(Rationale Continued) What is the state of democratic governance in the 21st century? Democracy as a form of government has spread and consolidated worldwide at a steady pace over the last decades. It has gradually been replacing authoritarian regimes that cannot be popularly held accountable for its actions towards its citizens. In contrast to that democratic regimes do have built-in mechanisms of checks and balances and can be held accountable by its citizens. Although organizing free and fair elections on a regular basis is considered a litmus test for democracy, we conceive of democracy as more than a set of basic electoral institutions. Central to democratic governance are the rule of law, a vibrant free press and dense civil society organizations, freely competing political parties, a universal adult suffrage, freedom of expression and belief, a respect for human rights, a firm commitment to gender equity and societal diversities, the ability to organize and participate in political and economic activities, guarantees of civil and political liberties and constitutionally safeguarded fundamental rights of life and liberty, and above all a societal agreement on a set of rules by which political differences are resolved (cf. the annual ‘The Economist Democracy Index’). Together we can take these dimensions to be central to the promise of democratic governance: ensuring social justice for all citizens equally. To some extent democracies live up to their promise. However, when we look under the surface of democratic governance we see problems and shortcomings in both developing and developed countries. The problems cover all societal domains: administration, law and economy. The problems are diverse but all relate to the common theme of Access. Consider the following examples: Waste recycling in Columbia: Slum dwellers in Bogota, Columbia played a crucial role in collecting and recycling waste, an activity on which they often depend for survival. However due to constitutional impediments, organized in a cooperative they were not allowed to entry into the formal business market and compete in the bidding process for waste recycling contracts. By class-action lawsuits the impediments were removed and the waste recyclers were given the chance to enter the market. Restaurant entrepreneurs in The Netherlands: Entrepreneurs that want to open up a restaurant in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, have to go through numerous complicated, expensive and time-consuming procedures when applying for licenses to start up their business. These procedures pose such obstacles and delay that significant numbers of entrepreneurs get stuck in them and end up either in a disadvantaged position when finally starting their business or operating in the informal economy without the proper licensing. A new online module integrates all licensing procedures in one simple form, saving the government and entrepreneurs much time and money and increasing chances for a successful start-up of the restaurant businesses in the formal economy. Citizens living in remote areas in Brazil: In the state of Bahia, Brazil, people living in remote areas have difficulty getting access to basic public services for which they have to make long travels to multiple different agencies. Citizens regularly encounter poor customer service and lack of professionalism in government offices. For example they discover the documentation needed for a given service only after visiting a string of government agencies on multiple occasions. This problem is met by employing Citizen Assistance Service Centers (SAC): mobile One Stop Shops that offer many separate services from different agencies integrated. Through the use of SAC’s visiting remote municipalities citizens now effectively have access to public services.