Author Archives: DemDigest

Venezuela’s democratic transition must satisfy ‘fragmented military’

     

Any democratic transition in Venezuela will need to address the needs of the country’s unconventional military, argues Javier Corrales, a professor of political science at Amherst College and a contributor to… Read more »

Africa’s ‘dissatisfied democrats’ – potential bulwarks against authoritarianism

     

What’s going on with democracy in Africa? asks Robert Mattes, a professor in the University of Strathclyde’s School of Government and Public Policy. The research network Afrobarometer [a partner of… Read more »

How comparative insights and lessons magnify democratic renewal

     

Ideas, experiences, and lessons from other countries are not panaceas but, if properly researched, disseminated, and discussed, they can magnify democratic reform, say two leading analysts. The resounding success of Steven… Read more »

Internet’s broken democratic promise: from liberation technology to digital unfreedom?

     

  In the span of just two years, the widely shared utopian vision of the internet’s impact on governance has turned decidedly pessimistic, notes Stanford Law School analyst Nate Persily…. Read more »

Russia’s hybrid warfare ‘ecosystem’ a force multiplier for undercutting democracy

     

The chief of Russia’s armed forces endorsed on Saturday the kind of tactics used by his country to intervene abroad, repeating a philosophy of so-called hybrid war that has earned… Read more »

Three scenarios for Venezuela’s transition, says Guaidó

     

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó returned to Venezuela Monday after a 10-day absence to attempt to reignite a U.S.-backed campaign to push out authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro. “In Venezuela, we have… Read more »

Rise of revisionist powers means rethinking democracy promotion

     

Greater attention to the preconditions for and impact of freedom and democracy, and to the persistence and varieties of nationalism, would contribute to the formulation of a 21st century foreign policy… Read more »

Democracy is no longer the only path to prosperity?

     

Countries rated ‘not free’ are increasingly able to offer their citizens high incomes, Will democratic ideals lose their appeal?  Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk ask in the Wall Street… Read more »

Boris Nemtsov’s murder: ‘Crime of the Century’?

     

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the exiled former Russian oligarch who was arrested by Putin’s police in 2003 and languished in prison for ten years, observed of Boris Nemtsov’s murder: “I think Boris… Read more »

‘Nothing inevitable or inexorable’ about democracy’s advance – or decline

     

Some observers talk as though democracy is in irreversible decline, but the only way that freedom and democracy will fall is if we let them, USAID Administrator Mark Green told… Read more »