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Democracy Notes
Democracy Notes are International IDEA's concise, policy-focused expert blogs responding to current debates on democracy and human rights.
Line goes down: Or, how not to read a democracy report
Democracy Notes Explainer: What is democratic resilience?
La démocratie au-delà de la citoyenneté : une séance de questions-réponses sur l'initiative du Parlement des exilés en France
Democracy Beyond Citizenship: A Q&A Featuring the Parliament of Exiles Initiative in France
Democracy assistance in the next MFF: a first impression
Intervju med Ahmed Abdirahman om politiskt deltagande bland olika befolkningsgrupper i Sverige
Q&A: Ahmed Abdirahman on the political participation of ethnic minority Swedes
Q&A: Sanaa Alsarghali on the future of Palestinian internal governance
Contemplating democracy on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
Challenges for peace in Colombia: A conversation with Alexandra D’Alleman on truth and justice for victims of the armed conflict
Contemplando la democracia en el Día Internacional contra la Homofobia, la Bifobia y la Transfobia
Desafíos para la paz en Colombia: una conversación con Alexandra D’Alleman, sobre justicia y verdad para las víctimas del conflicto armado
Explainer: Why DEI is good for democracy
Despite court rulings, Romania still risks seeing an extremist as president – leading academic
Declaring a constitutional crisis is futile: The substance of democracy is what matters
Explainer: The Impact of Argentina’s Chainsaw on Memory, Truth, and Justice Policies
What do I need to know, and when do I need to know it? Democracy, the news, and hedgehogs
Unpacking President Yoon’s martial law attempt: A Q&A with Dr Jeong-In Yun on South Korea’s democracy
Q&A: Omar S. Dahi on the future of Syria after the fall of Assad
Explainer: Disconnects between mass and elite priorities in Georgia’s 2024 election
2024 Elections Super-Cycle: A Key Moment for Gender Equality?
How to Talk About Democracy and Influence People in Times of Anger
Unlocking opportunities for further democratic progress in the Western Balkans
Jamaica's Constitutional Reform: Interview with Richard Albert
Q&A: Sri Lankan Democracy with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
South Sudan’s Electoral Dilemma: What Lies Ahead?
Stability or Elections: A look into Qatar's 2024 Constitutional Referendum
(Re)balancing power in Mexico?
سؤال وجواب مع زيد العلي: من بناء الدستور إلى بناء السلام في اليمن
Q&A with Zaid Al-Ali: From constitution-building to peacebuilding in Yemen
Q&A: Md Abdul ALIM on democratic reforms in Bangladesh post-Hasina
The Global State of Democracy in the year of elections
Lo que el legado de Fujimori enseña a América Latina cuando se intercambia democracia por seguridad
What Fujimori’s legacy teaches Latin America about trading democracy for security
Latin America’s “Achilles’ heel”: An interview with expert Dr Dinorah Azpuru, on the rule of law, democracy and democratic education in the region
El “Talón de Aquiles” de América Latina: Una entrevista con la experta Dra. Dinorah Azpuru, sobre el estado de derecho, democracia y educación democrática en la región
The past is the...present? How interpretations of the past are shaping democracy in Europe
Populist parties and their voters: a PODS analytical brief
The colonial legacy of homophobia in modern-day Uganda
Thailand’s Senate Elections Results: What now?
¿Por qué deberíamos preocuparnos por las percepciones de los ciudadanos sobre la democracia?
Why Should We Care About Citizens' Perceptions of Democracy?
Explainer: Syria’s 2024 legislative elections
Slow and steady wins the race? Not always – and why democracies should be worried
Explainer: What has changed and what has stayed the same in Venezuela’s presidential election
What's at stake in Thailand's senate elections?
Explainer: Mexico’s largest elections yet
Who should speak authoritatively for democracy?
Perceptions of violence in democracies: A PODS analytical brief
How South Africa’s elections may reshape its democracy
Explainer: How Thailand's Senate Elections Work
Perceptions of democracy and the danger of authoritarian exploitation
Where have all the youth gone? A Madrid protest reflects disaffection and polarization
Explicamos: Desafíos y oportunidades para la República Dominicana en la era de Luis Abinader
Explainer: Challenges and Opportunities for the Dominican Republic in the Era of Luis Abinader
¿Son compatibles la democracia representativa y la igualdad de género?
Are gender equality and democracy compatible?
Beyond the Battlefield: How gender-based violence in the Israel-Gaza conflict is a reproductive rights crisis
The Primacy of Primaries: How Super Tuesday Shapes Democracy
Should we pay attention to Russian elections?
How to make sense of the electoral situation in Senegal
Democracy without Borders
Explainer: Presidential Primaries in the United States
A Tale of Two Europes - Paths of Older and Newer Democracies Diverge
Is Poland’s democratic backsliding over? History shows it takes more than an election
Q&A: Kunthida Rungruengkiat on the State of Democracy in Thailand and Moving Forward
Where Environmental Defenders are Criminalized, Democracy Suffers
Indigenous inclusion for a more democratic global climate regime
The State of Democracy in Asia and the Pacific 2023
The Global State of Democracy in 2023: A new set of checks and balances paves the way ahead
Explainer: Advances in LGBTQIA+ rights across Asia and the Pacific
Two more coups in Africa: similarities, differences, and what comes next
Exclusión y descontento: elecciones Guatemala 2023
Explainer: What historic local elections mean for democracy in Somalia
Kosovo’s democracy has come a long way, but it needs support
Simple, reliable democracy data: Introducing Global State of Democracy Indices v7
Courts, power politics and parallels: Can Imran Khan hold on in Pakistan?
Can Turkey have credible elections? What the data reveal
What can stop backsliding? Let’s start with the economy
Explainer: The Crucial Fight for Legal Gender Recognition
Why restricting the right to strike can make governments less responsive
Explicamos: El impacto del ‘Plan B’ en las elecciones mexicanas
The Transformational Potential of Putting Gender Equality at the Centre of Democracy
Democracies can’t afford to exclude women from the fight against climate change
Map: Analysing progress and setbacks for gender equality in Europe
Q&A: Olufunto Akinduro on Nigeria's 2023 Elections—and Democracy as the Future
Explainer: Inside Eswatini’s Struggle for Democracy
Sri Lanka's Long Road to Democratic Reform: A Conversation with Bhavani Fonseka
Elecciones 2023 en América Latina: ¿promesas de cambio?
Navigating the Waves of Democracy in Thailand's 2023 Election
New Report: Democracy in Asia and the Pacific Outlook 2023
Pakistan’s crisis shows that all politics are climate politics
The risk of “creating a monster”: An interview with constitutional expert Yaniv Roznai on judicial reform in Israel
Where do Western Balkan countries really stand on democratic performance?
Defining moments for democracy in Europe in 2022
The new model of coups d'état in Africa: Younger, less violent, more popular
Protecting Hungary from Itself: The Limitations of Forcing Compliance
Prove Putin wrong, listen to Tchaikovsky
Why paying women for being women is good for everyone
Explainer: What is ‘sportswashing’, and how does it threaten democracy?
Explainer: Social Contracts
After a Mediocre Deal, COP27 Needs a Dose of Democracy
Explainer: Populism - Left and Right, Progressive and Regressive
How young voters are revamping democracy in Malaysia
Explainer: What constitutes a clean or credible election, and how should the US mid-terms be evaluated?
How hurricanes threaten U.S. elections and why more flexible voting is needed
The liberation of art as a democratic act
New GSoD in Focus: Supporting Ukraine's Democracy after the War
Supporting Myanmar’s Democratic Resistance Forces: Can the International Community Step Up?
Explainer: When do you call a seizure of power a coup, and why does it matter?
Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria Led to More Stalemate, not More Democracy
Brazil’s 2022 election: the missed story in the Congress
Chile’s constitutional referendum: Will the participatory process end in rejection?
Democracy in the Western Balkans: A Long and Winding “European Path”
Sri Lanka’s President and Prime Minister to Resign Amidst Protests: Democracy in Action and Challenges Ahead
Boris Johnson finds the limit as the last hope of democratic accountability asserts itself
How independent is the US Supreme Court? Updated GSoD Indices show a decline
The Human Rights Act: The next casualty of British populism?
A Campaign of Collective Amnesia: Presidential Elections in the Philippines
Lebanon's Election: A new beginning or further fragmentation?
Building Global Support for Ukraine: Debt and Democracy
Slovenian Elections: A Win for Democracy, a Loss for Populism in Europe
Building Global Support for Ukraine: Borders and Migration
Building Global Support for Ukraine: the Question of Development Aid
Orbán’s Election Victory Sheds New Light on the ‘Copenhagen Dilemma’
A Supreme Court ruling that would undermine Women’s Rights and Democracy in backsliding US
Sri Lanka’s Democracy: Awakening from a deep slumber?
The Day after the Digital Service Act
Democracies and war: the Ukrainian and European responses
Pandemic states of emergency: Changing approaches over the course of the pandemic
A Sad State of Stagnation: Gender Equality around the World
Protests, Emergency Powers, and Democracy: Hard Choices in Canada
Repressing democracy online in Asia, one law at a time
Does democracy heal? Advances, setbacks and challenges for democracy in Latin America
Restrictions for the unvaccinated: the next democratic dilemma in the Covid-19 pandemic
Explainer: Democratic backsliding
The storm that comes: information manipulation of electoral results
Still healing from Covid-19, democracy’s resilience lights path to democratic renewal
A snap vote in the pandemic shows Canada as one of a kind
Supporting Ukraine's social contract after the war
The Global State of Democracy 2022: Forging Social Contracts in a time of Discontent
Women leading the struggle for democracy and a new social contract in Iran
The Summit of the Americas: a lost opportunity to tackle migration and strengthen democracy in the face of rising authoritarian populism
The EU is not a magic wand for democracy: Evidence from the Global State of Democracy Indices
How to Assess Democracy: A Guide to Using the Global State of Democracy Indices
Xi’s China
Urnas y descontento en América Latina
Votar no es elegir: el 26 de marzo en Cuba
Explicamos: Elecciones 2023 en Paraguay
Where and why—and how—does the Turkish diaspora vote?
Line goes down: Or, how not to read a democracy report
Democracy Notes Explainer: What is democratic resilience?
La démocratie au-delà de la citoyenneté : une séance de questions-réponses sur l'initiative du Parlement des exilés en France
Democracy Beyond Citizenship: A Q&A Featuring the Parliament of Exiles Initiative in France
Democracy assistance in the next MFF: a first impression
Intervju med Ahmed Abdirahman om politiskt deltagande bland olika befolkningsgrupper i Sverige
Q&A: Ahmed Abdirahman on the political participation of ethnic minority Swedes
Q&A: Sanaa Alsarghali on the future of Palestinian internal governance
Contemplating democracy on the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
Challenges for peace in Colombia: A conversation with Alexandra D’Alleman on truth and justice for victims of the armed conflict
Contemplando la democracia en el Día Internacional contra la Homofobia, la Bifobia y la Transfobia
Desafíos para la paz en Colombia: una conversación con Alexandra D’Alleman, sobre justicia y verdad para las víctimas del conflicto armado
Explainer: Why DEI is good for democracy
Despite court rulings, Romania still risks seeing an extremist as president – leading academic
Declaring a constitutional crisis is futile: The substance of democracy is what matters
Explainer: The Impact of Argentina’s Chainsaw on Memory, Truth, and Justice Policies
What do I need to know, and when do I need to know it? Democracy, the news, and hedgehogs
Unpacking President Yoon’s martial law attempt: A Q&A with Dr Jeong-In Yun on South Korea’s democracy
Q&A: Omar S. Dahi on the future of Syria after the fall of Assad
Explainer: Disconnects between mass and elite priorities in Georgia’s 2024 election
2024 Elections Super-Cycle: A Key Moment for Gender Equality?
How to Talk About Democracy and Influence People in Times of Anger
Unlocking opportunities for further democratic progress in the Western Balkans
Jamaica's Constitutional Reform: Interview with Richard Albert
Q&A: Sri Lankan Democracy with Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
South Sudan’s Electoral Dilemma: What Lies Ahead?
Stability or Elections: A look into Qatar's 2024 Constitutional Referendum
(Re)balancing power in Mexico?
سؤال وجواب مع زيد العلي: من بناء الدستور إلى بناء السلام في اليمن
Q&A with Zaid Al-Ali: From constitution-building to peacebuilding in Yemen
Q&A: Md Abdul ALIM on democratic reforms in Bangladesh post-Hasina
The Global State of Democracy in the year of elections
Lo que el legado de Fujimori enseña a América Latina cuando se intercambia democracia por seguridad
What Fujimori’s legacy teaches Latin America about trading democracy for security
Latin America’s “Achilles’ heel”: An interview with expert Dr Dinorah Azpuru, on the rule of law, democracy and democratic education in the region
El “Talón de Aquiles” de América Latina: Una entrevista con la experta Dra. Dinorah Azpuru, sobre el estado de derecho, democracia y educación democrática en la región
The past is the...present? How interpretations of the past are shaping democracy in Europe
Populist parties and their voters: a PODS analytical brief
The colonial legacy of homophobia in modern-day Uganda
Thailand’s Senate Elections Results: What now?
¿Por qué deberíamos preocuparnos por las percepciones de los ciudadanos sobre la democracia?
Why Should We Care About Citizens' Perceptions of Democracy?
Explainer: Syria’s 2024 legislative elections
Slow and steady wins the race? Not always – and why democracies should be worried
Explainer: What has changed and what has stayed the same in Venezuela’s presidential election
What's at stake in Thailand's senate elections?
Explainer: Mexico’s largest elections yet
Who should speak authoritatively for democracy?
Perceptions of violence in democracies: A PODS analytical brief
How South Africa’s elections may reshape its democracy
Explainer: How Thailand's Senate Elections Work
Perceptions of democracy and the danger of authoritarian exploitation
Where have all the youth gone? A Madrid protest reflects disaffection and polarization
Explicamos: Desafíos y oportunidades para la República Dominicana en la era de Luis Abinader
Explainer: Challenges and Opportunities for the Dominican Republic in the Era of Luis Abinader
¿Son compatibles la democracia representativa y la igualdad de género?
Are gender equality and democracy compatible?
Beyond the Battlefield: How gender-based violence in the Israel-Gaza conflict is a reproductive rights crisis
The Primacy of Primaries: How Super Tuesday Shapes Democracy
Should we pay attention to Russian elections?
How to make sense of the electoral situation in Senegal
Democracy without Borders
Explainer: Presidential Primaries in the United States
A Tale of Two Europes - Paths of Older and Newer Democracies Diverge
Is Poland’s democratic backsliding over? History shows it takes more than an election
Q&A: Kunthida Rungruengkiat on the State of Democracy in Thailand and Moving Forward
Where Environmental Defenders are Criminalized, Democracy Suffers
Indigenous inclusion for a more democratic global climate regime
The State of Democracy in Asia and the Pacific 2023
The Global State of Democracy in 2023: A new set of checks and balances paves the way ahead
Explainer: Advances in LGBTQIA+ rights across Asia and the Pacific
Two more coups in Africa: similarities, differences, and what comes next
Exclusión y descontento: elecciones Guatemala 2023
Explainer: What historic local elections mean for democracy in Somalia
Kosovo’s democracy has come a long way, but it needs support
Simple, reliable democracy data: Introducing Global State of Democracy Indices v7
Courts, power politics and parallels: Can Imran Khan hold on in Pakistan?
Can Turkey have credible elections? What the data reveal
What can stop backsliding? Let’s start with the economy
Explainer: The Crucial Fight for Legal Gender Recognition
Why restricting the right to strike can make governments less responsive
Explicamos: El impacto del ‘Plan B’ en las elecciones mexicanas
The Transformational Potential of Putting Gender Equality at the Centre of Democracy
Democracies can’t afford to exclude women from the fight against climate change
Map: Analysing progress and setbacks for gender equality in Europe
Q&A: Olufunto Akinduro on Nigeria's 2023 Elections—and Democracy as the Future
Explainer: Inside Eswatini’s Struggle for Democracy
Sri Lanka's Long Road to Democratic Reform: A Conversation with Bhavani Fonseka
Elecciones 2023 en América Latina: ¿promesas de cambio?
Navigating the Waves of Democracy in Thailand's 2023 Election
New Report: Democracy in Asia and the Pacific Outlook 2023
Pakistan’s crisis shows that all politics are climate politics
The risk of “creating a monster”: An interview with constitutional expert Yaniv Roznai on judicial reform in Israel
Where do Western Balkan countries really stand on democratic performance?
Defining moments for democracy in Europe in 2022
The new model of coups d'état in Africa: Younger, less violent, more popular
Protecting Hungary from Itself: The Limitations of Forcing Compliance
Prove Putin wrong, listen to Tchaikovsky
Why paying women for being women is good for everyone
Explainer: What is ‘sportswashing’, and how does it threaten democracy?
Explainer: Social Contracts
After a Mediocre Deal, COP27 Needs a Dose of Democracy
Explainer: Populism - Left and Right, Progressive and Regressive
How young voters are revamping democracy in Malaysia
Explainer: What constitutes a clean or credible election, and how should the US mid-terms be evaluated?
How hurricanes threaten U.S. elections and why more flexible voting is needed
The liberation of art as a democratic act
New GSoD in Focus: Supporting Ukraine's Democracy after the War
Supporting Myanmar’s Democratic Resistance Forces: Can the International Community Step Up?
Explainer: When do you call a seizure of power a coup, and why does it matter?
Elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria Led to More Stalemate, not More Democracy
Brazil’s 2022 election: the missed story in the Congress
Chile’s constitutional referendum: Will the participatory process end in rejection?
Democracy in the Western Balkans: A Long and Winding “European Path”
Sri Lanka’s President and Prime Minister to Resign Amidst Protests: Democracy in Action and Challenges Ahead
Boris Johnson finds the limit as the last hope of democratic accountability asserts itself
How independent is the US Supreme Court? Updated GSoD Indices show a decline
The Human Rights Act: The next casualty of British populism?
A Campaign of Collective Amnesia: Presidential Elections in the Philippines
Lebanon's Election: A new beginning or further fragmentation?
Building Global Support for Ukraine: Debt and Democracy
Slovenian Elections: A Win for Democracy, a Loss for Populism in Europe
Building Global Support for Ukraine: Borders and Migration
Building Global Support for Ukraine: the Question of Development Aid
Orbán’s Election Victory Sheds New Light on the ‘Copenhagen Dilemma’
A Supreme Court ruling that would undermine Women’s Rights and Democracy in backsliding US
Sri Lanka’s Democracy: Awakening from a deep slumber?
The Day after the Digital Service Act
Democracies and war: the Ukrainian and European responses
Pandemic states of emergency: Changing approaches over the course of the pandemic
A Sad State of Stagnation: Gender Equality around the World
Protests, Emergency Powers, and Democracy: Hard Choices in Canada
Repressing democracy online in Asia, one law at a time
Does democracy heal? Advances, setbacks and challenges for democracy in Latin America
Restrictions for the unvaccinated: the next democratic dilemma in the Covid-19 pandemic
Explainer: Democratic backsliding
The storm that comes: information manipulation of electoral results
Still healing from Covid-19, democracy’s resilience lights path to democratic renewal
A snap vote in the pandemic shows Canada as one of a kind
Supporting Ukraine's social contract after the war
The Global State of Democracy 2022: Forging Social Contracts in a time of Discontent
Women leading the struggle for democracy and a new social contract in Iran
The Summit of the Americas: a lost opportunity to tackle migration and strengthen democracy in the face of rising authoritarian populism
The EU is not a magic wand for democracy: Evidence from the Global State of Democracy Indices
How to Assess Democracy: A Guide to Using the Global State of Democracy Indices
Xi’s China
Urnas y descontento en América Latina
Votar no es elegir: el 26 de marzo en Cuba
Explicamos: Elecciones 2023 en Paraguay
Where and why—and how—does the Turkish diaspora vote?