In a bid to deepen relationships across the Asia-Pacific region, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s (International IDEA) Secretary-General Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora met with multiple political, electoral and stakeholder groups in Australia and India during his October 2022 mission to the regional headquarters in Canberra.
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The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) covers six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The Covid-19 pandemic put a strain on fledgling democracies in the EaP region, aggravating pre-existing concerns, such as the weak rule of law, insufficient accountability of executive branches vis-à-vis legislatures and fragile media freedoms (see International IDEA 2022).
Excellencies,
At home in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia lives alongside some of the world's most populous and diverse democracies. As we all emerge from two years of acute COVID-19 restrictions, some things look a little different in our neighbourhood.
Successive Australian governments, for many years now, have not had an explicit policy for fostering and promoting democracy. One is needed, now more than ever.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.
Russia’s war of choice has wrought enormous infrastructural and human damage across Ukraine. The international community broadly accepts the necessity of providing significant financial and technical assistance for reconstruction in Ukraine, but equally vital is the provision of concomitant support for Ukraine’s work to preserve and reconstruct its democracy and democratic institutions on its own terms.
International IDEA deplores the illegal and illegitimate holding of referendums in Ukraine's occupied territories on joining the Russian Federation. Staged to imitate the pursuit of self-determination of people, they are an egregious abuse of this direct democracy tool by a hostile occupying power.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Meta announced a stark change in its policy.
In April 1953, six weeks after the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, eight years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, and three years before Soviet tanks crushed the Hungarian Revolution, US President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his "
In the weeks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the dominant Western narrative has focused on the need to defend not just Ukraine but “democracy.” Experts and leaders have equated support for Ukraine with the defence of the legitimacy of the democratic model of governance.
Opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.
The experience of the Southern Gas Corridor from Azerbaijan illustrates the risks as Europe tries to find alternatives to Russian energy.
Opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.
Excellencies,
Increasing authoritarianism in some countries, such as Russia, coupled with gradual democratic erosion around the world, poses an exceptional threat to a rules-based global order, and consequently to peace and prosperity. The invasion of Ukraine is the most blatant and tragic realization of this threat.
By partner organizations in the Global Democracy Coalition and others in solidarity with Ukraine and its people
Today will live in infamy. A few hours ago, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, launched an unprovoked war against Ukraine, a sovereign nation and a democracy.
In cooperation with the State Electoral Office of Estonia, International IDEA convened a group of European electoral management bodies on 15 December 2021, to discuss the cybersecurity aspects of elections, five years after the initial wave of cybersecurity concerns emerged. The EMBs participated from Austria, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Against a background of deteriorating informational environments, falling trust in state institutions and growing electoral result disputation, electoral processes and those who administer them are increasingly being placed under the microscope.
For more than a decade, a majority of Europe’s established democracies have seen the quality of their democracies stagnate—or even decline—rather than improve. Some show the clear erosion of democratic processes and fundamental rights; several have deteriorated to the point where they can hardly be qualified as democracies any longer. The arrival of the Covid-19 global health crisis has added to the strain.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, numerous countries invoked different constitutional provisions and laws to respond to the unexpected health crisis. Constitutional INSIGHTS No. 6 examines the use and non-use of state of emergency powers by countries across Asia and the Pacific in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the implications for other democratic rights and processes.
Countries with a federal form of government responded in distinctive ways to the health and economic crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Constitutional INSIGHTS No.7 explores what can be learned from this experience about the purposes, design and operation of federations, including for the division and allocation of powers and fiscal resources; collaboration and cooperation between levels of government; and the challenges of democratic accountability.