Category: Africa

Africa’s ‘dissatisfied democrats’ – potential bulwarks against authoritarianism

     

What’s going on with democracy in Africa? asks Robert Mattes, a professor in the University of Strathclyde’s School of Government and Public Policy. The research network Afrobarometer [a partner of… Read more »

Internet’s broken democratic promise: from liberation technology to digital unfreedom?

     

  In the span of just two years, the widely shared utopian vision of the internet’s impact on governance has turned decidedly pessimistic, notes Stanford Law School analyst Nate Persily…. Read more »

Is liberal democracy resilient enough to confront current challenges?

     

Democracy is “not a one-way street,” and democratic nations can fall back into authoritarianism, according to Mike Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, and Sanford School Dean Judith Kelley. They joined moderator… Read more »

A new strategy to build resilience to extremism’s corrosive ideology

     

Extremism is enabled by the belief that existing indignities and suffering are the direct result of poor, undemocratic, or predatory governance, notes a new analysis. This sense of injustice aligns… Read more »

Will Ethiopia’s liberalization spin out of control?

     

Ethiopian premier Abiy Ahmed’s first 10 months in office have been remarkable by the yardstick of any leader around the world. In that time, he has overseen the swiftest political… Read more »

Winning back trust in Nigeria’s rescheduled elections?

     

  The two major parties contesting Nigerian presidential and parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for last weekend but delayed at the last moment, have said they will continue campaigning despite a… Read more »

The long freedom slump paused?

     

The good news is that democracy is not declining, at least in the aggregate. The bad news is that developing countries have taken a turn for the worse, notes Larry… Read more »

Kleptocracy’s ‘stark implications’ for democracy

     

The two main candidates vying to lead Africa’s most populous nation after elections this weekend offer very different choices for reforming this vital industry, between public or private sector-led development…. Read more »

China challenge a ‘moral and intellectual clash of value systems’

     

A new Chinese Communist Party app is helping users catch up with the ruling party’s latest propaganda and ideology with the ease of a swipe on their smartphones, CNN reports:… Read more »