Tag: Freedom House

Dismantling democracy? Covid-19 used as excuse to quell dissent

     

Hungary’s parliament endorsed a bill on Monday giving nationalist premier Viktor Orban the sweeping new powers he says he needs to fight the new coronavirus pandemic. Critics at home and… Read more »

Why democracies handle crises better than authoritarians

     

An independent democracy advocacy organization is warning that authoritarian regimes are using the global coronavirus outbreak to suppress freedoms of speech and restrict fundamental rights outside of the scope of… Read more »

Could coronavirus trigger backsliding and ‘reshape global order’?

     

Washington cannot simply ignore the need for a coordinated global response to the coronavirus pandemic. Only strong leadership can solve global coordination problems related to travel restrictions, information sharing, and… Read more »

Iran, China and Venezuela called out on human rights abuses

     

Authoritarian regimes are suppressing peoples’ democratic aspirations with severe human rights “violations and abuses” to hinder any actions that threaten established power, according to the new U.S. State Department’s 2019 Country… Read more »

Policy recommendations for strengthening democracy

     

  In the wake of Freedom in the World 2020, the latest survey of political rights and civil liberties in 210 states, which details continuing democratic deterioration, Freedom House offers a… Read more »

Global struggle for democracy ‘lacking leadership’

     

The past twelve months registered the 14th consecutive year of decline in global freedom, according to Freedom in the World 2020, the latest survey of political rights and civil liberties… Read more »

How technology strengthens digital dictators

     

As autocracies have learned to co-opt new technologies, they have become a more formidable threat to democracy. In particular, today’s dictatorships have grown more durable. Between 1946 and 2000—the year… 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 »

CCP ‘the central threat of our times’? Democracies must stand up to China

     

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Chinese Communist Party “the central threat of our times” on Thursday, even as he sought to talk up the prospects of a 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 »