The Movement for a Democratic Society (Kurdish: Tevgera Civaka Demokratîk, TEV-DEM;[1] Arabic: حركة المجتمع الديمقراطي; Classical Syriac: ܙܘܥܐ ܕܟܢܫܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܐܛܝܐ, romanized: Zaw'o d'Kensho Demoqraṭoyo[2]) is a left-wing umbrella organization in northern Syria founded on 16 January 2011 with the goal of organizing Syrian society under a democratic confederalist system.

One of the main points of divergence related to the PYD’s stance of urging regime change, yet rejecting foreign intervention and alignment with the Syrian opposition.

It claimed to offer a third way within the Syrian conflict, centred around self-defence and the primacy of non-violent solutions which did not support either the regime or the opposition, based on the organization of society and the formation of cultural, social, economic and political institutions in order to achieve "self-administration for the people".

[citation needed] Despite the Marxist-Leninist roots of the PYD, a drastic shift in the ideology of the movement, and Öcalan towards democratic confederalism enabled these multi-ethnic and secular components of the constitution met some fundamental requirements of Western international backers opposing the Syrian regime.

The model of local administration in the region has fostered a number of developments such as a focus on individual personal freedoms, and the local administration has helped to reduce the repercussions of the civil war on the population in Northern Syria by filling the vacuum left by the withdrawal of Assad’s forces from northern Syria; its nuanced position vis-à-vis the Syrian government allowed a continuation of the basic services previously rendered by the state.