With their new documentary project Démocratie Maintenant! (Democracy Now!), journalist-directors Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion are sounding the alarm: if our societies struggle to respond to the climate emergency, it is primarily because our democracies are faltering. In the face of rising autocracies, growing public distrust, and the widespread circulation of “alternative truths,” they advocate for more open, deliberative, and effective forms of democracy. Their aim: to show that another way of making decisions is possible – and it could truly change everything. Let’s meet.
Missions Publiques. What was the initial spark—whether an urgent concern or an intuition—that led to the creation of this film project, “Democracy Now!”? How would you assess the current state of democracy in France and around the world? Which trends seem the most concerning?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. We both have been passionate about democratic and ecological issues for a long time. It seems increasingly clear to us that these two topics go hand in hand. If our governments have failed to provide adequate responses to the challenges posed by climate change, for example, it is primarily due to the weakness (or failure) of our representative democracies.
In 2014, a study by Gilens and Page explored the question of “who really holds power” in the United States. After reviewing thousands of political decisions over a decade, their conclusion was unequivocal: average citizens have very little impact on public policy. Most of the influence comes from the richest 10% of the economic elite. Faced with a challenge like climate change, part of this economic elite has used its considerable weight to delay government action, especially by casting doubt on the reality of climate change, its seriousness, or humanity’s role in causing it. This strategy of creating confusion persists today and is further amplified by an exponentially greater capacity to spread “alternative truths” through AI, social media, and more broadly all algorithm-driven digital platforms. Yet in a democracy, if we cannot agree on the problem, we cannot agree on the solutions.
Another starting point for this documentary is the global decline of democracy, and we want to believe that this is not inevitable. According to the Freedom in the World 2025 report, global freedom (including civil liberties and political rights) declined for the nineteenth consecutive year in 2024. The 2025 annual report by the V-Dem Institute reveals that, for the first time in over two decades, there are more autocratic regimes than democracies in the world! Twenty years ago, more than half of the world’s population (51%) lived in a democracy. Today, only 28% do, while 72% now live under autocratic government…
Missions Publiques. What would you like to highlight or reveal that is insufficiently covered in today’s media reporting on democracy? Which emerging forms of democracy do you consider particularly promising?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. We want to show what we ourselves have witnessed, particularly during the Citizens’ Convention on Climate: that other ways of practicing democracy exist, and they are often more effective in addressing complex problems. Limiting democracy to representation through voting is not realistic in the 21st century. The way we practice democracy is completely out of step with the evolution of our societies. It’s a bit like lighting our homes with candles when all we need to do is flick a switch to turn on the lights
We need innovation. Random selection, deliberation, direct democracy, and alternative voting methods, such as majority judgment, are all tools that can empower the majority of citizens to contribute meaningfully to decisions that affect their lives.
Missions Publiques. How do you think citizen engagement can regain legitimacy and genuinely influence public decision-making? And is that even possible?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. Yes, it can, but for that to happen, citizen participation must move beyond being merely consultative, as is still too often the case. For years we have gargled about ‘participatory democracy’, asking people for their ‘opinion’ without then taking it into account. The example of the “Grand débat national” (the Great national debate) is a recent and striking illustration of this. Instead of strengthening trust and the willingness to participate, it has often exacerbated feelings of mistrust towards elected officials.
We believe that processes such as randomly selected citizens’ assemblies should play a role in shaping public decisions. This could be done either by holding referendums afterward, as in Ireland for constitutional changes, or by establishing co-decision assemblies between citizens and elected representatives, as in Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, and Île-Saint-Denis in France. Such approaches require elected officials to share some of their prerogatives and to place their trust in citizens.
Missions Publiques. What role can the media, which you are a part of, play in the renewal of democracy?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. The media have a central role to play in raising awareness that these democratic innovations exist! To broaden our collective imagination. Very few people even realize that other ways of voting or making collective decisions are possible!
They then play a crucial role (and here we are thinking of the press) in ensuring that these processes reach the entire population. For example, when citizens’ assemblies selected by lot are deliberating, it is essential that those affected can follow the discussions, either live on YouTube (as in the Irish and French conventions) or through the press, so that the debate can also take place within wider society. This helps prepare everyone to participate in decision-making in the event of a referendum.
More generally, the media must help us establish and present the facts objectively, so that we can form informed opinions on the major issues we face. Unfortunately, this is not really the case today…
"We would like as many people as possible to realise that we, the vast majority, have everything to gain from living in real democracies, where the ecological emergency is finally taken seriously and deep inequalities are tackled.
© Crédit photo : Romuald Augé pour Sud-Ouest.
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion
Journalists and filmmakers
Missions Publiques. Why do you think it is essential to link democracy and ecological transition?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. There is a very close link between democracy and ecology. Studies show that the stronger a country’s democratic quality, the more seriously it tends to address ecological issues, this is particularly true in Scandinavian countries. Conversely, the weaker the quality of democracy, the poorer the handling of ecological issues: we can see this today in the United States and Argentina, and we saw it in Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro. Those anti-ecological and anti-democratic policies have very concrete impacts on human lives. A recent analysis by The Guardian, for example showed that the additional greenhouse gas emissions over the next ten years resulting from Trump’s anti-climate policies could cause up to 1.3 million additional heat-related deaths worldwide …
We are convinced that we will not be able to save the habitability of this planet without saving democracy and reinventing it, for all the reasons mentioned above.
Missions Publiques. The ecological transition sometimes requires changes that are perceived as restrictive. How can these constraints be reconciled with an inclusive and legitimate democratic process?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. Deliberative processes that include representation from all stakeholders in society are precisely the most suitable for fostering dialogue among conflicting interests! We saw this with the Citizens’ Convention on Climate. No one wants constraints imposed by force. However, a vast majority of people are open to discussing and finding solutions acceptable to everyone. And working on concrete responses with the people most directly affected, starting from real life experiences, is often more effective. Engaging with this complexity and harnessing this collective intelligence is impossible with representative democracy as we practice it today.
It is precisely these deliberative democratic processes that allow us to develop ecological solutions that are both socially just and widely accepted, as they promote greater well-being, through measures such as reduced air pollution, food vouchers, and alternatives to car travel.
It is important to remember that ecological measures are fundamentally intended to protect the population, to enable them to live in a healthier environment, to be in good health, to eat better, to have decent housing… but also help us to prepare for present and future shocks.
Missions Publiques. We’re seeing a simultaneous rise in ecology-bashing and democracy-bashing: on one hand, the dismissal or caricature of ecological issues; on the other, questioning the legitimacy of representative democracy. How do you analyze this dual backlash, and do you think these forms of discredit reinforce one another?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. The link between the two phenomena is real. It is because more and more people feel ignored, neglected, despised and brutalised by the political establishment that they are returning to the far right as a way to turn the tables, supporting the only major political party that has never held power. The far right also exploits ecological issues for electoral gain, thereby fueling ecology-bashing. Farmers’ struggles or the difficulties faced by French people are framed as the fault of “eco-fanatics.”
However social science research has shown that the ecological backlash is primarily political and not civicIn Europe and France, the majority of citizens remain concerned about the climate situation and support more ambitious policies, as long as these do not jeopardise their economic security. Growing number of scientific studies show that an overwhelming majority of people worldwide, between 80 and 89%, want their governments to take stronger action on climate change. Most of these people do not know that they are in the majority.
With this film, we want to open new perspectives: rather than turning to the far right to be heard, it is possible to change the rules of the democratic game…
Missions Publiques. What kind of collective imagination do you hope to awaken through this documentary?
Paloma Moritz and Cyril Dion. We would love for viewers to leave the film thinking that another democracy is possible : a world in which people truly have power, as Patti Smith sings in the film’s teaser (and hopefully in the film itself). That each person feels empowered, in their own way, to resist, to rebuild social ties in their neighborhood or building, to make their voice heard, to oppose destructive projects… To assert their rights and freedoms every day!
We would like as many people as possible to realise that we, the vast majority, have everything to gain from living in real democracies, where the ecological emergency is finally taken seriously and deep inequalities are tackled. A society in which each of us is consulted, respected, and able to live with dignity.
https://fr.ulule.com/democratie-maintenant/
