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152. The Carter Center News Fall 2006
- Publication Date:
- 09-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Carter Center
- Abstract:
- Marcel Wetsh'okonda fights for human rights laws to be passed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country where 1,000 people die each day from disease, hunger, and vio-lence. It is no easy task.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Democratization, and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
153. Burundi: Democracy and Peace at Risk
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Since the new, democratically elected government came to power in September 2005, the first since 1993, there has been marked deterioration in Burundi's political climate. Led by the National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), the government has arrested critics, moved to muzzle the press, committed human rights abuses and tightened its control over the economy. Unless it reverses this authoritarian course, it risks triggering violent unrest and losing the gains of the peace process. The international community needs to monitor the government's performance, encouraging it to adopt a more inclusive approach and remain engaged even after UN troops depart in December 2006.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Democratization, and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Burundi
154. Zimbabwe: An Opposition Strategy
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The risk of an explosion that could cost thousands of lives in the country and shatter the stability of Southern Africa is growing in Zimbabwe. Political reform is blocked, and virtually every economic indicator continues to trend downward. Inflation, poverty and malnutrition are growing more acute. Party and civil society opponents of President Mugabe's government are yet to tap effectively into the living-standards-based dissatisfaction but it could finally become the spark that sets Zimbabwe toward change. The course is risky but Zimbabwe's splintered opposition needs to come together to formulate a campaign of non-violent resistance that channels this anger and frustration into pressure on Mugabe to keep his word to retire by 2008 and on his ruling ZANU-PF party to negotiate seriously on a transition. The international community, long frustrated at its inability to influence the crisis, should assist, especially by tightening targeted sanctions (U.S./EU) and offering mediation services (South Africa).
- Topic:
- Democratization and Government
- Political Geography:
- Africa, United States, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
155. Nigeria: Want in the Midst of Plenty
- Publication Date:
- 07-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and perhaps also its most poorly understood. It has endured six successful and numerous failed military coups, a civil war that cost well over a million lives, three inconclusive transitions to democracy and recurrent factional violence. Despite more than $400 billion in oil revenue since the early 1970s, the economy under performs, and the great majority of citizens have benefited little. More effective institution building is imperative.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Nigeria
156. Democratization in Mali: Putting History to Work
- Author:
- Robert Pringle
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- Since the 1991 uprising, which saw the ouster of the country's long-standing military dictator and ushered in a democratically elected government, Mali has achieved a record of democratization that is among the best in Africa. This process has been driven by multiple factors. External observers often point to broader Africa-wide change and a remarkable constellation of “founding fathers” who demonstrated vision and self-sacrifice following the change of government. But if you ask Malians why their country has successfully democratized, most of them will respond by stressing Mali's heritage of tolerance and decentralized government, dating back more than a millennium to the Ghana Empire and its two successor states. For Malians, democratization combined with decentralization is a homecoming rather than a venture into uncharted waters. But they recognize that the country's democratization process continues to be a difficult one, inevitably laced with controversy. Although satisfaction levels remain generally high, there is a near-universal desire for more rapid progress toward improved quality of life. This unease suggests the possibility that despite their legendary patience, Malians may eventually lose hope and faith in democracy unless economic growth accelerates.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ghana
157. Parties of Power as Roadblocks to Democracy: The Cases of Ukraine and Egypt
- Author:
- Madalena Resende and Hendrik Kraetzschmar
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Political parties are the backbone of any functioning representative democracy. They are the agents that compete in the political arena for public office by offering programmatic alternatives to voters. It is not surprising therefore that an analysis of countries that have failed to democratise shows political parties suffering from a severe pathology that renders them weak institutions. In both the eastern and the southern neighbourhood of the EU, a type of party has emerged, the 'party of power' characterised by its dependence on the state, the absence of ideology and the linkage with specific sectoral groups. Examples of such parties can be found in Ukraine during the reign of President Kuchma and in present-day Egypt.
- Topic:
- Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Egypt
158. Angola - Drivers of Change: An Overview
- Author:
- Alex Vines, Nicholas Shaxson, and Lisa Rimli
- Publication Date:
- 05-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- Angola has undergone dramatic economic and political changes since independence from Portugal in 1975, and continues to face severe challenges three decades later. An open democratic process has not yet been established, the economy faces deep-rooted structural imbalances, and the country's international relations have undergone many shifts and changes, so that it is currently again in a major transitional era.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Government, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa
159. Eye on Africa: A Scholar's Tale
- Author:
- Jesse Ribot
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- Ribot is a senior associate at the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington and currently a Wilson Center fellow working on a new book on rural democracy in Africa. Several years ago, he was writing a history of forestry in French West Africa, a story of a supposed deforestation crisis from 1880-1920. The colonial government had devised odd policies to fix this nonexistent problem—policies that would not have fixed it had there been a crisis. Furthermore, the policies concentrated access to lucrative resources in the hands of a few elites. "The discourse of 'deforestation crisis' was being used to expropriate the people's resources," Ribot said. "That was the real story."
- Topic:
- Democratization, Development, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Washington
160. A Regional Strategy for Promoting a Free Media and Freedom of Expression in the Middle East and North Africa
- Author:
- Keith Henderson
- Publication Date:
- 02-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Academy of Political Science
- Abstract:
- The main objective of this paper is to encourage open debate and reform action in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on the need to create the legal and political enabling environment necessary to promote good governance, the Rule of Law and citizen participation. The paper notes that many of the defamation laws in the region still contain criminal penalties, including high fines and imprisonment, and that the threat and enforcement of these laws and policies leads to government censorship, self-censorship and sometimes imprisonment. These practices are now well understood as counter to international obligations and best practices as well as to the guarantees of a free media and free speech enshrined in most MENA Constitutions. The net result of these practices is a culture of secrecy that presents high barriers to sustainable economic and political reform. Collectively, this secrecy effectively muzzles open discussion and critical reform debate and makes the promotion of basic human rights and a good governance reform agenda virtually impossible.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Democratization
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Middle East, and North Africa