No, it’s not the oil, the terror, Shi’ism, or the nationalism unleashed by the war with Iraq, writes Ervand Abrahamian, in an interesting background to current events. Economic and social populism has been the key to sustaining Iran’s clerical authoritarianism…

As democratic states and non-governmental groups alike condemned the coup in Honduras, ousted president Manuel Zelaya insists that he will return to Tegucigalpa on Thursday, accompanied by Latin American dignitaries, including Jose Miguel Insulza, the head of the Organization …

Research Associate, National Endowment for Democracy

The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) seeks Research Associates to work closely with Reagan-Fascell Fellows in residence at NED’s International Forum for Democratic Studies for the 2009-2010 …

June 30. Losing Trust: Understanding Popular Disaffection with India’s Politicians featuring Dr. Ronojoy Sen, Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow; moderated by Dr. Marc Plattner, National Endowment for Democracy.

12:00 noon–2:00 p.m. (Lunch served 12:00–12:30 p.m.) National Endowment for Democracy, …

Iran’s ruling elite appears to be gaining the upper hand and consolidating its rule, although small-scale, often spontaneous demonstrations continue and Mir-Housein Mousavi still refuses to drop his demands of en election re-run.

The crackdown has led to a tactical …

Just as Rwanda paid the price for Somalia, the Obama administration appears to have “overlearned” the lessons of the Iraq war and George W. Bush’s freedom agenda, warns Nader Mousavizadeh a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.…

Further to this item on the security forces’ role in the Islamic Republic’s factional disputes, the National Democratic Institute’s must-read Iran Elections Bulletin also addresses the issue of splits within the regime:

The basij are a useful …

In a review of 16 cases of rigged elections in authoritarian or transition countries over the last 40 years, Minxin Pei and Ali Wyne, find that autocrats who try to steal elections had roughly an equal chance of retaining …

Polemics about the place of democracy promotion in U.S. foreign policy look set to continue, with conservative commentators making most of the running this week.

Joshua Muravchik chastises Obama for “downgrading democracy and human rights” and for “rupturing” a …

Further to this item, it is worth noting that Congressional Executive Commission on China hosts a panel of experts on July 10 to discuss China’s human rights lawyers and their role in advancing the rule of law China. The …