“I’m not used to being defeated,” says Open World alumna Tatiana Kazaishvili — and indeed she isn’t. Kazaishvili is a veteran of public service — she has served seven years in the municipal legislature (duma) of Tver, a city about 100 miles north of Moscow, and was recently reelected for the third time. She is the coordinator of the Tver City Duma’s Union of Right Forces faction and chairs the Duma Commission for Social Policy.

A healthcare professional and business manager by training, Kazaishvili is not afraid to stand up for her constituency. She has tirelessly advocated for better funding for government healthcare institutions, retiree medical benefits, social support programs, and youth services. No wonder the Tver business weekly Karavan ranked her third in its rating of the most outspoken and passionate municipal Duma deputies.

Nominated by the Open Society Institute, Kazaishvili participated in a September 2000 federalism-themed program hosted in Portland, OR, by Open World grantee Rotary International. Kazaishvili says her Open World experience added a whole new perspective to her work.

“I saw how Americans know their rights and understand the role legislation plays in their lives,” she reports.

“People in America have full access to the documents produced by their government, whether federal laws or state regulations. They don’t even need to show their passport for this access,” continues Kazaishvili. “This seemingly basic right can’t always be taken for granted in Russia.”

Since her U.S. stay, Kazaishvili has worked to cultivate the same kind of regard for laws among her fellow citizens in Tver.

Kazaishvili formed a task force to develop a draft city law that would secure the rights of Tver residents to access legislative information. The draft law, approved in its first reading by the Tver City Duma, provides for the establishment of a public legislative library containing all federal, regional, and local laws, policies and regulations. The draft law was being considered by the Tver City Duma for its second reading in February.

“The first draft has changed substantially,” Kazaishvili explains. “The idea is to organize a community council, a civil initiative that would ensure that local government documents are made available to the public through the legislative library. We have held roundtable discussions with journalists, nonprofits, and other stakeholder groups to obtain their recommendations, suggestions and criticism.”

Librarians and library managers are an important constituency for this initiative. Kazaishvili had an opportunity to discuss the draft law with this constituency at the Open World alumni conference “The Library and the Local Community,” held in November 2003 in St. Petersburg, Russia. At the conference, she urged the information professionals to advocate for codifying legislative libraries in their local communities.

“Librarians have always played an invaluable role in providing free public access to the best of Russian and foreign literature,” Kazaishvili says. “Now they should take the lead in making Russian federal and local laws and regulations just as accessible.”

She concludes, “An important component of a democratic society is ensuring that everybody knows their rights and understands how to use them competently. Only then can citizens adequately evaluate the work of their government representatives and become more involved in the decision-making process.”

Published by The PBN Company for the Open World Leadership Center, whose Open World Program has hosted nearly 9,000 citizens from Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan since its inception in 1999. The Center is an independent legislative branch agency that works cooperatively with the U.S. Department of State and other U.S. executive and judicial branch agencies. For additional information, please visit the Open World Leadership Center's website at www.openworld.gov or contact the office at +1 202-707-8943.