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Foundations of Democracy
2004 - 2008
 The programme on Foundations of Democracy began in 2004, and was coordinated by Amartya Sen. The themes that were considered included plural traditions and the non-Western world; social choice theory and public reason; the estrangement between justice and democracy; and identity and citizenship. A recent book by Amartya Sen, Identity and Violence (W.W. Norton, 2006), explores some of these themes; work in 2005-2006 was concerned with identity, and in 2006-2007 with justice and democracy.
Amartya Sen chaired a Commonwealth Commission on promoting peace through civil means. The resulting report 'Civil Paths to Peace: Report of the Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding' was published in 2007, when Amartya Sen on behalf of the Commission reported to the Heads of the Governments of the Commonwealth countries (the CHOGM) in Kampala, Uganda. Civil Paths to Peace contains the analyses and findings of the Commission, established in response to the 2005 request of Commonwealth Heads of Government for the Commonwealth Secretary-General to 'explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the Commonwealth.'
The programme was supported by the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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