PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

198 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Working group on Parliaments’ contribution
to democracy
Rapporteur
PROFESSOR DAVID BEETHAM
Professor Emeritus, University of Leeds, Fellow of the Human Rights Centre,
University of Essex and Associate Director, Democratic Audit UK.
David Beetham has become one of the best-known and most distinguished experts in
the field of democratic theory and practice. He has published widely in this area.
Besides theoretical works on democracy and human rights, Professor Beetham has
pioneered new methods of assessment of democracy and human rights, and worked
with a number of international organisations to help implement them.
His recent publications include: The International Idea Handbook on Democracy
Assessment (Kluwer Law International, 2002), The State of Democracy (Kluwer Law
International, 2002), Democracy under Blair (Politico’s, 2003), Democracy: a
Beginner’s Guide (One World Publications, 2005) and Introducing Democracy:
80 Questions and Answers, 2nd edition (UNESCO, 2006).
Members
MR. AVRAHAM BURG
Former Speaker of the Israeli Knesset
Avraham Burg is a former head of the National Religious Party. Mr. Burg has in recent
years been a senior member of the Israeli Labour Party and one of the most charismatic
members of Parliament. In 1999, he became the youngest Speaker in the history of the
Israeli Knesset.
He has boldly argued that there cannot be democracy in Israel without equal rights for
all who live there, Arab as well as Jew. On 1 December 2003, Avraham Burg and a
group of Israeli and Palestinian civic leaders negotiated and signed the Geneva Accord,
a proposal that, if implemented, would resolve some of the thorniest issues of the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict and pave the way towards ending decades of bloodshed.
MR. PIERRE CORNILLON
Honorary Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Pierre Cornillon was Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union from 1987 to
1998. Prior to being elected to this post, he had spent 22 years in the service of the
organisation. Since 1998, Mr. Cornillon has carried out missions for the promotion of
human rights and democracy in various countries. He has taken part in many international
meetings and has held advisory positions in several international bodies dealing
with parliament and democracy.
Mr. Cornillon is a member of the International Panel on Democracy and Development,
which was established in 1998 by the Director General of UNESCO to guide that