UK to lower voting age to 16 – a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future health of British democracy: The UK government has announced that the voting age will be lowered to 16 at the next election as part of a wider effort to restore trust in and “future-proof” democracy. Votes at 16 has grown …
Why distrust in powerful politicians is part of a functioning democracy – podcast: Surveys suggest that in many western democracies, political trust is at rock bottom. Scandals, corruption, faltering economies, conspiracy theories and swirling disinformation are all playing their part. But is it really such a bad thing for people living in a democracy to …
Senegal’s elections were a triumph for democracy – what went right: Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye unexpectedly called a snap legislative election which was held on 17 November. Faye was sworn in as president in April after a tumultuous period, triggered when former president Macky Sall postponed a scheduled presidential election. Mass protests followed, exposing …
Pravin Gordhan: a lifetime of service to South Africa – as an activist and then in building the new democracy: It is hard to give an account of Pravin Gordhan’spolitical commitment in a few words. The former South African Finance Minister, who has died aged 75, was reviled by some, misunderstood in some quarters, blindly …
How democracy can work at community level: 3 lessons from a South African protest movement: Popular protests have surged around the world over the last decade. But do they work? And what lessons can be learnt from communities who have a history of militant protests? When the African National Congress (ANC) was elected to power …
Trump guilty verdict: the fallout for US democracy: The US’s democratic reputation and institutions may have been undermined by the trial of Donald Trump, analysts said as the former president was found guilty of 34 charges. Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University who studies constitutional government, said that the trial, and the “attacks …
What happened to Nelson Mandela’s South Africa? A new podcast series marks 30 years of post-apartheid democracy: When Nelson Mandela stood in front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria in May 1994 as South Africa’s first democratically elected president, my country was brimming with optimism for its post-apartheid future. I was there and relieved at …
Chad presidential election: assassination of main opposition figure casts doubt on country’s return to democracy: The assassination of Chad’s main opposition leader, Yaya Dillo, is hanging heavy over presidential elections due in early May. Dillo was killed on 28 February when the headquarters of the opposition Party Socialiste sans Frontières (Party of Socialists without Borders) …
People love to vote in a new democracy – and then they rapidly lose interest: Poland’s recent election has been hailed as a great triumph of democracy in a global environment of democratic backsliding. It brought to power a coalition of pro-democratic forces led by Donald Tusk, the former president of the European Council. This …
Boris Johnson at the COVID inquiry: sullen, evasive and a danger to democracy: Boris Johnson has lost his bounce. As he gave evidence before the COVID inquiry, his body language arguably said far more than the often rambling statements that came out of his mouth. Slumped in terms of physicality, slow in terms of intellectual …
Some African governments are spending millions to spy on their citizens – stifling debate and damaging democracy: Governments around the world use surveillance technology to monitor external threats to national security. Some African governments are also spending vast sums on mass surveillance of their own citizens. They are using mobile phone spyware, internet interception devices, …
Nobel peace prize 2023: award for Iranian women’s rights protester highlights fight against declining democracy around the world: One hundred days after Iranians first protested the killing of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini for wearing her hijab incorrectly, Narges Mohammadi sat down in her prison cell to write a letter to the country’s women. She …
Is US democracy on trial? Five ‘stress tests’ to watch as Trump battles Biden and the justice system: Are former US president Donald Trump’s indictments putting American democracy on trial? Many certainly seem to think so. Depending on who you ask, it doesn’t much matter what the verdict will be. Trump ending up behind bars, …
Cyber-attacks against the UK Electoral Commission reveal an ongoing threat to democracy: TippaPatt / Shutterstock The revelations this month that data on 40 million UK voters had been exposed to hackers came as no surprise to many cybersecurity experts, who have long pointed out the vulnerability of democracies to malicious online interference. In this case, …
Kenya’s political dialogue is a welcome sign of democracy at work – if both sides understand their roles: Raila Odinga, the leader of the Azimio la Umoja coalition in Kenya. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images Since Kenya’s presidential election in August 2022, the new government has been in conflict with the opposition. In democratic systems, …
South Africa is failing to live up to its constitution. Gains made since democracy are being squandered – report: Extreme poverty has seen shack settlements mushroom in South Africa. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty Images The end of apartheid in 1994 and advent of constitutional democracy resulted in major societal changes in South Africa. The …
When mafia threatens democracy: research shows ordinary people are less honest in countries hit by organised crime: Organised crime casts a long shadow, driving violence and an illicit economy. But our research has uncovered some more subtle dimensions to its influence, too. We’ve found that organised crime can undermine the civic honesty of ordinary, law …
How the ancient Greeks kept ruthless narcissists from capturing their democracy – and what modern politics could learn from them: Ancient Greece was in many ways a brutal society. It was almost perpetually at war, slavery was routine and women could only expect a low status in society. However, there is one important sense in …