Category: democracy promotion

‘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 »

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 »

Towards a ‘Fourth Wave’? Prioritize democracy support to reverse global retreat

     

Democracy is in retreat, facing an “ominous decline” across the world, according to the latest “Freedom in the World” report from Freedom House. It is a global retreat and it is… Read more »

Upgrading support for Armenia’s post-revolution reforms

     

Armenia’s “velvet revolution” is one of the “positive breakthroughs” of the last year to confirm w that “democracy has enduring appeal as a means of holding leaders accountable and creating… Read more »

‘Course Correction’: liberal democratic values give an edge over China

     

A global ideological competition is brewing between liberal democracy and authoritarianism, with China as the wealthiest and most powerful potential leader on the authoritarian side, according to a new analysis…. Read more »

Venezuela: beware the ‘dark side’ of negotiated transitions

     

Will a negotiated settlement resolve Venezuela’s political standoff? Opposition leader Juan Guaidó has endorsed a proposal to amnesty to the military if it repudiates the Maduro regime and facilitates a restoration of… Read more »

Reclamation: new Arab discourse empowers civil actors

     

ISIS may be defeated and devoid of territory, but its ideology continues to spread, The [London] Times reports. Jihadi fighters are not necessarily driven by religious ideology, disenfranchised or lacking… Read more »

Why Democracy Is So Hard to Build

     

Today’s pessimism about democracy is both historically unwarranted and self-defeating; it undermines the optimism necessary to sustain the struggle ahead, argues Sheri Berman, a professor of political science at Barnard… Read more »

New bipartisan consensus on defending democracy, contesting authoritarians

     

Authoritarian regimes such as Russia and China see two main uses for international organizations: protecting their regimes and undermining Western values. That’s why they try to control and then corrupt them as much as possible…. Read more »