Category: Civil Society

For democratic transitions – reform or revolution?

     

From Mexico to Iran, democracy is often a casualty of revolutionary politics undertaken in the name of liberty or opposition to tyranny, says a leading observer. The best-known modern revolutions… Read more »

How to protect democracy from digital authoritarians’ toolbox

     

The alliances, cooperation, and coordination that comprise the liberal world order depend on sufficient public political support and trust within and across democracies, notes Michael Colaresi, William S. Dietrich II… Read more »

Advancing democracy: What works and why?

     

“What factors and conditions should exist for local pro-democracy, human rights, and labor organizations  to effect positive change?” The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL)… Read more »

Media capture: 21st century autocrats’ toolkit

     

Media capture is a situation in which the media are controlled “either directly by governments or by vested interests” which seek political influence rather than profit, according to analyst Alina… Read more »

Democratic rights popular but commitment not so robust

     

While democracy remains a popular idea globally, average citizens’ commitment to democratic principles is not consistently robust, according to a new 34-nation Pew Research Center survey. Overwhelming majorities say the… Read more »

How democratic Taiwan outperformed authoritarian China on coronavirus outbreak

     

Taiwan’s example proves that the free flow of information is the best treatment for the coronavirus outbreak, analyst Victor (Lin) Pu writes for The Diplomat:  …..Even though Taiwan has not… Read more »

Mubarak’s legacy – Arab Spring’s failure?

     

Hosni Mubarak, the autocratic ruler of Egypt whose nearly 30 years in power came to an abrupt, bloody climax in 2011 after a popular revolt swept across the Arab world,… Read more »

Russian activist sues on 5th anniversary of Nemtsov assassination

     

Three years ago, in February 2017, Vladimir Kara-Murza was rushed to a Moscow hospital, where he suffered massive organ failure, forcing doctors to place the Russian democracy activist on a… Read more »

Bolivia in transition?

     

Defying Bolivia’s constitution and a binding referendum forbidding reelection, former President Evo Morales ran for a fourth consecutive term in October 2019. Documented fraud sparked nationwide protests that eventually led… Read more »

Liberalism or illiberalism vs. democracy?

     

Following four-plus years of assault by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, the embattled Polish judiciary may be on its last legs. On 4 February, amid mass domestic and international… Read more »