Category: Philippines

Authoritarianization: understanding Duterte’s rise to power

     

Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte’s rise can’t be understood in isolation, argues analyst Richard Javad Heydarian. It has to be situated within a broader context of how populism takes root in… Read more »

Do Asia’s autocrats outperform democrats?

     

While authoritarian regimes can show brief flashes of brilliance (remember Sputnik), they’ve proven again and again incapable of sustaining the creativity and innovation necessary for long-term economic success, analyst Michael… Read more »

Reclaiming the Philippines’ Democracy Narrative

     

Riding a strong populist wave and exerting a brand of crisis, Rodrigo Duterte was elected to power in the Philippines in mid-2016. More than a year into his presidency, Duterte’s… Read more »

Rights defenders at risk: 20 years after UN Declaration

     

In a Russian court hearing yesterday, human rights defender Semyon Simonov (left) faced police officers who had detained him in April in the southern city of Volgograd. Simonov had been… Read more »

Southeast Asia’s ’emboldened’ strongmen look to China in setback to democracy

     

Chinese leaders have long sought to present themselves as equals to American presidents. Xi Jinping has wanted something more: a special relationship that sets China apart, as the other great… Read more »

Asian democracy: glass half-full or half-empty?

     

  Many observers been assuming that China’s rise is loading the dice against democracy in Asia and is part of a global authoritarian resurgence, notes Maiko Ichihara, an associate professor at… Read more »

Schools of democracy: labor unions mobilize against authoritarian regimes, for basic rights

     

Reports that the Philippines’ labor movement is beginning to mobilize against President Rodrigo Duterte’s authoritarian regime are a timely reminder that unions are often in the forefront of actions to… Read more »

Asian democrats can help fill vacuum on democratic renewal

     

It is too early to know if the current democratic recession represents a blip or something more malignant, says a leading expert. “But the recession is certainly deepening,” Stanford University’s… Read more »

Extremism-fueled strategic instability threatens Asia’s democracies

     

Asia’s democracies are threatened by a growing source of strategic instability at the sub-state level, as increasing religiosity and extremist ideologies gain momentum in the national consciousness of several countries in… Read more »

Human rights a casualty of Philippines’ ‘war on drugs’

     

President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines will be the subject of a hearing at the U.S. Congress this week. The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission… Read more »