Category: Democratic institutions

Democracy in crisis – and prospects for renewal

     

With the advent of authoritarian leaders and the simultaneous rise of populism, representative democracy appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place, yet it is this space… Read more »

Countering violent extremism: learning from other democracies

     

How does terrorism end? Is it effective as a means of securing political power? Robin Wright asks in The New Yorker: Sinn Féin—the I.R.A.’s political wing—is the most popular party… Read more »

Malaysia, soccer highlight corruption’s corrosive impact on democracy

     

  The timing of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s White House visit seems especially questionable, considering that it will come just a month after the Justice Department announced that it was proceeding… Read more »

Combating Russia’s disinformation a ‘David and Goliath struggle’

     

The FBI has questioned the White House correspondent of Sputnik over claims that the Russian news agency operates as a propaganda arm for the Kremlin, Newsweek reports: Former Sputnik employee Andrew Feinberg,… Read more »

Guatemala faces ‘moment of political reckoning’

     

Guatemala is facing a moment of political reckoning, notes Anita Isaacs, a professor of political science at Haverford College. Last Sunday, the country woke to the news that President Jimmy… Read more »

Russian political meddling documented in 27 countries

     

  Russia has meddled in the affairs of at least 27 European and North American countries since 2004 with interference that ranges from cyberattacks to disinformation campaigns, according to an analysis by… Read more »

Hun Sen jettisons last shreds of Cambodia’s democracy

     

Hun Sen, Cambodia’s prime minister, has vowed to spend another decade in office, a day after his main opponent was charged with treason amid an escalating crackdown on dissent, The… Read more »

Globalization of venality: kleptocracy’s corrosive impact on democracy

     

With popular dissatisfaction over corruption increasing around the world, the term “kleptocracy” is often used as a catchall to describe any form of corrupt behavior by national elites. Yet transnational… Read more »

On verge of crisis, Guatemala lifts presidential immunity

     

  Guatemala’s top court opened the way on Monday for an investigation of President Jimmy Morales (left) for alleged illegal campaign finances, but Congress will have the final say on… Read more »