The Electoral Commission of Zambia delivered elections that saw Hakainde Hichilema become the new president in 2021 despite democratic backsliding under the ruling Patriotic Front.
James Kunda/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Stakeholders, whether they be policymakers, political parties, civil society or the media, must proactively pursue electoral integrity.
Police arrest a protester at a Moscow rally in support of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who fell ill while in prison and is now hospitalized.
Alexander Demianchuk\TASS via Getty Images
There’s not much the world can do to stop authoritarian rulers from persecuting their political opponents, as shown by the standoff over Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who is ill and imprisoned.
Russian police officers beat people protesting the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Jan. 23, 2021 in Moscow.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
And there’s not too much the rest of the world can do to stop them.
Trump supporters fight Black Lives Matter protestors at an anti-racism rally in Tujunga, California, Aug. 14, 2020.
Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images
Americans are mad – fist-fighting, protesting mad. And that’s just how politicians want voters in election season. But the popular anger stoked by candidates doesn’t just dissipate after the campaign.
As president, Trump has cultivated close relations with autocratic leaders while distancing the U.S. from its traditional allies in Europe and Asia.
Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images
Klaus W. Larres, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
In 2016 Trump promised to ‘shake the rust off America’s foreign policy.’ Four years later, it’s clearer what that looks like: a US that sits on the sidelines of world crises and collaborations alike.
Hungarian police officers check cars at the closed Austria-Hungary border, March 18, 2020.
Alex Halada/AFP via Getty Images
National emergencies allow for the purest expressions of sovereign power, testing the government’s commitment to human rights. Some leaders are failing the coronavirus test, experts say.
The European Parliament is more fragmented than ever in its history, which could lead to legislative paralysis.
Shutterstock
Garret Martin, American University School of International Service
Populists didn’t do well enough in the EU’s recent elections to destroy Europe from within. But with far-right and far-left parties winning new seats, consensus on key issues looks ever less likely.
Riot police at an anti-government march in Managua, Nicaragua, Oct. 14, 2018.
Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas
A massive protest movement exploded across Nicaragua in April 2018, threatening to topple the country’s authoritarian regime. What happened to Central America’s ‘tropical spring?’
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.
Bolsonaro supporters celebrate outside his home in Rio de Janeiro after exit polls on Oct. 28 declared him the preliminary winner of Brazil’s 2018 presidential election.
AP Photo/Leo Correa
Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing congressman and former army captain, is Brazil’s next president, with 56 percent of votes. Critics see a threat to democracy in his scathing attacks on Brazilian society.
Adjunct Researcher at the Center for Mining and Sustainability Studies at the Universidad del Pacífico (Peru) and PhD Candidate in Geography, The University of Melbourne