Traveling through the Balkans over the past three weeks I have met a lot of people from all ages and backgrounds working hard for their communities, trying to strengthen institutions or promote mutual understanding.

One conversation with a seventeen-year-old boy stands out. We talked at a cafe in a town very much divided along ethnic lines in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The students of the town attend classes only with peers from their own ethnic group. Having seen the perils of segregation play out in their own countries, the international community has been organizing activities that encourage students from both groups to spend time together. They attend the same field trips or participate in joint seminars. They work together on a bilingual student newspaper.

I asked him about these activities, trying to learn about which ones were most effective. To which he explained, it doesn’t matter what the activities are. What matters is the will of the people who choose to participate in them.

A week later I’m still thinking about that statement. Is it not true for democracy as a whole? You can build institutions, hold fair elections, teach leaders everything they need to know about being transparent and accountable to the citizens. But if the will of the people to be a part of a democracy is not there, it’s not really a democracy at all is it? Because, as the title of our own blog suggests, the essence of democracy is that it is a government by the people.

Thanks everyone for reading along with my journey. The other By The People bloggers will be back next week. In the meantime, check out some of the photos from my trip!