There is a deep political polarization in Georgian society, which deprives citizens of the opportunity to discuss the topics they are concerned with. Since the re-establishment of independence, Georgian society has accumulated many questions, anger, mistrust, and legitimate concerns towards the ruling elites in power. However, political actors grant little space to civil society and pursue their own agenda, detached from it. This shakes confidence in the state and its institutions. Furthermore, it creates a nihilistic mood in society that discourages political participation. As a result, there is an ever-widening gap between the government and the people.
To break this vicious circle, our partner organization Democratic Institutions Research Center (DIRC) aims to contribute to building up an inclusive and consensual political environment in Georgia. The project objective is to explain the roots of the legitimacy crisis of the constitutional institutions to the public and to suggest possible solutions to overcome the issues of legitimacy.
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DIRC will focus on four topics to identify the roots of the legitimacy crisis: 1. Contrast between public needs and the agenda of the political establishment; 2. How constitutional institutions are supposed to work in comparison with how they carry out their duties in reality; 3. Strategy of polarization and its effect within the context of the foreign agents law and negative rhetoric of the government towards civil society organizations, media, and individuals; 4. The trauma of injustice caused by past experiences of power abuse that has been weaponized instead of healed by political elites. Articles, public talks, and videos prepared about these four topics will be published on platform Komentari.