Category: Democratic Governance

‘Democracies Divided’: How to counter political polarization

     

Political polarization is tearing at the seams of democracies around the world—from Brazil, India, and Kenya, to Poland, Turkey, and the United States, Carnegie Endowment scholar Thomas Carothers observes in… Read more »

Tunisia’s Islamists, secularists vie for power in world’s youngest democracy

     

On September 15, Tunisians will cast ballots in their country’s second free and democratic presidential election since the 2011 revolution, the Project on Middle East Democracy reports. The highly competitive… Read more »

The United Kingdom of Absurdistan: Britain’s ‘Enemy of the People’

     

By undermining Parliament in one of the most important political debates of the century, British premier Boris Johnson poses the same dangers to liberal democracy that populist agitators did to… Read more »

Labor movement ‘winning the war of ideas’ for democracy?

     

Organized labor came out in solidarity with Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners this week, as the International Trade Union Confederation called on the European Union to lead the way in ensuring… Read more »

Hong Kong’s ‘Water Revolution’ spiraling out of control?

     

Hong Kong activists urged Taiwan on Tuesday to help promote democracy in the Chinese-ruled city amid its worst political crisis in decades and called for a mass rally before the… Read more »

Capitalism vs democracy: Europe’s hard problem – or source of resilience?

     

Modern Europe’s political structure is based on the supposition that capitalism and democracy can be compatible – so the most urgent challenge of our times is reconciling the two, argues… Read more »

Could Tunisia’s election reshape the political system?

     

Presidential candidates Selma Elloumi Rekik and Abir Moussi want to fight against creeping fundamentalism that has threatened Tunisian women’s freedoms and improve economic prospects for unemployed youth. Their chances of winning… Read more »

Can democracy survive if the media fail?

     

In countries where a free press was just beginning to emerge, a cocktail of rising authoritarianism, audience cannibalization by social media, and financial weakness has thrown it into reverse. Independent journalism… Read more »

Restoring civility for a healthy democracy and decent civil society

     

Intellectual humility is a time-honored virtue we can learn to cultivate—and one that’s also vital to a healthy democratic politics, argues David Blankenhorn, president of Better Angels, a citizens group… Read more »

Is a ‘democratic depression’ around the corner?

     

The emergence of populism reflects severe problems with representation and accountability in democracies worldwide. However, despite potentially increasing the representativeness of a country’s politics, populists in government increase the risk… Read more »