Category: Democratic degradation

Dawning of a new era? Geopolitical and vox populi risks converge

     

Once largely confined to less-transparent emerging market economies, the post-global financial crisis saw the return of political risks to the advanced democracies as well, while challengers to Western liberalism continue… Read more »

Quiet consensus against Palestinian elections

     

It’s rare these days to find anything that Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. and Israel agree on. And yet when it comes to elections there is a  choosing their… Read more »

‘Politics of fear’ threatens rights, prompts civil society ‘choke-out’

     

  The politics of fear led to a global roll-back of human rights and a great civil society choke-out during 2015, according to the 659-page World Report 2016 from Human… Read more »

Democracy takes global ‘battering’

     

Global democracy has endured a battering over the past decade, and those who hoped for a brighter century may be wondering when to expect relief, note Mark Lagon, the president… Read more »

Fearing social instability, China waging ‘lawfare’ on NGOs

     

China’s Communist authorities are intensifying a crackdown on dissent, civil society and growing labor unrest, reflecting the ruling party’s concern that economic restructuring and dislocation will “threaten social stability.” “If… Read more »

Egypt’s durable Arab Spring: fear explains revolution’s failure?

     

  Today’s anniversary of the 2011 Egyptian revolution—which led in quick succession to the overthrow of longtime President Hosni Mubarak, the election of the Muslim Brotherhood–affiliated candidate Mohamed Morsi, and… Read more »

Democracy in an age of anxiety: freedom the first casualty of fear

     

The fearful era in which we live is not conducive to defending democratic standards or extending democracy’s reach, according to the latest edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index…. Read more »

10 questions for Francis Fukuyama

     

Is a pessimist simply a well-informed optimist? Francis Fukuyama, author of the famous 1989 essay, “The End of History,” offers his thoughts about the importance of optimism and how so… Read more »

The problem with illiberal democracy: a ‘new iron curtain’?

     

Poland’s turn toward authoritarian rule has set off alarm bells across the European Union and within NATO, notes Jan-Werner Mueller, Professor of Politics at Princeton University. But as long as… Read more »

The Chavismo Files

     

Following the recent shift in the Venezuelan National Assembly it is sensible to go back and examine the legacy Hugo Chavez and his acolytes that steered Venezuela to the edge… Read more »