Category: Democratic institutions

Palestinian vote remote

     

Municipal elections rarely excite international attention, say analysts Nathan Brown and Caroline Zullo. However, when elections in the West Bank and Gaza were scheduled for October 8, they represented something… Read more »

Thai junta allows ‘culture of torture’ to flourish

     

Officials in Thailand on Wednesday prevented Amnesty International from publicly presenting a report that accuses the ruling military junta of torture and abuse, the group said. Minutes before the briefing… Read more »

Venezuela opposition calls Oct 12 protest for Maduro recall

     

Venezuela‘s opposition called on Monday for mass rallies nationwide on Oct. 12 to push for a referendum to recall President Nicolas Maduro this year as they seek to oust his… Read more »

Succession planning flurry follows Eurasian autocrat’s death

     

The recent death of Uzbekistan’s seemingly perpetual president has drawn fresh attention to the uncertainties of one-man rule elsewhere in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region, writes Freedom House… Read more »

Rule of law, anti-corruption tested in Central America’s Northern Triangle

     

There are indications that Honduras may finally have the momentum and firepower to deal with its corruption problems, say analysts Ana Suazo and Henry Sullivan Atkins. The Indignados movement provided… Read more »

Poland highlights the ‘specter haunting Europe’

     

Tens of thousands of protesters hit the streets of the Polish capital Warsaw Saturday (24 September) to rally against moves by the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) government that they… Read more »

Putin preparing new phase of ‘guerrilla war’ against the West

     

As President Vladimir Putin further tightens his grip on power after dubious elections that gave his party an absolute majority, Russia is sliding into protracted stagnation. The Economics Ministry has adjusted downward… Read more »

Votes Without Violence

     

  Electoral violence subverts basic standards for democratic elections — a cornerstone of democratic governance, the National Democratic Institute notes. The effects, or even merely the threat, of violence, can… Read more »