Manifest, Part I: IFLRY: International Federation of Liberal Youth

1. Liberalism and Radicalism
1.b. Democracy and Liberal and Radical PrinciplesA pluralistic democracy based o­n human rights is the fundamental basis of a liberal society. We believe in the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Free elections and secret ballots are essential elements of democracy. We as Liberals and Radicals believe that democracy is never perfect and must be a continuing process. Democracy is the most favourable form of public organisation of freedom, human dignity and social justice.
At the same time our demand for democratic self-determination requires the continuous renewal of society and its institutions. We learn form present-day societies that reform and renewal are urgent. In particular we stress the following: • Formal liberties by themselves are not sufficient to fulfil individual freedom and social justice because poverty and misery can exclude a lot of people from achievements of a civil society. • We believe that power and decision-making should ideally always be at the lowest possible level. Every individual at all levels of society must have freedom of access to information at all levels of administration. • The principle of democratic control of bureaucracy and government at all levels is fundamental to our approach.
We work for an improvement and renewal of public institution through bringing government as close as possible to the people, and demanding decentralisation of power by the proper and clearly defined organisation of regional and local autonomy with due respect to the specific traditions, cultures and ethnic identities of all citizens concerned.
We support reforms which would make democracy more representative of the people. We recognise that problems are more effectively solved if decisions are taken with the direct participation of the people concerned.
We will always use -and try to expand- the possibilities of democratic self-determination both at individual and collective level.
The following forms of actions and expressions of opinions are fundamental rights in a liberal society: • The right to freedom of thought and conscience • The right to freedom of religion and cultural identity • The right to freedom of opinion and expression • The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
1.c. Defence of DemocracyAs Liberals and Radicals we see the above-mentioned human and civil rights as inalienable. We demand the full recognition of these rights by all nations and internationally, in a constitutional way. We consider the following areas to be of comparable importance to the above, an these must therefore also be constitutionally recognised: • The right to freedom from interference by the state or its agencies or any other institution except the exercise of protection of the fundamental Human rights. The state should o­nly direct those parts of public life which the individual is unable to handle, and those parts of private life in which individuals require protection from each other. • The right of democracies to take up arms to defend themselves against aggression and the right to conscientious objection in peace and war time as a fundamental expression of disagreement with military solutions to conflicts. Also, the individual has the right to conscientious objection with regard to a war which the individual believes to be unjust or a war of aggression. • The right to resist all institutions which deny fundamental liberties. • Protection of the privacy of the individual against spying and abuse of personal data by data exchange among state and/or private agencies. We demand the right of the individual to see and insert corrections in all files concerning her/him, except where the state can prove in court that this would pose a very serious danger to the rule of law. All intelligence services must be under constant democratic control. • We reject registration procedures for police purposes as they are not in accordance with the rights of privacy and freedom of movement. • Freedom and pluralism in the mass media without private or public monopolies. We condemn growing, worldwide monopolisation and serious trends towards censorship as well as the lack of access to the media for the vast majority of people. All groups and individuals must have an adequate chance to distribute their information and express their opinions.
As Liberals and Radicals we are convinced that the most effective constitutional defence of democracy is the material fulfilment of constitutional rights. o­nly in liberty may liberty be defended and may authoritarian tendencies be repelled.
We declare ourselves fundamentally opposed to terrorism. Terrorism and authoritarian ideologies are best countered by removing the root causes of social and political injustice. Democracy can best be defended through peaceful persuasion and non-violent action.
We believe in the principle that non-violent action and fair and peaceful negotiations are the best method of solving problems between people. We deeply regret any use of violence to solve these problems. Since the oppressors, however, often use violence as a means of oppression, we recognise that an armed revolution or an armed struggle may be the o­nly possible way for oppressed people to achieve national freedom and independence.
We reject the concept of defence of democracy through the restriction of democratic rights. Any administration which uses such methods ceases to be a democracy.
We demand democratic control and accountability over all military and police forces, including secret police. The need for strong parliamentary control must be stressed.