Author Archives: DemDigest

Economic grievances, out-of-touch elites driving discontent with democracy

     

Popular discontent about the economy, individual rights and out-of-touch elites is driving dissatisfaction with democracy and fueling populism. Citizens view politicians as unsympathetic to ordinary people and unable to effect… Read more »

Counter resurgent Russia by fostering principled engagement?

     

In his Nobel Peace Prize lecture in 1975, Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov listed the names of over 120 political prisoners he knew of at the time. Now the Russian human… Read more »

Democracies failing to counter China’s push to dominate cyberspace and AI

     

China is chasing dominance in emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in both the private and military sectors, as a central part of its effort to be the leading global cyber… Read more »

Arbitrary dismissals weakening Bolivia’s rule of law

     

Bolivian authorities have arbitrarily dismissed almost 100 judges since 2017, seriously undermining judicial independence in the country. The Organization of American States (OAS) should convene a meeting of its Permanent… Read more »

Democracy protests a legacy of ‘voice of Sudan’s dispossessed and marginalized’

     

A new tide of people power is rising in Africa, according to analysts Zoe Marks, Erica Chenoweth and Jide Okeke. On April 2, a nonviolent resistance movement in Algeria succeeded in pressuring Abdelaziz… Read more »

Senator’s passing highlights end of bipartisan foreign policy?

     

A bipartisan group is releasing a scorecard to grade members of Congress on their foreign policy views. The scorecard — which the group, Foreign Policy for America , describes as the first of… Read more »

Serbia’s ‘Orbanization’: Vucic heads towards competitive authoritarianism

     

  Serbians are finally rising up against President Aleksandar Vucic’s regime, note analysts Boban Stojanović and Fernando Casal Bértoa. For the last five months, massive protests against his reign, and especially… Read more »

Weaponizing advice? Western experts legitimizing autocrats

     

Experts play valuable and highly visible roles advising leaders in wealthy liberal democracies and international institutions. But far less is known about what they do—and to what effect—for authoritarian regimes… Read more »

Pro-democracy veteran explains why ‘democracy will arrive in China’

     

For almost 40 years, Martin Lee has been promoting democracy in Hong Kong, The South China Morning Post reports. He helped draft Hong Kong’s Basic Law: the city’s mini-constitution that… Read more »

‘The Demon in Democracy’? Resisting the illiberal temptation

     

Nearly fifty years after the Soviet empire’s collapse, the few remaining states adhering to the Stalinist model hold little allure, notes Gabriel Schoenfeld, the author of, among other books, Necessary… Read more »