Coup in Tunisia: Is Democracy Lost?
President Kais Saied’s power grab has crushed Tunisian democracy, returning the country to the old playbook of Arab dictators past and present.
January 2022
Volume 33, Issue 1
Coup in Tunisia
Coup in Tunisia: Transition Arrested
Tunisia’s once-promising democratic transition had long failed to de-liver on its promises. It was a crisis waiting to be exploited. Kais Saied is simply the man who set it aflame.
Coup in Tunisia: Why the Military Abandoned Democracy
The country’s armed forces opened the door to democracy, only to help slam it shut a decade later. A desire for prestige and political influence has turned them into an autocrat’s accomplice.
The Collapse of Afghanistan
The Afghan republic’s destruction was sewn into its founding. The international community’s missteps are more responsible for its failure than the country’s supposedly endemic corruption.
Kyrgyzstan’s Poison Parliament
Kyrgyzstan’s parliamentary-style constitution was a democratic bright spot in Central Asia. But the legislature quickly devolved into a corrupt bazaar, dimming its democratic prospects.
How Zambia’s Opposition Won
Halting a decade of democratic backsliding, Haikainde Hichilema defeated an increasingly iron-fisted incumbent president. How did he do it and can others learn from his example?
The Puzzle of Panamanian Exceptionalism
Despite a turbulent history and rampant corruption, Panama has emerged as one of Latin America’s richest and most stable democracies. How can this be?
Hong Kong: How Beijing Perfected Repression
With the new National Security Law, the Chinese Communist Party has honed its more sophisticated tool for hollowing out the city, whose rights and freedoms Beijing had once promised to respect.
Countering Beijing’s Media Manipulation
China is expanding its global media footprint, aggressively peddling its preferred narratives and stifling criticism of its policies, all the while undermining free expression, public debate, and electoral integrity in more open societies.
How Autocrats Undermine Media Freedom
Information is being weaponized against democracy. Democratic societies need new ways to keep media free, accurate, and authentic.
Exchange
Exchange: Why the Future Cannot Be Predicted
Christian Welzel’s case for a democratic future is based on the mistaken notion that opinion surveys can see the future. It is no more true today than it ever was.
Exchange: Why the Future Is (Still) Democratic
The “democratic deconsolidation” thesis is overblown. Emancipative values continue to spread worldwide, and clearly point to brighter democratic days ahead.
Democracy’s Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled
Whether democracy regains its footing will depend on how democratic leaders and citizens respond to emboldened authoritarians and the fissures within their own societies.
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s Summit for Democracy speech; announcement by Women’s Tennis Association cancelling future tournaments in China; statement on sentencing of Tony Chung under Hong Kong’s National Security Law; Honduran president Xiomara Castro’s inauguration address; “Nigeria Unite” by DJ Switch.