Category: democracy recession

Explaining the global protest wave

     

Sixty-three people died over the weekend in a crackdown by security forces against ongoing anti-government protests [HT: CFR], according to the semi-official Iraq High Commission for Human Rights. Iraq is… Read more »

Poverty & Freedom: Inequality feeding democracy’s susceptibilities to degeneration?

     

Enhancing global prosperity must begin with supporting locally-led initiatives that eliminate institutional barriers to freedom—and give citizens greater choice over their future, according to a new book. Governments and philanthropists… Read more »

Post Wall, Post Square: 1989 – The Light that Failed?

     

Like 1776, 1789 and 1917, the year 1989 was one of those rare moments that mark a decisive turning point in human history. So, at least, it seemed at the… Read more »

Democracy on a knife edge: authoritarian populism vs constitutional liberalism

     

Creeping cooperation between mainstream parties and the populist right, unthinkable only a couple of years ago, has become strikingly common at the local level, with potentially cascading consequences for European… Read more »

Poland’s populist turn: A looming Hungarian scenario

     

Poland’s election on Oct. 13 is the biggest test of the Law & Justice Party’s durability, say Bloomberg analysts Wojciech Moskwa and Rodney Jefferson. It has increased its popularity by… Read more »

Can democratic resilience overcome populist polarization?

     

Political polarization is “tearing at the seams of democracy” around the world, according to Thomas Carothers, Carnegie senior vice president for studies. What can be done to overcome polarization and… Read more »

Is a ‘democratic depression’ around the corner?

     

The emergence of populism reflects severe problems with representation and accountability in democracies worldwide. However, despite potentially increasing the representativeness of a country’s politics, populists in government increase the risk… Read more »

Renovating democracy in the face of paralysis and polarization

     

The populist uprisings in the US and throughout Europe are not the cause of the West’s crisis of governance but rather have exposed the ways in which liberal democracies have… Read more »

Rethinking democracy: from despair to renewal

     

Democratic politics is under attack – this time from populist nationalists, authoritarian regimes and new forms of political communication. It was not meant to be like this, according to Rethinking… Read more »

Regaining democratic momentum in face of ill winds

     

Since 2006, the world has been in a democratic recession, with more countries declining in freedom than gaining for each of the last thirteen years, The Henry Jackson Society observes. For… Read more »