Democracy Digest

Russia: poll signals Putin demise or engineered to defuse growing protests?

By Michael Allen on March 16, 2010

Did last weekend’s regional elections indicate growing voter fatigue with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s ruling party? Or is his power vertical pretty much intact with the elections providing a convenient safety valve to defuse growing social unrest?
United Russia saw its share of the vote fall in seven of eight regional legislatures as voters registered their [read full story]

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US will promote Arab democracy – and engage autocrats, MEPI head insists

By Michael Allen on March 15, 2010

The United States remains committed to promoting democracy in the Middle East, a senior State Department official insisted today, but the pace and content of reform will be determined by local actors and the specific conditions within Arab states.
“Economic and social development are prerequisites for sustainable democracy,” said Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State [read full story]

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Obama visit highlights democracy in world’s most important, least known country

By Michael Allen on March 15, 2010

President Barack Obama’s visit to Indonesia is both personal and political, writes the Brookings Institution’s Lex Rieffel. One of the trip’s objectives is to raise the global profile of the world’s most important and least known country, including its “impressive transition from 30 years of authoritarian rule………… to become arguably the most democratic country in [read full story]

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Iran: labor emerging as political factor?

By Michael Allen on March 10, 2010

Iran’s Green Movement should reach out to the country’s workers to expand support amongst the country’s poor and working families, opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi said recently.
“The fate of the movement should be tied to the fate of all walks of life – in particular the two groups in charge of [the] economy and education, meaning [read full story]

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Iraq: region’s ‘natural hegemon’ can show that freedom provides security and prosperity

By Michael Allen on March 9, 2010

The two front-runners following Iraq’s national election have both claimed victory even though the authorities have yet to announce the results.
The electoral commission will reveal partial results of the parliamentary elections on Wednesday, providing an insight into the balance of forces that will determine the shape of the next government.
The coalitions led by the Prime [read full story]

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Ethiopia: democracy or stability?

By Michael Allen on March 9, 2010

As elections loom, Ethiopia appears to be a relatively stable, prosperous nation in a turbulent neighborhood, writes Lauren Gelfand – “a bulwark against increasingly isolated and sanctioned Eritrea and a comparative oasis of calm compared to perennially chaotic Somalia.”
But human rights and democracy advocates experience one of the continent’s most repressive regimes. After the 2005 [read full story]

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China: leadership crisis over emerging transition?

By Michael Allen on March 9, 2010

Contrary to recent portrayals of a self-confident, newly assertive China assuming its place as a global hegemon, the country’s leadership “is in crisis mode”, according to a new Stratfor analysis.
Meanwhile, the ruling Communist Party’s second-highest ranking official today conceded the danger of social instability, emphasizing that the regime’s priorities would be to enhance social security [read full story]

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Turkey: democracy threatened or saved?

By Michael Allen on March 4, 2010

Are the recent arrests of leading Turkish military figures a pre-emptive blow against a “deep state” of secular elites planning a coup against the country’s democratically-elected government? Or do they signal the growing influence of radical Islamist forces determined to discredit a revered institution and breach the red lines that protect the country’s secular constitution?
As [read full story]

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Democratic advantage obscures ’significant setbacks’ and autocratic legitimacy

By Michael Allen on March 3, 2010

The apparently stable advantage of democracy over autocracy disguises worrying erosion in the quality of democracy, a new analysis suggests.
Democracy has not lost its normative appeal, but even established democracies have experienced “significant setbacks” in the freedoms of assembly, association and the press, as well as declines in political participation, civil liberties and social capital, [read full story]

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Venezuela’s ‘Cubanization’ confirms authoritarian trends

By Michael Allen on March 1, 2010

As evidence emerges of Venezuela’s collusion with terrorist groups plotting to kill Colombia’s president, the documented erosion of the country’s democracy, the arrival of a leading apparatchik from Havana, are raising concerns about the country’s authoritarian trajectory.
Spain’s High Court today accused the Chávista regime of aiding Basque Eta rebels and the Colombian Farc in planning [read full story]

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Iran: opposition leader denounces ‘despotic’ regime

By Michael Allen on March 16, 2010

The Islamic Republic of Iran is “plagued with despotism,” a leading opposition figure said today, while another Green Movement leader called on activists to demonstrate their independence from foreign powers.
Former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi was speaking ahead of the Iranian New Year that prompted a major mobilization of security forces in a show of force [read full story]

Democracy events

By Michael Allen on March 15, 2010

Tuesday, March 16 – 10:00 am to 11:30 a.m. Disappearing God Gap: Religion’s Role in the 2008 Presidential Elections and Beyond – The Brookings Institution, Saul/Zilkha Rooms, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC – In a new book by religion and politics experts Corwin Smidt and Kevin den Dulk, The Disappearing God Gap? (Oxford University [read full story]

Democracy Jobs

By Michael Allen on March 15, 2010

National Endowment for Democracy
Currently available opportunities include: Administrative Assistant – CIMA, Program Assistant – Asia, Program Assistant – Europe, Program Officer for Asia, Program Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, Database/Web Developer, and Senior Director of Finance. Further details here.
Center for International Private Enterprise
Currently available opportunities include: Finance Officer, Program Assistant – Eurasia and [read full story]

Promoting Arab democracy – forceful approach beats dead-end dialog?

By Michael Allen on March 12, 2010

“It has become fashionable to say that the Bush administration made ‘egregious’ errors promoting democracy in the Arab world,” writes Steven A. Cook at the Council on Foreign Relations.
But, while Cook opposed invading Iraq, he insists that the previous administration was otherwise commendable in addressing the Arab world’s democracy deficit.
The “forceful, public support for [read full story]

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