The eighth event in the series Forum Bellevue on the Future of Democracy was dedicated to the topic Which future? On democracy and progress. Together with his guests, the Federal President examined the societal prerequisites needed for innovative and effective solutions as responses to pressing and complex challenges such as digitalization, globalization and climate change.

The Federal President discussed this topic with Ian McEwan (British author and member of the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Society of Arts and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), Steven Pinker (Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University) and Maren Urner (professor of Media Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences for Media, Communication and Management in Cologne).

The Federal President and his guests addressed the question of how the public's trust in progress and its ability to benefit as many people as possible can be regained and strengthened. The issue at hand was trust in the future and trust that we as a society can shape the future. We are currently experiencing a growing distrust of some of liberal democracy's key institutions as well as new forms of mobilization and collective political action. The traditional party system is undergoing a stress test in many European countries including Germany. Can a re-appreciation of all that has been achieved since the Enlightenment help people living in today's liberal democracies develop a new sense of trust in themselves and society? How do liberal democracies define their relationship to the past – and the future? Has the relationship between democracy and progress changed? Ultimately the discussion focussed on how our perception of reality – shaped by both traditional and social media – influences our self-perception and our social and political behavior.