Category: Civil Society

Open society and democratic renewal – mission impossible?

     

The three pillars of freedom, protection and progress form the basis of democratic renewal, according to French President Emmanuel Macron. He proposes the establishment of a European Agency for the Protection of… Read more »

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 »

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 »

‘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 »

Is liberal democracy resilient enough to confront current challenges?

     

Democracy is “not a one-way street,” and democratic nations can fall back into authoritarianism, according to Mike Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, and Sanford School Dean Judith Kelley. They joined moderator… Read more »

Authoritarian resurgence is a national security threat, Congress told

     

A group of national security experts testified Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the rise of authoritarianism, warning lawmakers that countries such as China and Russia are seeking to gain power by… Read more »

Transitions’ lessons offer a way out for Venezuela

     

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela in January, said he will return to the country “despite the risks.” Guaido defied a court travel ban last… Read more »

Illiberal toolkit entails ‘a simulacrum of democracy’

     

Conventional wisdom has long held that democratic consolidation is a one-way street and that democratic states, once reaching a certain level of GDP per capita, are immune to democratic breakdown…. Read more »

Autocracy’s Advance, Democracy’s Decline: National Security Implications

     

At the heart of the new era of geopolitical competition is a struggle over the role and influence of democracy in the international order, according to two prominent analysts. Recent power… Read more »