Fostering resiliency for MENA civil society
The Gezi trial, where 16 civil society activists and human rights defenders face possible life sentences for attempting to overthrow the government, has been a “tragic case study of the… Read more »
Category: Democratic institutions
Competitive authoritarianism ‘inching westward’
In the nineteen-thirties, authoritarian regimes were on the rise around the world—as they are again today—and democratic governments that came into existence after the First World War were toppling. “American… Read more »
Mexico: criminal defamation threatens free expression
The conviction of a prominent Mexican journalist sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression, writes Enrique Bravo-Escobar, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer for Latin America & the Caribbean at the… Read more »
‘Zeitgeist of deepening anxiety’ over democratic backsliding
Authoritarian resurgence is puzzling intellectually because the dominant theoretical paradigm during the past four decades has focused on explaining the drivers of democratic advance, not retreat, says a leading analyst…. Read more »
How to fix democracy
Democracy has many advantages, but its pitfalls include a tendency toward short-term return over longer-term interests, being reactive rather than proactive, and being geared towards internal competition rather than cooperation,… Read more »
Why democracy is good for you — and vice versa
Midnight military coups and backroom deals did not bring strongmen to power in former democracies that have joined the ranks of the world’s autocracies. Everyday frustrations over high health-care costs,… Read more »
Ukraine on friction point between Russian authoritarianism & West’s democracy
Ukraine has overwhelmingly voted for fundamental change and is now led by people who are committed to making their country a modern democracy committed to liberty and the rule of… Read more »
The key to reviving democracy….
Any renewal of democracy requires political institutions to be “as inclusive as possible” through a reassertion of “democratic pluralism,” argues Michael Lind, author of The New Class War: Saving Democracy… Read more »
Sudan’s transition ‘a once in a lifetime opportunity’
The international community must immediately boost its support to Sudan to accelerate its democratic transition, allowing it to sustain peace and accelerate much-need development, said the Head of the United… Read more »
‘Democracy: From Theory to Practice’: Assessing decay, breakdown and renewal
The autocratic resurgence was a factor in prompting USAID to declare 2020 as the Year of Democracy and launch a campaign called #Democracy Is… in order “to highlight the interlocking… Read more »