The Promise and Perils of Democracy series is back with five new events examining the state of US democracy. As usual, we invited a diverse groups of scholars, activists, journalists, and other experts to put them in conversation – both in virtual and in live formats. Image credit: iStock.com/krie
Recent weeks saw daily protests in Thailand aimed at the country’s monarchy and, more specifically, King Maha Vajiralongkorn who formally assumed the throne in 2016. There has been long-standing criticism against Vajiralongkorn and his lavish lifestyle. Since the military coup in 2014, the monarchy has been even more closely linked [...]
Street protest erupted in Minsk and other cities of Belarus after authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential elections. The elections have been widely disputed with the opposition claiming vote rigging. Unrest erupted for a third night in a row on Tuesday as security forces fired rubber bullets [...]
It has been the stuff of much speculation in the past – could President Trump, known for his admiration of foreign authoritarian leaders try and cancel or push off the elections? Now, Mr. Trump for the first time publicly floated the idea of postponing the November elections. In a tweet [...]
This post is part of an ongoing series on inequality and Covid-19. Prior articles are here and here. The arrival of Covid-19 has highlighted and increased social inequalities, taking the United States into an unknown and potentially precarious future. Income levels have dropped for large groups, and unemployment rates since [...]
The United Nations Development Agency UNDP calls for a temporary basic income (TBI) to mitigate the effects of the Covid pandemic in developing countries and to slow the spread of the disease. In a study published yesterday, the agency identifies three policy options for a TBI that would guarantee a [...]
Sunday’s presidential elections in Poland have left a country deeply divided between rural and urban areas. President Andrzej Duda won a narrow victory, defeating Warsaw’s mayor Rafal Trzaskowski who ran on a liberal platform. Mr. Duda, on the other hand, ran a fierce homophobic campaign. Gay men and lesbians living in [...]
Protesters in Serbia took to the street a second night in a row on Wednesday. They are protesting what they perceive as an inconsistent policy of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic whose right-wing populist party emerged strengthened from recent elections. Dozens of police and protesters were injured. The police deployed armored [...]
The Coronavirus outbreak has disrupted elections in the Global North. In France, for example, fear of the virus was among the reasons cited for the near record-low turnout in Sunday’s second round of municipal elections. In the US, 16 states have delayed their primaries over contagion concerns. If rich economies [...]
Governments around the globe are increasingly leaning towards autocratic modes of governance and rhetoric. In an open letter, signed by more than 500 former world leaders and Nobel price winners, along with a number of organizations and institutions, the authors at IDEA, an intergovernmental organization for the promotion of democracy, [...]