Category: accountability

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 »

From cover-up to global donor: China’s Covid-19 sharp power play

     

China is sending doctors and medical supplies to Italy and other countries that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. WSJ’s Eric Sylvers in Milan explains how China is using… Read more »

Democracy is ‘not immune’ to coronavirus

     

The requirements of social distancing are making every facet of life more difficult to maintain — including democracy, a fragile system of governance not immune to being ravaged by COVID-19. Perhaps… 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 »

Why democracies cannot be ‘satisfaction machines’

     

Seeing democratization after the Cold War as a troubled process of political imitation helps us understand three critical ways in which an unjustifiable over-idealization of capitalism and democracy helped bring… Read more »

How authoritarians subvert constitutional constraints

     

Today’s authoritarians use legal measures to subvert constitutional constraints on their power, note analysts Tim Horley, Anne Meng and Mila Versteeg. Our original study documents all term-limit-evasion strategies worldwide since the year… Read more »

Autocratization poses challenge for democracy assistance strategies

     

Illiberals are neither fully committed to civil liberties – such as freedom of expression, assembly and association – and the rule of law, nor totally devoted to the institutions that… Read more »

Democracy and rule of law in a ‘delicate equilibrium’

     

A former close ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan applied on Monday to register a new political party to challenge his ruling AK Party, saying Turkey needed a “fresh start”… 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 »