By limiting access to social media and the internet, the government hurts the right to free speech of not only Papuan residents but also all Indonesians.
Another issue is that pre-polling gives an advantage to the major parties over the smaller ones, due to the latter having fewer resources.
AAP/Bianca de Marchi
An analysis of pre-polling figures shows a surge in early voting, particularly in regional areas. But questions remain about how it affects the relationship between voters and parties.
A journalist at work with his camera.
Wikimedia Commons
Deportees and other migrants return home wealthier, more educated and with more work experience than people who never left. This 'brain gain' benefits the whole community, financially and politically.
Aerial view of Port Louis, Mauritius.
Supplied by author
Turkey's authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was handed a big defeat recently when his party's candidate lost a crucial election contest. Is this the beginning of Erdogan's demise?
Conflict made its way to the Supreme Court this past session with two cases – one about the census, the other about gerrymandering. A court scholar says the two cases are intimately connected.
In 2018 Ireland voted to repeal the eighth amendment of its constitution and legalise abortion, following proposals from a citizen’s assembly.
Aidan Crawley/EPA
Labor is proposing establishing a new parliamentary committee to look into press freedom; one that will deal with whistle blowers and have crossbench representation.
Sudanese protesters at a sit-in, in Khartoum, Sudan on June 20, 2019. A government-imposed internet blackout has restricted information flow out of the country.
Hussein Malla/AP Photo
We know that social media platforms have an incentive to promote whatever gets the most attention, regardless of its authenticity. We're more reluctant to admit that the same is true of people.
Ten of the 2020 Democratic candidates.
REUTERS/Files
The more candidates that there are, the likelier it is that voters cannot come to a consensus on the best candidate.
It is entirely unprecedented to have a sitting head of government admitting to ongoing genocide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during ceremonies at the release of the MMIWG report in Gatineau, on June 3.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Political scientists concern themselves with ideas of democracy. Now that Canada's PM has accepted the finding of genocide, this changes how and what political scientists need to discuss.
Millions of people in Hong Kong have come out to stop a proposed law that would have allowed China to try accused criminals, including political dissidents, in Chinese courts.
Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
A controversial extradition law has been suspended in Hong Kong after more than a week of mass public resistance. Hong Kong's legal system is one of its few remaining areas of autonomy from China.
The 2019 European Parliament elections were well defended against outside interference.
AP Photo/Olivier Matthys
Those who want President Trump out of office should forget about the 25th Amendment; it won’t work as they hope or believe. The amendment is a complex law that – by design – is very hard to use.
Australian federal police entering the Australian Broadcast Company headquarters on June 5, 2019.
A.B.C. screenshot from videotape
An American media scholar studying in Australia looks at the protections offered by the two countries for investigative reporting, raising crucial questions about journalism's role in democracy.
An exterior view of the Indonesian Constitusional Court building in Jakarta.
Bagus Indahono/EPA
Björn Dressel, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Providing the first empirical analysis of the court's performance in high-profile cases between 2004 and 2016, our research indicates that its independence from the government remains intact.
ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst