Democracy Digest » democracy http://www.demdigest.net/blog News and analysis on democracy assistance and promotion Fri, 24 May 2013 00:14:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 SCO next for the Nobel Peace Prize? http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/sco-next-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/sco-next-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2012 03:57:44 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17413 A veteran Russian human rights activist has a sardonic take on the news that the European Union will receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

“First they give [it] to Obama, then to the European Union. Who is next? Maybe the Shanghai …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/sco-next-for-the-nobel-peace-prize/feed/ 0 Jordan: dialog, not regime change, the route to democratic reform? http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/jordan-dialog-not-regime-change-the-route-to-democratic-reform/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/jordan-dialog-not-regime-change-the-route-to-democratic-reform/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:19:49 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17336

Thousands demonstrated in Amman over the last weekend at a pro-reform protest organized by the Islamic Action Front, the Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The protesters’ demands were summarized on a huge banner calling for “democratic electoral law, constitutional …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/jordan-dialog-not-regime-change-the-route-to-democratic-reform/feed/ 0 Populists replace military as threat to Latin American democracy http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/populists-replace-military-as-threat-to-latin-american-democracy/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/populists-replace-military-as-threat-to-latin-american-democracy/#comments Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:15:39 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17241

Three decades after the fall of Latin America’s military dictatorships, democracy in the region is again under threat.

“This time, the strongmen are populist elected leaders, who — under a veneer of constitutionality — concentrate power in their own hands, …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/populists-replace-military-as-threat-to-latin-american-democracy/feed/ 0 Making democracy work http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/making-democracy-work/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/making-democracy-work/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:03:37 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17188 At a time of elevated partisanship in domestic affairs, U.S. political leaders would do well to reflect on a path-breaking bipartisan initiative that helped liberate millions from authoritarian rule, writes Mark R. Kennedy.

“As today’s political leaders seek to …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/10/making-democracy-work/feed/ 0 Democracy is ‘hard work’, Obama tells UN http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/democracy-is-hard-work-obama-tells-un/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/democracy-is-hard-work-obama-tells-un/#comments Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:43:35 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17112 The United States will defend and promote democratic liberties – including freedom of expression – even though democracy is “hard work” and despite recent setbacks, President Barack Obama today told the United Nations General Assembly.

“We have taken these …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/democracy-is-hard-work-obama-tells-un/feed/ 0 Can Burma become a real democracy? http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/can-burma-become-a-real-democracy/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/can-burma-become-a-real-democracy/#comments Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:16:44 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17102  

Hkun Htun Oo (above, second from left), last week received an award from the National Endowment for Democracy on behalf of Burma’s democratic movement at a Capitol Hill ceremony attended by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. A …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/can-burma-become-a-real-democracy/feed/ 0 Georgia’s democracy ‘faces critical test’ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/georgias-democracy-faces-critical-test/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/georgias-democracy-faces-critical-test/#comments Mon, 24 Sep 2012 22:42:55 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17089 There are growing doubts whether Georgia’s “young democracy can prevail over an authoritarian past” after thousands of protesters took to the streets (right) following the release of graphic videos depicting the beating, rape and humiliation of prisoners in …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/georgias-democracy-faces-critical-test/feed/ 0 China: Wang case kills reform hopes, shows ‘system’s legitimacy is crumbling’ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/china-wang-case-kills-reform-hopes-shows-systems-legitimacy-is-crumbling/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/china-wang-case-kills-reform-hopes-shows-systems-legitimacy-is-crumbling/#comments Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:03:20 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=17082
Credit: Epoch Times

The sentencing of former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun (right) to 15 years in prison is the latest indicator that “the entire legitimacy of the system is crumbling,” says a prominent observer.

Communist party insiders and independent …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/09/china-wang-case-kills-reform-hopes-shows-systems-legitimacy-is-crumbling/feed/ 1 ‘Scholars with Spine’ vs the ‘Anaconda in the Chandelier’ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/08/scholars-with-spine/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/08/scholars-with-spine/#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:33:53 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=16719 Jerome A. Cohen (right), a law professor at New York University, is the sponsor of the blind barefoot lawyer Chen Guangcheng and one of the few China scholars in the West “willing to stick their neck out for Chinese dissidents, …

]]> http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2012/08/scholars-with-spine/feed/ 0 Has Russia ‘squandered its chance at democracy’? http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2011/09/has-russia-squandered-its-chance-at-democracy/ http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2011/09/has-russia-squandered-its-chance-at-democracy/#comments Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:24:22 +0000 Demdigest http://www.demdigest.net/blog/?p=11999 “While President [Dmitri] Medvedev (left) talks the talk, he has wasted a unique opportunity to contribute to Russia’s democratization,” according to Ariel Cohen, a veteran Russia watcher:

This may be because he cannot change the status quo, …

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