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Over the years, I have referred to my impressions of the difference in voting numbers between Minnesota and North Carolina as a critical factor in democratic stability.  My focus was on the principal that the greater the proportion of people who participated in elections, the more stable and established is the democracy. This may be obvious, but it may be that stability is more depends on the composition of the electorate itself. Or is it the way that different people are integrated by a common ethic, no mater how diverse their backgrounds. In today’s world, where there is a different and more diverse distributions among the types of people who vote, can we draw the same conclusion.

I come from Minneapolis and believe that it is the most democratic place I have ever liven. I am sure there are other places that are as fully participatory and democratic as Minneapolis, such as X in Washington State, for example. But my personal experiences with democracy in the States have had lower participation scores. These include Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina, District of Columbia and Virginia. Are they less democratic as a result? I would argue that this is true. I was elected to the State Senate for three two-year terms in North Carolina. But I was also active in local politics when I lived in Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia. I have also lived in other countries that claim to be democratic – India, for one, plus several European countries – Austria, France and X. My family is American, but we have roots in X and X and have visited both. My father was born in Canada, and that makes it possible for me to choose adding Canadian citizenship.

Minnesota’s voling rate is usually the highest or second highest in all federal elections. And Minneapolis has the highest turnout of voters in local elections among cities in the US. In the latest local elections in  2025, there was a turnout rate of over 70%. So it is ironic that the federal ISE focus is on Minneapolis.

Actually, it may be one of the reasons why it is chosen. Higner turnout has been associated with Democrats and lower turnout with Republicans. Presumably this applies to both voter registration and voter turnout. The higher voter registration is not the same as higher registration of eligible voters, although the two may be related. And of course, different registration rules also influence the tumbers state by state. And it may be that current distribution of voters by party is changing at least for those in the middle if not the rich and poor. But that doesnt explain the Minneapolis numbers.

Turning to North Carolina, which is where I have the most experience wth goting patterns, there is at least one difference that needs to be mentioned.  And that is the rachial mix of the voters, marticularly the presence  of a much larger black population in North Carolina.  During the time that I lived in Minnesota, the voting popuation was almost all white. That has changed, starting in the 1970s but especialy in the 1990s.

Here is the racial distribution for the two states as well as the comparble subunites of Minneapolis and XX.

In my previous commentaries about French elections, I have expressed concerns about the apparent absence of substantive debate, declining voter turnout and weakness in sustainable coalition building.  These have been evident in the most recent presidential election, where 12 candidates operated at separate and often isolated levels, culminating with a run-off between two candidates (a centrist candidate who had moved increasingly away from the left and an extreme right candidate) that did not genuinely reflect the range of voter interests.  Voter turnout was down as a result, and there were no evident signs of institutionalized coalition-building.  This last point was especially significant, in my opinion, to the segue from the presidential to the legislative elections in the short span of time between the two rounds.  In this interim period prior to the June elections for the French National Assembly, I have some thoughts about the way that coalition-building is actually starting to happen.  Continue reading “Democracy in Jeopardy: The French Case Study Round Four on the Legislative Elections of 2022”

What stands out in the candidacy of Greg Vines is the sentence, “I know the ILO and the ILO knows me.” This is a very credible claim. With extensive experience in labor relations in his home country of Australia, he came to Geneva as his country’s representative to the ILO and served as GB Chair in 2011-12 when Guy Ryder was first elected to the post that Mr. Vines is now seeking for himself. Mr. Ryder then appointed Mr. Vines as Deputy Director-General for ILO Management and Reform, a position he has held for the past 10 years. It is no wonder that he gave the most well-informed responses to the questions in his open interview. And it should come as no surprise when he asserted: “I am the right person with the right experience for the crises we are facing”, rolling out a long list of crises – including the pandemic, technology, climate change, demographic change plus women, youth and people with disabilities. He is, nonetheless, only one of the five candidates each with a different set of credentials – and policy positions and leadership styles. In this commentary, the focus has been on getting a sense of what each of these five candidates had to say on the four issues of informality, gender equality, multilateralism and the normative future of the ILO. Continue reading “Greg Vines – Candidate for ILO Director-General”

Kang Kyung-wha from the Republic of Korea was the second candidate to be interviewed. I had not met her before but recognized her immediately as someone whom I had seen over the past twenty years as she moved around the UN system between Geneva and New York. Although it isn’t mentioned in her biography, she was originally active in international women’s circles and even chaired the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women in 2004 and 2005 before being appointed by Kofi Annan as Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. She spoke knowledgeably and with confidence about her experiences in the UN system. Continue reading “Kang Kyung-wha – Candidate for ILO Director-General”

As the last candidate to be interviewed, Muriel Pénicaud had a tough act to follow but held the advantage of having heard all the previous candidates before she was placed in the spotlight. She is the only candidate who has served as a Minister of Labor, where she oversaw a number of labor reforms domestically and supported President Macron at the G7 and OECD. Also, a large portion of her professional career has been in the business and global corporate world (e.g. Danone). She emphasized her deep commitment and experiences supporting tripartism and universal social protection. Continue reading “Muriel Pénicaud – Candidate for ILO Director-General”

Gilbert Houngbo from Togo was the first candidate to be interviewed. He started by explaining his perspective growing up with hardship and poverty in Togo and his determination to address the hardship and poverty of others. He touched on the current trends (pandemic, climate change, deglobalization) for which the ILO is well placed to mobilize people-centered action toward a “new global social contract”.  He drew on his extensive experiences in the UN system specializing in development, his four years as a DDG at the ILO and his current leadership of IFAD, as well as his four-year tenure as a prime minister in his home country of Togo.

Continue reading “Gilbert Houngbo – Candidate for ILO Director-General”