Five years ago, democracy sector champion Joe Mitchell interviewed more than 60 key democracy sector stakeholders for the Networking for Democracy report.

Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, the Networking for Democracy report and the wealth of insight contained within those interviews, provided the evidence base to establish the Democracy Network and our range of activities as they appear today.

Now, three years on from the launch of the Democracy Network, we’re going back to basics – to uncover whether those insights from those interviews and earlier research still hold true – has the Network achieved it’s original purpose, are there gaps, what’s missing? And importantly – where do we go from here?

We want to hear from you

• What you think about the key challenges and opportunities facing the UK democracy sector
• What motivates you to connect and collaborate with others in the sector?
• What activities and projects do you see as most successful and impactful in supporting collaboration and improved relationships among organisations working on issues related to democracy?

Can you help us? Take our new 2025 State of the Sector Survey – through which we can better understand the views and experiences of both the Democracy Network membership and the sector.

The first 100 respondents of the 2025 State of the Sector Survey will receive a £30 voucher for their time.

But that’s not all, we’ve also enlisted a team of Democracy Network members who will be interviewing more than 60 organisations over the next month.

The insights and information gathered through these two approaches will shape our forthcoming State of the Sector report, which will assess the strength of sector connections, evaluate the impact of current networking initiatives, identify key challenges and opportunities, and provide an overview of the overall ‘network health’ among organisations dedicated to democracy in the UK. The report will also offer practical recommendations for enhancing future networking efforts and activities, ultimately laying the groundwork for the Democracy Network’s new strategic direction.

Do you have any questions, or would like to know more? Email [email protected] to find out more.