How Covid-19 may ’embed’ the new authoritarianism
The Covid-19 pandemic has been talked of as a historical rupture, igniting system change. Yet, the nature of the new world being born is still far from certain, and this… Read more »
Search Results for: Civil Society
Don’t underestimate resilience of the smart new despotisms
The new despotism defies the standard distinction between democracy and authoritarianism, argues John Keane (above), Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney and WZB (Berlin). The “whip-smart resilience” of… Read more »
How democracy dies: Media first?
Journalists and independent media are the canary in the coal mine when it comes to identifying the early signs of democratic regression, observers suggest. This is how democracy dies in… Read more »
From democratic backsliding to ‘pandemic forthsliding’?
It is already clear why some countries have done better than others in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic so far, and there is every reason to think those trends will… Read more »
China steps up foreign interference through CCP’s United Fronts
China is making fresh efforts to influence Chinese communities around the world to advance Beijing’s interests, requiring heightened vigilance from democratic countries, a new study says. A unit in China’s… Read more »
Autocrats capitalize on U.S. crisis: Soft power ‘draining away’
Some are calling it America’s Second Civil War, others say it’s a repeat of 1968’s summer of protests. Still more believe we’re in a decades-long existential crisis that started with… Read more »
Data vs. Disease? Democracy’s Shapeshifting Past—and Uncertain Future
Governments around the world are turning to surveillance technologies to track the spread of COVID-19 and the impact on privacy and human rights could be long-lasting, notes Rachelle Faust, an… Read more »
Azerbaijan revives Soviet psychiatric abuse of dissidents
The psychiatric abuse of dissidents widely practiced in the Soviet Union continues as a tool of political repression in Azerbaijan, according to a leading civil society group. Azerbaijan is “reviving… Read more »
COVID-19 lockdowns’ political effect: Good news for democracy
Democracy is demonstrating resilience during the Covid pandemic, according to recent research. But….. Will governments around the world use the pandemic to grab more power and override individual rights? Many… Read more »
Hong Kong: ‘It’s Leninist authoritarianism vs liberal constitutionalism’
Since Beijing’s economic reforms began in 1978, Hong Kong has played a unique role — a place where western businesses could dip their toes in the new Chinese economy and… Read more »