering new participation formats.

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