Category: Democratic Governance

Ukraine’s former leader ‘paid bribes of $2 billion’ – $1.4 million for each day in office

     

  Ukraine’s former president paid bribes worth at least $2 billion (£1.4 billion) during his four years in office – amounting to almost $1.4 million for every day he was… Read more »

Venezuela: uprising, referendum or coup?

     

Popular uprising? Recall referendum? Coup d’état? Associated Press asks: Venezuela’s economic meltdown has become so dire that few political analysts believe President Nicolas Maduro will manage to finish his term,… Read more »

Obama chides Vietnam on political freedoms

     

  U.S. President Barack Obama chided Vietnam on political freedoms on Tuesday after critics of the communist-run government were prevented from meeting him in Hanoi, a discordant note on a… Read more »

A Strategy for Democratic Renewal

     

Democracy is being challenged today as never before since the end of Cold War, notes Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy. Freedom House has recorded ten consecutive… Read more »

Fact-checking in a post-fact world

     

Do you care whether all the facts in a newspaper article are true? If so — what could convince you that they are or are not? A friend? A neutral… Read more »

Europe’s liberal power ‘a two-way street’?

     

The West is losing credibility in furthering democracy around the world because of mounting dysfunctionalities in its own political systems, notes Carnegie analyst Richard Youngs. Now in question are two… Read more »

Durability of democracy’s appeal is ‘biggest known unknown’

     

The durability of free-market democracy’s global appeal is “the biggest known unknown” about the next generation global economy, says a prominent analyst. Five significant political economy questions stand out, Tuft… Read more »

What is the Arabic for democracy?

     

  The collapse of the post-colonial Arab system is, at its heart, a crisis of legitimacy. The impact of colonialism, often blamed by Arabs for their woes, should not be… Read more »

As anti-corruption summit meets, Ukraine moves to keep kleptocracy intact

     

  Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday appointed a close ally of President Petro Poroshenko with no legal background as general prosecutor, a position seen by the West as crucial for Kiev’s… Read more »

From protest to politics: Madinati ‘shakes up Lebanon’s old guard’

     

  Several dozen people gathered outside a Future Movement office in Beirut’s Al-Tariq al-Jadideh area Thursday to demand payments. A source told The Daily Star that the protesters were staff hired… Read more »