The Archive

The questions. The debates. The verdicts.

Explore every session of The Long Council.

14 of 163 sessions
  1. 3 July 2026

    Is NAR movement a serious threat to democracy

    Verdict

    NAR is a real threat to democratic institutions, but the 2022 elections show those institutions can still hold.

    USGovernanceDemocracy
  2. 30 June 2026

    Governments struggle to think beyond the next election, how to change that?

    Verdict

    Build the institutional locks now, but only those citizens helped design and can still monitor.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  3. 28 June 2026

    Is the rise of the AfD a threat to German democracy, or a sign that it functions?

    Verdict

    The AfD's rise is a warning that German democracy is failing its eastern citizens, not proof it is working.

    EUDemocracy
  4. 26 June 2026

    How can the US break the cycle of mutual radicalization in politics?

    Verdict

    Procedural fixes will not stop mutual radicalization. Rebuild local civic life, narrow material inequality, and hold leaders to honest language.

    USGovernance
  5. 23 June 2026

    Should governments require an IQ threshold for voting eligibility?

    Verdict

    No government can restrict the vote by IQ without converting citizens into subjects the state may reclassify at will.

    Democracy
  6. 19 June 2026

    Is democracy possible without a strong cultural and artistic sphere?

    Verdict

    Democracy can survive without high culture, but it cannot survive without a civic sphere where citizens name, argue, and appear to each other.

    GovernanceDemocracy
  7. 18 June 2026

    Should cities cap mass tourism to preserve local quality of life?

    Verdict

    Cities should govern tourist volumes, but resident-designed pricing beats blanket administrative caps.

  8. 17 June 2026

    Should governments actively promote a shared national identity?

    Verdict

    Promote civic belonging; stop before the state decides which culture counts as real.

    Democracy
  9. 13 June 2026

    Why do societies increasingly frame policy disagreements as existential threats?

    Verdict

    Policy disagreements become existential threats when economic inequality destroys shared civic reality and algorithms profit from the resulting conflict.

    Democracy
  10. 8 June 2026

    Can the European Union become both more democratic and more decisive at the same time, and if so, how?

    Verdict

    Europe can become more democratic and decisive by building delivery capacity first in energy, defense, and fiscal policy.

    EUGovernanceDemocracy
  11. 7 May 2026

    Should western democracies introduce mandatory voting?

    Verdict

    Mandatory voting forces civic engagement but destroys the voluntary choice that makes democratic participation authentic.

    Democracy
  12. 28 April 2026

    Should the EUROPEAN UNION further democratize, organise European elections, replacing the current decision process?

    Verdict

    The European Union faces an irreconcilable tension between the scale required for effective governance in an interconnected world and the conditions necessary for authentic democratic participation.

    EUDemocracy
  13. 28 April 2026

    Should we get rid of the senate in the Netherlands?

    Verdict

    The Dutch Senate's fate turns on whether democratic legitimacy flows directly from popular will or through institutions that channel and refine that will — a constitutional philosophy question that evidence alone cannot resolve.

    Netherlands
  14. 25 April 2026

    What are humanity's biggest mistakes in human nature, and how do they show up in the world we're living in now?

    Verdict

    Humanity's greatest mistake is designing institutions that systematically fail to align human behavior with collective flourishing, though the council reveals this failure has multiple, interconnected dimensions that resist any single solut…

    EconomyGovernanceClimate