Recently fewer and fewer of the bills passed by Parliament correspond to what rule-of-law states define as law – something produced by all of us, together, by general agreement and common sense. This is why I would like to make it clear that what is of value is not the law on the books as a statute passed by Parliament, but the law as a system of norms based on constitutional principles in complete harmony between each other.
This is what Ivanka Ivanova, Legal Program Director at Open Society Institute – Sofia, said in an interview for the Who is Speaking? talk show of Darik Radio. In the interview she presented results from the last survey of OSI-S regarding the attitudes towards democracy and civic participation.
There are two huge gaps in our understanding of democratic values, the rule of law and the fundamental human rights. The one is that nominally the majority of people still claim democracy is the best form of governance for Bulgaria, but at the same time the confidence in the main democratic institutions is already about to reach a one-digit number. The second gap is the nominal support for democracy, nominal respect of the rule of law and human rights, but at the same time a very low degree of public engagement in any form whatsoever of public life, Ivanova added.
A recording of the whole talk show How Does Civil Society Work? of Darik Radio.
