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Democracy Is Being Tested. Citizen Assemblies Can Help | Ketakandriana Rafitoson | TED

How can everyday people help foster and protect democracy? Detailing her work fighting for people power as an activist in Madagascar, Ketakandriana Rafitoson discusses how citizen assemblies — meetings where ordinary citizens get educated about democracy — empower communities to protect their rights, debate important civic questions and take action to create a brighter future.…

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How can everyday people help foster and protect democracy? Detailing her work fighting for people power as an activist in Madagascar, Ketakandriana Rafitoson discusses how citizen assemblies — meetings where ordinary citizens get educated about democracy — empower communities to protect their rights, debate important civic questions and take action to create a brighter future. (Recorded at TED2024 on April 17, 2024)

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61 Comments

61 Comments

  1. @ChristopherGuilday

    November 7, 2024 at 7:33 am

    Uhhh…..

  2. @MatthewWhalley

    November 7, 2024 at 7:37 am

    What a load of Marxist claptrap.

    • @theinvisibleguests

      November 7, 2024 at 7:39 am

      Oh you must love Communism and Tyranny. Look at you

    • @sgalla1328

      November 7, 2024 at 7:46 am

      😂

    • @TheCyborgBanana

      November 7, 2024 at 4:09 pm

      Claptrap is not a Marxist.

  3. @jeffknott1975

    November 7, 2024 at 7:37 am

    What a soul sucking miserable speech made me envision somebody wearing one of those “the end is near” signs around their neck it was that depressing!

    • @theinvisibleguests

      November 7, 2024 at 7:42 am

      Omfg TRUMP WORE THAT AROUND HIS NECK AND YOU FELL FOR IT. His rallies were Gloom and doom for 8 years he’s a con and vowed to kill his enemies if they don’t lick his boots.

  4. @qow2427

    November 7, 2024 at 7:44 am

    Maybe listen about why people voted the way they did instead of alienating them. Step 1: turn off mainstream media

    • @Leminisca

      November 7, 2024 at 8:15 am

      voted for whom? She’s from Madagascar, what are you on?

    • @uIz-slc

      November 7, 2024 at 8:27 am

      @@Leminisca I think people assumed and wrote comments and liked comments before watching, maybe partly because of how early comments have much higher chance of becoming popular and top comments.
      I too was thinking its about the US election, but its about something totally different.
      The way comments work on youtube fuels lazy comments, many useless, unnecassary, unpopular, or even straight up wrong comments bloating the comment section.
      and replies to comments are sorted by time of posting, which is a desaster in my opinion.

    • @Nunya111

      November 7, 2024 at 8:55 am

      I genuinely love you. It feels like the whole world is going insane and the rare people like you who speak out are the only sane ones.

    • @FelixDaCat1969

      November 7, 2024 at 4:05 pm

      alright buddy

  5. @RobbPage

    November 7, 2024 at 8:03 am

    our votes are SO important that every four years we convince ourselves that THIS TIME IT’S GOING TO WORK! THIS TIME IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFERENT!

    and yet once again, here we are.

    but yeah, keep rockin’ that vote y’all. it’s working so well.

    but let me guess, it’s the OTHER sides fault… right?

    • @DrSpooglemon

      November 7, 2024 at 8:10 am

      Democracy isn’t a team sport. What we have in the West isn’t democracy. Democracy is rule of, for and by the people. What we have is oligarchy – rule of, for and by the rich.

    • @Nunya111

      November 7, 2024 at 9:03 am

      Everyone sucks fr. I hate that I have to be alive rn instead of literally any time period in the past. I’d rather have died at 20 of tuberculosis than live through 100 years of this crap.

  6. @DrSpooglemon

    November 7, 2024 at 8:05 am

    Americans in the comments who don’t realise there is an entire rest of the world. Lol

    • @ObsoletePlace

      November 7, 2024 at 8:27 am

      As if any of it matters

    • @DrSpooglemon

      November 7, 2024 at 9:17 am

      @@ObsoletePlace any of what?

    • @Syaj07

      November 7, 2024 at 9:45 am

      I’m from South Africa but I can connect the dots

  7. @sirchadiusmaximusiii

    November 7, 2024 at 8:10 am

    Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting for what’s for dinner. We live in a constitutional republic. And Madagascar is one of the most corrupt dangerous places on earth so whatever she does, isn’t doing jack.

  8. @tayshab_

    November 7, 2024 at 8:12 am

    it’s funny how the trump truthers are starting to comment on this ted talk but she didn’t mention anything about him😂

    • @mbergamin16

      November 7, 2024 at 8:43 am

      Amazing how they post such a ridiculous seminar right after thier candidate lost. TED has been off the rails for a while now

    • @Nunya111

      November 7, 2024 at 8:57 am

      The timing is enough. We all know what she’s referencing. Use your head. Use logic. They put this up two days after the election and you think there’s no correlation between this and the MILLIONS of ppl who are saying the exact same thing about Trump?? Do you have absolutely zero capability of logical thinking or what??

    • @Andrew-zq3ip

      November 7, 2024 at 9:40 am

      ​@@Nunya111a rant on logic from someone who voted for Putin? 😂

    • @tayshab_

      November 7, 2024 at 9:44 am

      @@Nunya111 timing of a video being posted is not a testament to what the actual video is saying, especially when the video does not mention the subject at all.
      what the speaker is referencing is the slip of democracy worldwide which has been on trend and tracked for quite some time now. she references her own home country, cited a total of 70 elections happening this year; not mentioning the united states, and brought up important issues in her country that the citizen assemblies helped.
      Maybe you should use your critical thinking skills to understand why TED felt the need to post this specific talk after the election that took place, why Americans may feel inclined to watch and resonate with this talk, and the correlation of such principles.
      Could you argue that TED is “pushing an agenda?” sure. Could you argue that this video is specifically about Trump? No, it’s about the slip of democracy and what the people could do about it.
      So you may want to ask yourself why you feel like this is about Trump in the first place if you can so readily make that correlation 😂

    • @Nunya111

      November 7, 2024 at 9:50 am

      @@Andrew-zq3ip fair af, ngl

  9. @taysha-brown

    November 7, 2024 at 8:12 am

    it’s funny how the trump truthers are starting to comment on this ted talk but she didn’t mention anything about him😂

    • @taysha-brown

      November 7, 2024 at 9:44 am

      @@Nunya111 timing of a video being posted is not a testament to what the actual video is saying, especially when the video does not mention the subject at all.
      what the speaker is referencing is the slip of democracy worldwide which has been on trend and tracked for quite some time now. she references her own home country, cited a total of 70 elections happening this year; not mentioning the united states, and brought up important issues in her country that the citizen assemblies helped.
      Maybe you should use your critical thinking skills to understand why TED felt the need to post this specific talk after the election that took place, why Americans may feel inclined to watch and resonate with this talk, and the correlation of such principles.
      Could you argue that TED is “pushing an agenda?” sure. Could you argue that this video is specifically about Trump? No, it’s about the slip of democracy and what the people could do about it.
      So you may want to ask yourself why you feel like this is about Trump in the first place if you can so readily make that correlation 😂

  10. @shawnhawkins6196

    November 7, 2024 at 8:22 am

    We already did Nov5.
    Couldnt rig this one!
    Better move if you are a crook.

  11. @technicalmind949

    November 7, 2024 at 8:36 am

    0:10 Any name is Diwakar

  12. @technicalmind949

    November 7, 2024 at 8:37 am

    0:20 any name is Diwakar

  13. @technicalmind949

    November 7, 2024 at 8:37 am

    1:00Any name is diwakar

  14. @jojobro3232

    November 7, 2024 at 8:48 am

    I didn’t know about Madagascar’s issues around corruption and lacking infrastructure before this video. The citizen assemblies sound like a great way to create/strengthen community, and to empower citizens. I can see how this could be replicated elsewhere. Small acts add up. 🙂

    • @erickmiranda3600

      November 7, 2024 at 1:17 pm

      Straight up dawg but we gotta keep this passing down same way corruption infiltrates and passes down bs

  15. @Nunya111

    November 7, 2024 at 8:54 am

    She’s not wrong that democracy is being tested, but people like her saying that a DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED MAN is a threat to democracy ARE the threat to democracy. He won the popular and electoral college. Thats all that needs to be said. Pure fkn propaganda.

  16. @Techichans

    November 7, 2024 at 8:56 am

    God kare sabke sapne pure ho jaye Please like share and subscribe guys

  17. @johnkintree763

    November 7, 2024 at 9:12 am

    Citizens assemblies around the world uniting around core principles, such as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter, and constituting a global collective democracy would be awesome.

    • @TheOG-GG

      November 7, 2024 at 10:40 am

      Exactly! But we also need to collectively enforce it! That no matter what the elites do, we never comply!

    • @erickmiranda3600

      November 7, 2024 at 1:18 pm

      @@TheOG-GGsad its taken many generations to understand this and for once know we have the capacity to in fact enable, perpetuate and protect healthy practices

  18. @kingfishjoel

    November 7, 2024 at 9:46 am

    Citizen assemblies have restored democracy in the US

  19. @Bilal-a7mt

    November 7, 2024 at 10:23 am

    Random thought

  20. @theronwatson3155

    November 7, 2024 at 11:00 am

    @Ketakandriana Rafitoson Louisiana started a legal battle, recently settled by SCOTUS that organizers can be held liable for injuries that occur at protest. Black Lives Matters organized a protest after the murder of Alton Sterling by a Policeman. A policeman at the protest was hit by a brick and the organizer was individually held liable for his injuries. Such a covert way of silencing the public by these out of control evangelical activist judges

  21. @PaKuaKwon

    November 7, 2024 at 12:02 pm

    Bruh I thought that was Kamala

  22. @someofthem

    November 7, 2024 at 12:11 pm

    This is not democracy!

  23. @elishaminor2900

    November 7, 2024 at 1:17 pm

    Great lecture it’s always a battle in democracy for rights and fair treatment

  24. @HazyWave1974

    November 7, 2024 at 1:20 pm

    LOL. None of you live in a democracy any more than audience members are picking “random” cards at a Vegas magic show.😂🤣

  25. @andycordy5190

    November 7, 2024 at 1:28 pm

    I love this concept of people assemblies and spreading the word about self help and collaborative movements towards social justice. To counter the world wide trend of backsliding away from democracy. I wish them strength, determination and long lives.
    How unfortunate the we hear this just a day after the conniving backslider billionaire cabal just put a convicted criminal back in the most powerful office in the world.

  26. @Luziferne

    November 7, 2024 at 4:12 pm

    You mean Citizen Assemblies like Worker Soviets?

    What was set up to make a Soviet a Soviet?
    1.Everyone can be at anytime vote into any function
    2.Everyone can be at anytime vote OUT OFF any function
    3.Everyone in any function have to, at anytime, give account about his decisions
    4.Everyone in any function may never receive a salary higher then a skilled worker
    That is what Lenin set forth as as rules to the soviets so they can be democratic Communists
    Those are what Stalin turn down when he seized control with his petite-bourgeois counterrevolution and bureaucratic Dictatorship

    Those aren’t training grounds, those are the way the working class organized it self
    Worker if you want to keep your Democracy alive, keep the bourgeois Liberals away from it. They only will invite capitalistic Opportunism and is little brother, Fascism, as an “valid opinion” and destroy it

  27. @daborahgermanstavolkmunte

    November 7, 2024 at 10:05 pm

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    • @SonyaYeva

      November 7, 2024 at 10:06 pm

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    • @SonyaYeva

      November 7, 2024 at 10:06 pm

      I don’t really blame people who panic. Lack of
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      making more than $200k passively by just
      investing through an advisor, and I don’t have
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      people who panic.

    • @HaholBarton

      November 7, 2024 at 10:06 pm

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    • @daborahgermanstavolkmunte

      November 7, 2024 at 10:06 pm

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  28. @someonenormal5579

    November 8, 2024 at 2:52 am

    more like wasTED

  29. @Ren-1979

    November 8, 2024 at 5:42 am

    How could he escape from prison, is he in prison again?
    Enormous respect for this movement against powerful oppressors.
    Civil resistence!!!! ✊

  30. @RobertGrant-j8z

    November 8, 2024 at 6:00 pm

    American Constitution ~ Bill of Rights
    Given to Man, By GOD.

  31. @NameSurname_000

    November 9, 2024 at 8:57 am

    🖤

  32. @May629

    November 9, 2024 at 8:40 pm

    Myanmar is as same as your country 😢😢😢

  33. @adrineyanukhyan3121

    November 10, 2024 at 10:55 am

    Ketakandriana’s point about citizen assemblies really makes sense, especially in a world where people are often frustrated with how democracy works. Amazingly, groups of everyday people can come together, discuss real issues, and make decisions that affect their lives. I didn’t know much about Madagascar’s challenges before, but empowering citizens to take action in their communities feels like something that could work anywhere.

  34. @Lilrom2003

    November 13, 2024 at 2:56 am

    Citizen assemblies are used to whitewash left wing activists unpopular non solutions

  35. @JeshuaSatterlee

    November 13, 2024 at 11:05 am

    This is laughable. The democrats ran a candidate that never won a primary. That’s the only thing testing democracy…

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