democratization

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

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]

Colombia’s push back against ‘wave of autocracy’

Is the Obama administration hesitant to make democracy promotion a priority? The Carnegie Endowment’s Robert Kagan and Aroop Mukharji hint as much.
But they are more concerned to celebrate Colombia President Álvaro Uribe’s decision not to seek a fourth term of office:
Democracy is being undermined across South America, where hyper-presidencies and constitutional change have become commonplace. [read full story]

Ethiopia: democracy or stability?

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]

China: leadership crisis over emerging transition?

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]

Huh? An unpredictable election in the Arab world?

This weekend will see something rare: an election in the Arab world in which the winner can’t be predicted in advance. Aside from the predictably confessional alignments of Lebanese elections, Iraq’s March 7 parliamentary poll is the region’s only election where there is a real prospect of political power changing hands.
The campaigns have been genuinely [read full story]

Promoting democracy: from innovative approaches to civic voices

Innovative approaches to democracy support in the Middle East and North Africa, voter registration systems and democracy activists’ testimonies are but a few of the initiatives and publications highlighted in the latest newsletter from the World Movement for Democracy.
Later this month, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy launches its new publication, “Beyond Orthodox Approaches – [read full story]

Democracy jobs

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.  
International Republican Institute
Currently available DC-based opportunities include: Online Communications Specialist, Deputy Press Secretary, Program Assistant [read full story]

Turkey: democracy threatened or saved?

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]

Democracy events

Thursday, March 4, 2010 – 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM – The Iraqi Elections & the Changing Politico-Security Environment in Iraq – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. – Featuring keynote speaker Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, this one day conference presents a number of panels and experts discussing key issues of security and [read full story]

Democratic advantage obscures ’significant setbacks’ and autocratic legitimacy

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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