By Miles Williams Competition or Cooperation in Foreign Aid Last summer I had the privilege of attending a conference put on by the College of William and Mary. This convening brought together a fruitful mix of academics, think tankers, US State Department and USAID officials, and politicians. Our hosts set before us a daunting set... Continue Reading →
By Justin Kempf Partisan Conflicts The never-ending votes for House Speaker have challenged common assumptions about American politics. Unlike the multi-party legislatures in other democracies, the American political system features two dominant political parties. This means leadership contests are almost always routine. Behind the scenes they might involve fierce conflicts, but those get resolved before... Continue Reading →
By Christopher Carothers Xi’s Anti-Corruption Campaign At a Politburo meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in early December, Chinese leader Xi Jinping signaled that his sweeping, now decade-long anti-corruption campaign would continue in his third term. This campaign—Xi’s signature domestic policy after coming to power in 2012—has continued to expand its scope in recent... Continue Reading →
By Wietse Van Ransbeeck and Vanja Pantic Participatory Democracy Brings us Closer to Climate Action At last year’s COP26 - the United Nations Climate Change Conference - countries agreed to address coal’s role as the most polluting fossil fuel. But not before the wording was watered down from “phasing-out” to “phasing-down” coal power. Since then, the... Continue Reading →
By Takis S. Pappas Describing Political Systems Say you want to construct an all-encompassing typology of political systems in the world. Now, since most knowledge is mediated by words, you had better start with establishing a clear vocabulary. Fine, but you are already stumbling upon the unclear and confusing terms used by such well-respected sources... Continue Reading →
By Lovise Aalen Cessation of Hostilities In an unexpected diplomatic breakthrough, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed on November 2nd an agreement on a permanent cessation of hostilities (CoH), signalling a first step in ending a two-year war in the Ethiopian northernmost region, one of the least known, but most... Continue Reading →
By Michael Nwankpa A Brief History of Democracy in Nigeria Nigeria’s fledgling democracy boasts of six elections and three changes of government. All these have happened since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civilian government after 16 years of consecutive military regimes. Most describe this period as the Fourth Republic. The Fourth Republic is Nigeria’s longest democratic... Continue Reading →
By Serhun Al Roadblocks to a Democratic Transition Almost a century ago, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, abolished the Ottoman caliphate and monarchy declaring a secular Republic with a European outlook. A century later, President Erdoğan has established a sultanistic regime over his twenty-year rule where many of his supporters embrace... Continue Reading →
By Evelyn Alsultany Crime, but Not a Hate Crime? On February 10, 2015 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Craig Hicks, a 46-year old white male car-parts salesperson, murdered his neighbors. They were three Muslim American students: Deah Barakat (age 23), his wife Yusor Abu-Salha (age 21), and her sister Razan Abu-Salha (age 19). He shot... Continue Reading →
By Justin Kempf The Debate About Democracy Far too often we take the meaning of democracy for granted. It's a complex idea with many different interpretations. However, we frequently label actions as undemocratic without any pause or hesitation. Even when we cannot clearly define democracy, we believe we can easily recognize what is undemocratic. What... Continue Reading →
