Democracy fosters economic growth (but democratization is no walk in the park)

     

Democracy fosters economic growth, with researchers finding vast gains in productivity after countries democratize, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Research shows that when it… Read more »

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Yes, the world is getting more populist: what liberal democrats can learn

     

Your perception is accurate….. The world is becoming more populist, according to a new research project by the Guardian and Team Populism. Professor Kirk Hawkins, from Brigham Young University in… Read more »

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Cyber attacks could ‘taint’ democratic governments’ legitimacy

     

Cyber-attacks could turn elections into “tainted exercises” that undermine Western democracies, the foreign secretary has said. In a speech in Glasgow, Jeremy Hunt said authoritarian regimes view democratic elections as… Read more »

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Ethiopia: reform needs assistance to overcome ‘stiff resistance’

     

After more than two years of protests, power changed hands in Ethiopia last April. Under the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is shedding its reputation as a country that… Read more »

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Iran’s power struggle ‘an opportunity for civil society & democratic forces’?

     

In historical examples of successful transitions to democracy, there has always been an alliance of democracy and civil society activists with centrists. The two must band together to prevent the… Read more »

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‘Malign Finance’ – the kleptocratic threat to democracy

     

Prospects for a democratic transition in Venezuela faltered with the failure of “some sort of arrangement where the U.S. would lift sanctions on the country’s kleptocratic government in exchange for… Read more »

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The China Model’s problem: successes becoming liabilities

     

Recent technological, diplomatic, investment and infrastructure successes have made China attractive to smaller countries not only as an economic partner but as an ideological standard-bearer, notes Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V…. Read more »

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Is Tunisia really democratizing? Progress + resistance = uncertain outlook

     

While Tunisia’s eighth anniversary celebrations of the end of the Ben Ali dictatorship were marred by social protests, opinions differ about the country’s state of political development as it gears… Read more »

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‘No to the Fifth Term’: Algeria’s New Protest Movement

     

In recent weeks, Algeria has witnessed mass protests demanding that the ailing president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, not run for a fifth five-year term in the election scheduled for April 18. The… Read more »

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Vietnam’s ‘digital dictatorship’ seeks to silence dissidents

     

The European Union (EU) must urge Vietnam to end its ongoing crackdown on peaceful dissent, repeal its repressive laws, and immediately release all political prisoners, according to human rights groups,… Read more »

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