The scene in Mali’s capital on Aug. 18, 2020, after Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his prime minister were overthrown by the military.
John Kalapo/Getty Images
Despite the fact that only 38% of Americans say they think the Democratic and Republican parties are doing ‘an adequate job,’ they’re unlikely to disappear.
Trump hugs the American flag at a 2019 convention of political conservatives.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
President Trump’s impeachment defense that the will of the president is no different from the will of the state and the good of the people has echoes in the decline of ancient Rome’s democracy.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks to the media with members of the Senate Republican leadership, Oct. 29, 2019.
AP/Jacquelyn Martin
The Roman senate declined from a long-held position of authority under the Roman Republic to become almost wholly reliant on the whims of a given emperor, writes a classics scholar.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro created a new cryptocurrency called the ‘Petro’ to combat hyperinflation.
Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
When an elected leader turns autocratic, the economy tends to suffer. That’s because, in a functioning democracy, economic policy is made jointly, with lawmakers playing a key role.
Chinese official media casts President Xi Jinping as an anti-corruption crusader; critics say he’s authoritarian. The reality is that he is a man of contrasts whose traits are difficult to pin down.
Police stand guard in front of the Correctional Centre N.3, where Kem Sokha is reportedly being held.
Reuters/Samrang Pring
Recent elections in Latin America have suggested a retreat from left-wing politics and populist leaders. But results from Ecuador’s 2017 presidential election suggest otherwise.
In the wake of the Arab Spring the international community lauded Tunisia’s political transition to democracy. But a plethora of challenges may threaten democratic consolidation in the country.
South Africans are increasingly taking to the streets to demand accountability from government.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
South Africa has never reached an embedded democratic state. Its post-apartheid experience more realistically reflects ongoing oscillation between a deepening and a reversal of democratic liberties.
AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo is fighting a 12-year jail sentence for arson and other crimes.
Reuters/Sumaya Hisham