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IS DEMOCRACY in TROUBLE? According to Many Scholars, Modern Liberal Democracy Has Advanced in Waves
IS DEMOCRACY IN TROUBLE? According to many scholars, modern liberal democracy has advanced in waves. But liberal democracy has also had its set- backs. Some argue that it is in trouble in the world today, and that the young millennial generation is losing faith in it. FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2017 Source: Freedom in the World 2017 This map was prepared by Freedom House, an independent organization that monitors and advocates for democratic government around the globe. According to this map, how free is your country? Which areas of the world appear to be the most free? Which appear to be the least free? (Freedom House) Since the American and French revolutions, there authoritarian leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin. have been three major waves of liberal democracies. Freedom House has rated countries “free,” “partly After each of the first two waves, authoritarian regimes free,” and “not free” for more than 70 years. Its Free- like those of Mussolini and Hitler arose. dom in the World report for 2016 identified 67 coun- A third wave of democracy began in the world in the tries with net declines in democratic rights and civil mid-1970s. It speeded up when the Soviet Union and the liberties. Only 36 countries had made gains. This nations it controlled in Eastern Europe collapsed. Liberal marked the 11th straight year that declines outnum- democracies were 25 percent of the world’s countries in bered gains in this category. 1975 but surged to 45 percent in 2000. The big news in the Freedom House report was that Many believed liberal democracy was on a perma- “free” countries (i.e., liberal democracies) dominated the nent upward trend. -
PSCI 5113 / EURR 5113 Democracy in the European Union Mondays, 11:35 A.M
Carleton University Fall 2019 Department of Political Science Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies PSCI 5113 / EURR 5113 Democracy in the European Union Mondays, 11:35 a.m. – 2:25 p.m. Please confirm location on Carleton Central Instructor: Professor Achim Hurrelmann Office: D687 Loeb Building Office Hours: Mondays, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., and by appointment Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext. 2294 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @achimhurrelmann Course description: Over the past seventy years, European integration has made significant contributions to peace, economic prosperity and cultural exchange in Europe. By contrast, the effects of integration on the democratic quality of government have been more ambiguous. The European Union (EU) possesses more mechanisms of democratic input than any other international organization, most importantly the directly elected European Parliament (EP). At the same time, the EU’s political processes are often described as insufficiently democratic, and European integration is said to have undermined the quality of national democracy in the member states. Concerns about a “democratic deficit” of the EU have not only been an important topic of scholarly debate about European integration, but have also constituted a major argument of populist and Euroskeptic political mobilization, for instance in the “Brexit” referendum. This course approaches democracy in the EU from three angles. First, it reviews the EU’s democratic institutions and associated practices of citizen participation: How -
Freedoms Business SECURITY SOCIAL Dimension Civil Society
Belarus in global Ratings 2020 Freedoms Business SECURITY SOCIAL DIMENsION civil society Freedoms 2020 Freedom in the world 19 /100 The 2020 edition covers developments from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2019. Freedom in the World is an annual global report on people’s access to political rights and civil liberties. The 2020 edition covers developments in 210 countries and territories. The survey and the report is made by the U.S.-based non-profit non-governmental organization Freedom House. Aggregate Score shows: 0=Least Free, 100=Most Free Source: https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-world/2020 Aggregate Score Freedom in the World, 2020: Belarus and neighbors Freedom of the Net 38 /100 The 2020 edition covers developments from June 1, 2019, through May 31, 2020. Score Freedom on the Net is an annual study by non- profit non-governmental organization Freedom House measuring the internet freedom around the globe. In 2019 the methodology was slightly changed and now levels of internet freedom are scored on a scale from 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). Depending on the basics, the nations are then classified as “Free”, “Partly Free”, or “Not Free”. Source: https://freedomhouse.org/country/belarus/freedom-net/2020 WORLD PRESS FREEDOM 153 /180 Published in April, 2020. Rank Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation between states. The Index ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country. -
THE RISE of COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Steven Levitsky and Lucan A
Elections Without Democracy THE RISE OF COMPETITIVE AUTHORITARIANISM Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way Steven Levitsky is assistant professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. His Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. Lucan A. Way is assistant professor of political science at Temple University and an academy scholar at the Academy for International and Area Studies at Harvard University. He is currently writing a book on the obstacles to authoritarian consolidation in the former Soviet Union. The post–Cold War world has been marked by the proliferation of hy- brid political regimes. In different ways, and to varying degrees, polities across much of Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbab- we), postcommunist Eurasia (Albania, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine), Asia (Malaysia, Taiwan), and Latin America (Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru) combined democratic rules with authoritarian governance during the 1990s. Scholars often treated these regimes as incomplete or transi- tional forms of democracy. Yet in many cases these expectations (or hopes) proved overly optimistic. Particularly in Africa and the former Soviet Union, many regimes have either remained hybrid or moved in an authoritarian direction. It may therefore be time to stop thinking of these cases in terms of transitions to democracy and to begin thinking about the specific types of regimes they actually are. In recent years, many scholars have pointed to the importance of hybrid regimes. Indeed, recent academic writings have produced a vari- ety of labels for mixed cases, including not only “hybrid regime” but also “semidemocracy,” “virtual democracy,” “electoral democracy,” “pseudodemocracy,” “illiberal democracy,” “semi-authoritarianism,” “soft authoritarianism,” “electoral authoritarianism,” and Freedom House’s “Partly Free.”1 Yet much of this literature suffers from two important weaknesses. -
Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Sudan
OVERVIEW OF CORRUPTION AND ANTI-CORRUPTION IN AZERBAIJAN QUERY SUMMARY Can you provide an overview of corruption and anti- With a context characterised by limited independent corruption in Azerbaijan? media, a marginalised political opposition and a poor human rights records, Azerbaijan faces major CONTENT challenges of endemic corruption. Deeply 1. Overview of corruption in Azerbaijan entrenched patronage networks permeate all 2. Anti-corruption efforts in Azerbaijan spheres of public life and hamper the long term economic and social development prospects of the 3. References country. Economic and political powers are largely concentrated in the ruling elite, creating a blurred line between political and business interests. While the country’s natural resource wealth has largely contributed to economic growth and political stability in the last decade, it is also considered a major source of corruption and driver for political patronage networks. Public financial management, political processes, the judiciary and the police count among the sectors considered to be most \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ vulnerable to corruption. Author(s) In recent years, the government has been credited Marie Chêne, Transparency International, internationally for taking important steps against [email protected], with contribution from corruption. In 2009, Azerbaijan became the first Transparency International Azerbaijan compliant country in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Other important legal and institutional developments have taken place in the Reviewer(s) areas of public sector reform and money laundering, Dieter Zinnbauer, Ph.D., Transparency International among others. These efforts have started to pay off, Date translating in a significant decrease in citizens’ Responded: July 2013 perceptions of corruption in many sectors, as reflected by the recently launched Global Corruption © 2013 Transparency International. -
Illiberal Democracies: Overview
Illiberal Democracies: Overview •“Transitions to democracy” •Democracy with adjectives •Illiberal democracies in practice: –Russia and “stable” illiberalism –Kenya: Violently democratic –Romania: from ill to liberal •(In)conclusions “Transitions to democracy” • Transitions literature comes out of a reading of democratization in L.Am., ‘70s & ‘80s. • Mechanisms of transition (O’Donnell and Schmitter): – Splits appear in the authoritarian regime – Civil society and opposition develop – “Pacted” transitions Democracy with Adjectives • Problem: The transitions model is excessively teleological and just inaccurate • “Illiberal” meets “democracy” – What is democracy (again, and in brief)? – Why add “liberal”? – What in an illiberal democracy is “ill”? A Typology of Regimes Chart taken from Larry Diamond, “Thinking about Hybrid Regimes” Journal of Democracy 13: 2 (2002) How do “gray zone” regimes develop? • Thomas Carothers: Absence of pre-conditions to democracy, which is tied to… (Culturalist) • Fareed Zakaria: When baking a liberal democracy, liberalize then democratize (Institutionalist). • Michael McFaul: Domestic balance of power at the outset matters (path dependence). Where even, illiberalism may develop (Rationalist). Russia Poland Case studies: Russia • 1991-93: An even balance of power between Yeltsin and reformers feeds into political ambiguity…and illiberalism • After Sept 1993 - Yeltsin takes the advantage and uses it to shape Russia into a delegative democracy • The creation of President Putin • Putin and the “dictatorship of law” -
Corruption Perceptions Index 2020
CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2020 Transparency International is a global movement with one vision: a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption. With more than 100 chapters worldwide and an international secretariat in Berlin, we are leading the fight against corruption to turn this vision into reality. #cpi2020 www.transparency.org/cpi Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained in this report. All information was believed to be correct as of January 2021. Nevertheless, Transparency International cannot accept responsibility for the consequences of its use for other purposes or in other contexts. ISBN: 978-3-96076-157-0 2021 Transparency International. Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0 DE. Quotation permitted. Please contact Transparency International – [email protected] – regarding derivatives requests. CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2020 2-3 12-13 20-21 Map and results Americas Sub-Saharan Africa Peru Malawi 4-5 Honduras Zambia Executive summary Recommendations 14-15 22-23 Asia Pacific Western Europe and TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE European Union 6-7 Vanuatu Myanmar Malta Global highlights Poland 8-10 16-17 Eastern Europe & 24 COVID-19 and Central Asia Methodology corruption Serbia Health expenditure Belarus Democratic backsliding 25 Endnotes 11 18-19 Middle East & North Regional highlights Africa Lebanon Morocco TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL 180 COUNTRIES. 180 SCORES. HOW DOES YOUR COUNTRY MEASURE UP? -
Freedom in the World - Armenia (2011)
http://www.freedomhouse.org/inc/content/pubs/fiw/inc_country_detail.cfm?year=2011&country=7987&pf Print Freedom in the World - Armenia (2011) Capital: Yerevan Political Rights Score: 6 * Civil Liberties Score: 4 * Population: Status: Partly Free 3,097,000 Explanatory Note The numerical ratings and status listed above do not reflect conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is examined in a separate report. Overview Despite a 2009 amnesty that freed many opposition supporters who had been arrested in a crackdown following the deeply flawed 2008 presidential election, about a dozen of the original detainees remained behind bars at the end of 2010. Also during the year, Armenia signed a protocol with Russia that extended the two countries’ 1995 bilateral defense treaty until the year 2044. Following a short period of independence amid the turmoil at the end of World War I, Armenia was divided between Turkey and the Soviet Union by 1922. Most of the Armenian population in the Turkish portion was killed or driven abroad during the war and its aftermath, but those in the east survived Soviet rule. The Soviet republic of Armenia declared its independence in 1991, propelled by a nationalist movement that had initially focused on demands to transfer the substantially ethnic Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan to Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh was recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan, but by the late 1990s it was held by ethnic Armenian forces who claimed independence.Prime Minister Robert Kocharian, a former president of Nagorno-Karabakh, was elected president of Armenia in March 1998. The country was thrust into a political crisis on October 27, 1999, when five gunmen stormed into the National Assembly and assassinated Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, assembly speaker Karen Demirchian, and several other senior officials. -
Open Document
CSR Risk Check EGYPT 21 country risk(s) have been identified • HUMAN RIGHTS & ETHICS (11) GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE (9 RISKS) This country is marked as a “high risk" country for political risks on the Aon political risk map. This is level 5 on a 1-to-6 scale. Please visit the website for more detailed information about this country. Sources: Aon, Political Risk Map, 2020 Egypt is considered to be "not free" according to the Freedom House Country List. This means that there is an oppressive regime, with regard to political rights and civil liberties. Sources: Freedom House, Freedom in the World, 2020 The political situation in Egypt remains unstable. The army, military police and central security forces use violence, which is sometimes excessive. They try to suppress new protests, which arise because demonstrators are angry and frustrated by the slow pace of political and human rights reforms. There is a reduction of personal freedoms. The president wants to stay in power longer, which undermines democracy. Sources: Hoover Institution, Challenges to stability in Egypt, 2019 According to The Africa Competitiveness Report, the most problematic risk factors for entrepreneurs in Egypt are policy instability, government instability/coups, and access to financing. Sources: World Economic Forum, The Africa Competitiveness Report, 2015 There is a major lack of control and accountability with the government in Egypt. Unfair trials are common. Read more about this in the Amnesty International report. Sources: Amnesty International, Report 2017/2018 - The state of the World's Human Rights, 2018 There are strong indications that press freedom in Egypt is very limited. -
International Organizations and Democratic Backsliding
The Unintended Consequences of Democracy Promotion: International Organizations and Democratic Backsliding Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Anna M. Meyerrose, M.A. Graduate Program in Political Science The Ohio State University 2019 Dissertation Committee: Alexander Thompson, Co-Advisor Irfan Nooruddin, Co-Advisor Marcus Kurtz William Minozzi Sara Watson c Copyright by Anna M. Meyerrose 2019 Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, international organizations (IOs) have engaged in unprecedented levels of democracy promotion and are widely viewed as positive forces for democracy. However, this increased emphasis on democracy has more re- cently been accompanied by rampant illiberalism and a sharp rise in cases of demo- cratic backsliding in new democracies. What explains democratic backsliding in an age of unparalleled international support for democracy? Democratic backsliding oc- curs when elected officials weaken or erode democratic institutions and results in an illiberal or diminished form of democracy, rather than autocracy. This dissertation argues that IOs commonly associated with democracy promotion can support tran- sitions to democracy but unintentionally make democratic backsliding more likely in new democracies. Specifically, I identify three interrelated mechanisms linking IOs to democratic backsliding. These organizations neglect to support democratic insti- tutions other than executives and elections; they increase relative executive power; and they limit states’ domestic policy options via requirements for membership. Lim- ited policy options stunt the development of representative institutions and make it more difficult for leaders to govern. Unable to appeal to voters based on records of effective governance or policy alternatives, executives manipulate weak institutions to maintain power, thus increasing the likelihood of backsliding. -
Islam and Democracy: Is Modernization a Barrier? John O
Religion Compass 1/1 (2007): 170±178, 10.1111/j. 1749-8171.2006.00017.x Islam and Democracy: Is Modernization a Barrier? John O. Voll Georgetown University Abstract The relationship between Islam and democracy is a hotly debated topic. Usually the disagreements are expressed in a standard form. In this form, the debaters' definitions of ªIslamº and ªdemocracyº determine the conclusions arrived at. It is possible, depending upon the definitions used, to ªproveº both positions: Islam and democracy are compatible and that they are not. To escape from the predefined conclusions, it is necessary to recognize that ªIslamº and ªdemocracyº are concepts with many definitions. In the twenty-first century, important interpretations of Islam open the way for political visions in which Islam and democracy are mutually supportive. Does religion represent an obstacle to modernization and democratization? Does religion pose a threat to democracy if a democratically elected govern- ment becomes a ªtheocracyº? Does the majority rule of democracy threaten the liberty and freedom of other members of a society? If the majority imposes its will upon minorities, is that a departure from democracy in general or form of ªliberalº democracy? Does modernization strengthen or inhibit democratization and individual liberty? These broad questions are being debated in many different contexts around the world. They provide a framework for looking at the experience of Muslim societies and the relationships between Islam and democracy. Tensions between democracy and liberty -
A Theory of Independent Courts in Illiberal Democracies
A Theory of Independent Courts in Illiberal Democracies Nuno Garoupa∗ Leyla D. Karakas† March 1, 2018 Abstract Illiberal democracies are on the rise. While such political regimes have eliminated important institutional constraints on executive power, they tend to feature an oc- casionally defiant judiciary. We provide a novel explanation for this phenomenon by focusing on the judiciary's role as a potential provider of valuable information to the executive about divisions within the regime's elites. The model features an office-motivated executive that balances the conflicting interests of the voters and the elites in determining a redistribution policy and the type of judicial review this policy will be subject to. An independent judiciary is observed in equilibrium only if the resulting revelation on the strength of the elites would be sufficiently informative for the executive to warrant reneging on its ex ante optimal policy. Intuitively, in the absence of a strong legislative opposition or a free media, a degree of judicial independence helps the survival of the nondemocratic regime by more informatively balancing the interests of the voters and the elites. We conclude by discussing in- stitutional and welfare implications. Our results contribute to the debates on the survival of independent political institutions in authoritarian regimes. Keywords : Authoritarian regimes; Judicial independence; Rent-seeking. JEL Classification : D72; D78; P48. ∗School of Law, Texas A&M University, Fort Worth, TX 76102. Email: [email protected]. †Department of Economics, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244. Email: [email protected]. 1 1 Introduction Independent courts are perceived as being intrinsic to democracy.