Category: Democratic institutions

How do parliaments shape democracy (and democracies shape parliaments)?

     

  Democracy and democracy-strengthening are always a work in progress, according to the Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s Graeme Ramshaw and Alex Stevenson.  It’s time for those involved in this work… Read more »

‘Hybrid’ South Africa: poised between democracy & autocracy?

     

  A survey by Afrobarometer shows that growing dissatisfaction with the country’s leadership and government performance has spilled over into frustration with democracy in general, writes analyst Boniface Dulani: Looked… Read more »

Cambodia: ‘old-style politics in a new society’

     

For 30 years, Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge fighter, has wielded power through a combination of threats, clever deal-making and sheer willpower. And for most of that… Read more »

Militancy, Border Security, and Democracy in the Sahel

     

The permeability of borders, along with political vacuums and economic marginalization in the hinterlands, has transformed border communities in the Maghreb-Sahel into epicenters of identity-driven politics, militancy, violent conflict, and… Read more »

Why Libya’s transition failed

     

The ultimate blame for Libya’s failed transition must lay with Muammar Gaddafi, who bequeathed Libyans a country without a state, notes a leading analyst. Leaders of the new Libya found it… Read more »

Muted Modernists? Saudi Islamists ‘campaign for democracy’

     

The Saudi regime watched the 2011 Arab Spring unfold across the Middle East with deep unease. As the year progressed, the regime responded by rounding up moderate Islamists because of… Read more »

Knight International Journalism Award – call for nominations

     

Each November, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) honors outstanding colleagues with the Knight International Journalism Award at our annual gala in Washington, D.C., writes Ben Colmery, Director, Knight International Journalism Fellowships: We’re… Read more »

Hollowing out democracy: Hungary and beyond

     

Following the revolutions of 1989 that brought down communism in Central Europe, it appeared that the region was on the path to the consolidation of liberal democracy. This optimism, however,… Read more »

U.S.-ASEAN summit needs more than symbolism

     

  Human rights and democracy advocates are calling on President Barack Obama to use the occasion of this week’s U.S.-ASEAN summit at California’s Sunnylands retreat to publicly raise concerns about… Read more »