Author Archives: DemDigest

Votes Without Violence

     

  Electoral violence subverts basic standards for democratic elections — a cornerstone of democratic governance, the National Democratic Institute notes. The effects, or even merely the threat, of violence, can… Read more »

Democracy ebbing in the Western Balkans

     

  A meeting of international donors, foundations, and multilateral funders opened in the Serbian capital Belgrade on September 21 amid growing concern from young grassroots and philanthropic organizations that the… Read more »

The Illiberal Turn? Reasserting Democratic Values in Central and Eastern Europe

     

Michael Ignatieff begins his new post this fall as president and rector of the famed Central European University – about as politically charged a job there is right now in… Read more »

Arab world needs new social contract

     

Back in 2011 and 2012, the root causes and drivers of the pro-democracy ‘Arab Spring’ protests were clear. The notion of a “new social contract” came to symbolise the popular… Read more »

Internet blackouts increasingly linked in African elections

     

It’s becoming commonplace in many African nations: as an election approaches, the internet goes dark. Gabon is the latest country to employ internet censorship during a closely contested election, but… Read more »

The ‘grim reality’ of Tunisian democracy at risk

     

The hype about Tunisia’s political progress has become completely disconnected from the reality on the ground, argues Moncef Marzouki, who served from 2011 to 2014 as the first elected president… Read more »