Category: Democratic Backsliding

Poll shows radical Islamization challenging Indonesia’s democracy

     

The Christian governor of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, lost a bitterly contested race on Wednesday that was widely seen as a test of religious and ethnic tolerance in the world’s… Read more »

Democratic backsliding: the perils of polarization

     

If democratic backsliding were to occur in the United States, it would not take the form of a coup d’état; there would be no declaration of martial law or imposition of single-party rule,… Read more »

Deconstruction of the West? The real challenges to the liberal world order

     

In both developed and developing states, challenges to the liberal order are converging on a single main competitor, populist nationalism, which is a response to the tension between two central… Read more »

Democracy down but not dying

     

Democracy has unquestionably lost its global momentum, note Carnegie Endowment analysts Thomas Carothers and Richard Youngs. But those who despair the future of democracy tend to focus on a select… Read more »

Turkey ‘will never be the same’ after referendum

     

On April 16, Turkish voters will be casting votes in the most consequential referendum of modern Turkish history, notes Henri J. Barkey, the director of the Middle East Program at… Read more »

Civil society the target in Hungary’s attack on Soros-funded university

     

Students and staff at the Central European University (CEU) in Hungary are protesting against what they say are government plans to close it down, the BBC reports: The university says… Read more »

Turkey heading for dictatorship, exposing underlying ideology

     

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Europeans on Wednesday that they would no longer be able to walk safely in the street if Western politicians continued with perceived provocations against Turkish… Read more »

Soft power not enough in the Balkans

     

The 21st century in the Balkans is starting to look dangerously like the 19th — with one important difference. In the 19th century, Russia and Turkey were big rivals in… Read more »

EU-US must win hearts and minds in Western Balkans

     

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that Turkey’s approach to democracy and the rule of law are “deeply problematic” to the country’s future cooperation with the European Union. “These deep… Read more »

Drugs trial exposes Venezuela’s kleptocratic elite

     

When a US federal judge sentences two Venezuelan drug smugglers, perhaps later this month, it will mark the final chapter of a story worthy of the Netflix series “Narcos,” say… Read more »