Author Archives: DemDigest

Low trust downgrades U.S. to ‘flawed democracy’ status, says EIU

     

The U.S. has been downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The group’s Democracy Index considers “60 indicators across five broad categories:… Read more »

Nobel laureate Alexievich quits ‘shameful’ Russian PEN

     

Russian PEN has dismissed Svetlana Alexievich’s decision to leave the freedom of speech organisation, saying she cannot quit because she has never been a member – prompting the Nobel prize… Read more »

Will Jangmadang lead to an opening of North Korea?

     

Since the mid-1990s, when an estimated one million people died from starvation or hunger-related illnesses during the famine that plagued North Korea, jangmadang (private markets) have emerged as a critical means of… Read more »

Reimagining the role of donors: from funding projects to funding struggles?

     

Bilateral and multilateral donors occupy a critical position in the prevailing human rights business model. Their funding is essential for advancing human rights, yet with their current approaches, they may… Read more »

West’s political and normative project ‘under fire’

     

Germany’s outgoing President Joachim Gauck on Wednesday used his final major address to emphasize the importance of a resilient democracy and robust security policy, DW reports. He called today’s Germany “the best… Read more »

Why defending democracy is no vice

     

Despite recent setbacks, there remain compelling moral and self-interested reasons to support democracy and human rights around the world, argues Michael McFaul, director of Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for… Read more »

How the forward march of democracy was halted

     

Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, and of the apparent triumph of American values and power, U.S. policymakers now confront the very basic question of which values… Read more »