Another Arab Spring? Not if, but when
The social history of the MENA region is a history of social mobilization and the emergence of civil society. Across the Arab world, ordinary citizens have collectively engaged in resistance,… Read more »
Category: Democratic institutions
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 »
With Kashmir erased, has India’s democracy ‘died in silence’?
Protests were held in several cities (Reuters) in Pakistan after India revoked the special status of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region. Islamabad said it will “exercise all possible… Read more »
Is Russia’s ‘new civic activism’ testing Putin’s grip on power?
More people in Russia view the late Brezhnev era of the Soviet Union as “close to the people” than they do President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, according to a survey… Read more »
Two scenarios for Venezuela as political stand-off accelerates economic implosion
The United States will bar two Venezuelan officials accused of human rights violations from traveling to the U.S. in its latest action to pressure Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro into stepping… 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 »
Why elections are not necessarily democratizing
In Malawi’s presidential election in May, incumbent President Peter Mutharika narrowly won reelection. February’s Senegalese election was quite different, with incumbent Macky Sall easily claiming victory. Although Malawians continue to… Read more »
‘Never-ending state war against civil society’ meets the new face of Russia’s protests
Russian authorities have threatened protesters in Moscow with lengthy jail sentences in an attempt to dampen an unexpected surge in protest mood before a planned opposition rally, The Guardian reports…. Read more »
Democracy vs. kleptocracy
Democracy may be facing a crisis, but…. Now is a time “for resolve, not panic,” says Stanford University’s Larry Diamond. In his latest book, Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage,… Read more »
Ungovernability at root of the crisis of democracy?
The problems of governance “stem from an excess of democracy,” according to the Trilateral Commission’s 1975 report, The Crisis of Democracy: On the Governability of Democracies. But recent trends highlight an… Read more »