The political economy of voter engagement in Niger

This briefing forms part of a three-piece political economy analysis that was carried out by ODI and Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local (LASDEL) researchers. The aim was to inform the design of the Participatory and Responsive Governance (PRG) programme to be implemented by the US Agency for International Development from 2015 to 2020.

Viktor Orban Wades into Hungary’s Dark Waters

 

A specter is haunting Europe — the spirit of reactionary populism. Xenophobic parties are deeply entrenched in the politics of such staunchly democratic nations as France and Holland; but the greater danger lies to the east. Earlier this month, the anti-immigrant Freedom Party almost won provincial elections in reliably left-wing Vienna; in elections held Sunday, Poles gave a parliamentary majority to the right-wing Law and Justice party.

Student Movements: A Subject of Human Geography

As student protests in Hong Kong continue, memories of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations naturally spring to mind. Less iconic but no less notable were the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which began as a student movement; the 2007 Venezuelan protests, which started with a group of students demanding constitutional reform; and the 1929 protests in Paris, which challenged the role of churches in education.

Of course, each student movement is unique; the one underway in Hong Kong concerns Hong Kong affairs, not widespread democratic reform in China proper. And yet all such movements share characteristics that transcend borders, making them an ideal phenomenon through which to study geopolitics.

Voting will not change Europe’s real power balance

A popular backlash against Brussels should not be surprising

©EPA

“This difference between the parliament and those who take the real decisions is very clear to the citizens.”

Scottish independence will leave families with a £600 bill, Treasury warns

Alex Salmond said Europe's "access to Norwegian waters" could be affected if Scotland loses its EU membership Photo: Reuters

By Peter Dominiczak,

 

Families in Scotland will be faced with a £600 bill if the country votes for independence, ministers will warn this week. 

Q&A: Iraq elections explained

Iraqis head to the polls this week amid an unprecedented level of violence [EPA]\

On Wednesday, Iraqis headed to the polls to elect a parliament amid a level of violence not seen for years. Unlike 2010, when voters' focus was on corruption and governance issues, this year, much of the focus will be on security.

The trouble with democracy

Illustration: Simon Pemberton

It has been a bad few months for western democracy. Over the summer we discovered that while democratic citizens and their elected politicians were going about their everyday business, the secret services were routinely eavesdropping on everything they did. It was bad enough to suppose that the politicians were conniving in this. More disturbing was the thought that even the politicians were being kept in the dark about what was going on.

Estonia publishes its e-voting source code on GitHub

Estonia, which created the world’s first nationwide Internet-based voting system, has finally releasedits source code to the public in an attempt to assuage a longstanding concern by critics.

Apple: We Give the Government All Kinds of Data . . . To Find Missing Kids

Apple today joined the chorus of tech firms revealing they have given the U.S. government access to data on tens of thousands of customer "accounts and devices." But the tech giant claimed that most of those data dumps have nothing to do with NSA surveillance.

Greek's Radical Left: The Dangers of the Disaffected and the Unemployed

By Scott Stewart

Vice President of Analysis

In last week's Geopolitical Weekly, George Friedman discussed how the global financial crisis has caused a global unemployment crisis and how Europe has become the epicenter of that crisis. He also noted that rampant unemployment will give way to a political crisis as austerity measures galvanize radical political parties opposed to the status quo.

Democracy in retreat! So much for "Arab Spring"!

Over the past two years, the world's attention has been captured by previously unimaginable -- even rapturous -- changes throughout parts of the Arab world, Africa, and Asia, where political openings have been born in some of the most repressive and unlikely societies on Earth. In Burma, where only six years ago a thuggish junta ordered the shooting of red-robed monks in the streets, the past two years have seen a formal, and seemingly real, transition to a civilian democratic government. In Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, longtime autocrats were toppled by popular revolutions, and citizens in these states seemed at last to be enjoying the trappings of freedom.

The Urban Chance: Promoting Democracy ‘From the Middle’

MICHELE ACUTO

Much of the rhetoric on foreign affairs and diplomacy that populated the lead-up to the re-election of President Obama, as per consuetude, focused on grand strategic plans, major international shifts and large-scale confrontations with enemies, elements, and unknowns. Indeed, this has been the general tone of the discussions around questions of democracy promotion and the transition challenges for closed regimes such as those in the Middle East. Alongside these, the traditional precepts of bottom-up revolutions and liberal internationalist means for public diplomacy with oppressed populations have continued to capture the attention of the U.S. policy establishment.