The 20 Steps set out a Citizen Agenda of changes to the information governments and businesses provide to citizens; changes in the ways citizens participate in government and business decision-making; and changes to the ways in which citizens can hold governments and businesses accountable for their decisions and activities.

Democracy Watch advocates its 20 Steps Citizen Agenda by:

• publishing democracy audits that examine government and business policies, programs and activities (each report sets out leading research into key problems and solutions, and we launch each of our campaigns for change with a report);
• bringing together interested groups to participate in democratization coalitions working for common reforms;
• coordinating a DemocratizACTION Network of Democracy Watchers who participate in campaigns to push politicians and businesses to enact the reforms;
• campaigning for democratic decision-making processes to make it easier to enact the reforms; and
• gathering together materials in a Democracy Clearinghouse on democracy issues to help Canadians participate effectively in our political and economic systems.

Duff Conacher, Founder of Democracy Watch,
on CTV News

Summary of Democracy Watch's Many Notable Achievements

Democracy Watch is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization, and Canada's leading citizen group advocating democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility.

Democracy Watch is the most effective and successful national citizen advocacy group in Canada at winning systemic changes to key laws since it opened its doors in fall 1993 - it has won more than 110 changes to federal and provincial good government and corporate responsibility laws, many of which are world-leading. 

Democracy Watch has organized and works with Canadian citizens and organizations in five nation-wide coalitions, all pushing Canadian governments and businesses to empower Canadians in their roles as voters, citizens, taxpayers, consumers and shareholders. Its aim is to help reform Canadian government and business institutions to bring them into line with the realities of a modern, working democracy.

Democracy Watch's work for democratic reform is aimed at winning changes so that everyone in politics and business is effectively required to act honestly, ethically, openly, representatively and to prevent waste.  Its work is based upon the following principles:

• Canadians need access to full and timely information about government and business activities;
• Canadians need meaningful rights to participate and be represented in Canada's political system;
• Canadians need easily accessible remedies against government and corporate waste, abuse and misrepresentation;
• Accountability measures are needed wherever there are concentrations of power in society; and
• Measures must be enacted to help Canadians band together as citizens, consumers and taxpayers.