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1. The Myth of Democratic Recession

Author:
Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Democracy
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Contrary to widespread belief, there is no global “democratic recession.” Despite less favorable international conditions, levels of democracy in the world remained stable in the 2000s. Perceptions of democratic recession originate in excessive post–Cold War optimism, rooted in the successful democratizations of the 1980s. During the early 1990s, economic crisis, weakened states, and external pressure forced many autocrats to abandon power or tolerate opposition. These authoritarian crises were widely viewed as democratic transitions, even though most were not. Subsequent authoritarian (re)consolidation was thus perceived as democratic “backsliding.” Misplaced pessimism was reinforced by disappointment over non-democratization in China, the Middle East, and elsewhere, despite the fact that most remaining dictatorships existed amid highly unfavorable conditions for democratization.
Topic:
Democratization, Authoritarianism, Democracy, and Dictatorship
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. The Authoritarian Resurgence: Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela

Author:
Javier Corrales
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Democracy
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
This paper contributes to the literature on dynamics of hybrid regimes, i.e., whether these regimes stay stable, or instead, turn more democratic or more autocratic with time. Venezuela since the mid-2000s is an example of the latter. I first focus on how this happened in Venezuela. I posit that the turn toward greater authoritarianism occurred through autocratic legalism. This refers to the use, abuse, and disuse of the law to disempower veto players. I then focus on the “why” question. The main cause of Venezuela’s regime dynamics is a combination of external factors (increasing tolerance from abroad) and the ruling party’s declining electoral competitiveness at home and institutional path dependence.
Topic:
Democratization, Authoritarianism, Elections, and Democracy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. You Say You Want a Revolution...Then What? The Challenges of Media Training in Post-Qaddafi Libya: A First-Person Essay

Author:
Carolyn Robinson
Publication Date:
02-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
CIMA announces the release of a special report, You Say You Want a Revolution … Then What?, a first-person account by veteran journalist and media trainer Carolyn Robinson of her experiences training broadcast journalists in Libya after the death of leader Moammar Qaddafi. Robinson outlines some of the unusual obstacles and challenges she faced in managing two USAID/OTI grants in Libya for Internews in the very early days after the revolution, and how her team came up with novel approaches to overcome the special circumstances they faced on the ground. Her essay is not so much about what can and should be done for media development in Libya today, but about how to structure training in chaotic post-conflict environments.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Oil, Mass Media, and Regime Change
Political Geography:
Libya, Arabia, and North Africa

4. South Africa's Media 20 Years After Apartheid

Author:
Libby Lloyd
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
CIMA announces the release of its most recent report, South Africa's Media 20 Years After Apartheid, by Libby Lloyd, a journalist and researcher on freedom of expression and media policy in South Africa. The report traces how in the post-1994 democratic era South Africa's news media has become among the most concentrated in the world, affecting the quality of its content and the sales of its newspapers. It also examines how decreasing international development support has exacerbated that process - See more at: http://cima.ned.org/publications/south-africas-media-20-years-after-apartheid#sthash.4gCKzUe6.dpuf.
Topic:
Apartheid, Democratization, Human Rights, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Africa

5. Breathing Life into Freedom of Information Laws: The Challenges of Implementation in the Democratizing World

Author:
Craig L. LaMay, Robert J. Freeman, and Richard N. Winfield
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
This report is intended to be a practical, useful guide for stakeholders in national and local governments, the media, civil society, and business to making freedom of information laws work. The authors' particular emphasis is on the role public officials and journalists must play in effectively breathing life into these laws, giving meaning to their democratic intent and legal guarantees.
Topic:
Democratization, Non-Governmental Organization, Communications, Mass Media, Governance, and Law

6. Calling the Shots: How Ownership Structures Affect the Independence of News Media

Author:
Michelle J. Foster
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Around the globe, traditional news media–newspapers, magazines, and broadcast networks –are operating in more concentrated environments with fewer owners and less diverse voices. Growth in the number of news media outlets and channels has not resulted in a parallel expansion of viewpoints in traditional news media, especially within local communities. This has adverse consequences for the ability of citizens and communities to hold their governments accountable. If media cannot be free and competitive, they can be neither plural nor diverse. Who owns the media and its infrastructure and who controls its sources of capital and revenue are crucial for any media system.
Topic:
Democratization, Markets, Science and Technology, Mass Media, and Infrastructure

7. An Explosion of News: The State of Media in Afghanistan

Author:
Peter Cary
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
After the ouster of the Taliban from power by U.S.-led coalition troops in November 2001, the media scene in Afghanistan exploded. Under the Taliban, only one government radio station was allowed to operate, and there were no independent media. Ten years later, the Afghan media scene is a lively place, with more than 175 FM radio stations, 75 TV channels, four news agencies, and hundreds of publications including at least seven daily newspapers. Internet cafes can be found in major cities, and 61 percent of Afghans have mobile phones, which some use to listen to radio.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Central Asia, and Taliban

8. Digital Media in the Arab World One Year After the Revolutions

Author:
Jeffrey Ghannam
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The Arab region is experiencing a profound media shift. The year following the start of the Arab revolutions–in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and violent uprisings in Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain–was followed by continued repression and threats to the exercise of free expression online and offline. But the year also saw great strides in the numbers of Arabs across the region turning to social media platforms and the ascendancy of online engagement. This report traces and analyzes the enabling of tens of millions of individuals–as well as established news outlets–to attract wide global followings with Facebook and Twitter updates and YouTube videos about rapidly changing events. The widely diverse and pluralistic online communities in the Arab world are creating and sharing content, calling into question the future of the many state-owned or self-censored media that provide less in the way of engagement that Arab audiences have come to expect.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, Science and Technology, Mass Media, and Regime Change
Political Geography:
Middle East, Libya, Yemen, Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Tunisia

9. Covering Elections: The Challenges of Training the Watchdogs

Author:
Rosemary Armao
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
An unparalleled opportunity for media developers to boost democracy is at hand in the Middle East and North Africa, where once repressed media and civil society groups are forming in the wake of popular uprisings that toppled or are threatening regimes. New constitutions are being drafted, new forms of government debated, and new representatives selected, all against a backdrop of new citizen empowerment and tension among differing parties if not, as in the case of Egypt, outright violence. In addition, new media and technology have radically changed both the political debate in societies and how that debate is covered compared to the past.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, Science and Technology, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Egypt

10. Is There a Link Between Media and Good Governance? What the Academics Say

Author:
Mary Myers
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Is there a link between a free media and good governance? Does the existence of a responsible, balanced press reduce corruption? Is the state more accountable in countries with a pluralistic media? Is the media democracy's magic bullet?
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, Development, Mass Media, and Governance