Democracy is under pressure from within and without. Illiberal leaders, disinformation, and authoritarian interference are testing institutions across Europe and North America, even as citizens mobilize to defend free and fair government. This hub is the gateway to analysis of democratic health: elections and their integrity, the rule of law and judicial independence, civil society and a free press, and the resilience of institutions against democratic backsliding. Fellows and analysts track the contest between democratic renewal and democratic backsliding, with close attention to Central and Eastern Europe, and assess what strengthens accountable government. Explore analysis and commentary on elections, the rule of law, civil society, and the defense of democracy.
Democracy
No Result Found
October 31, 2018
Election Focus
Russia Subverts, America Constructs
October 22, 2018
Balkan Roadblocks
The wars in ex-Yugoslavia are over. But the conflicts remain. And some of them are getting worse.
October 9, 2018
Exploring Latvia’s Election Day Hack
On 6 October, Latvia’s parliamentary election day, popular social network Draugiem.lv was hacked, apparently by pro-Kremlin online forces.
September 10, 2018
Threads of the Past
Nazi memorabilia is not cool. If you hold your nose and look on the internet, you can find flags, T-shirts and bumper stickers commemorating the Third Reich on sale at outlets that also sell pagan-themed cigarette lighters and Ku Klux Klan regalia. But no reputable retailer would stock such merchandise. It would be reasonable to […]
August 28, 2018
Question More
The “anti-vax” movement, which claims that vaccines are a commercial conspiracy and cause autism, is almost non-existent in Russia: 98% of children there receive the measles jab. But that has not stopped the Kremlin’s disinformation machine from stoking the American medical-culture wars over immunization. The most controversial part of this stunt was promoting spurious arguments […]
August 21, 2018
Putin’s Viennese Waltz
Under the right-wing coalition government which took office in December, Austria has been rattling nerves at home and abroad. It has infuriated Italy by offering passports to German-speakers in South Tirol, reopening a long-buried feud over the former Austro-Hungarian territory’s ethnic and linguistic identity. It has infuriated Israel, and observant Jews, by scheduling an EU summit that will start […]
July 24, 2018
Russia’s Craving For Respect
Worthy targets for respect in Russia abound, including the bewitching language and literature, natural beauty, art, music, and humor. But more recently the country is magnificent mostly despite, rather than because of, the way it is run. Communist jargon debased the language. Communist industrialization despoiled landscapes and cityscapes. Soviet censors and secret police persecuted the […]
July 3, 2018
Avoiding Fake Deals With Moscow
In the usual scenario, an incoming U.S. President believes that he can be more successful than his predecessor in establishing a partnership with Russia’s leader. Trust is declared, promises are made, deals are struck, and Moscow’s previous acts of aggression against its neighbors are overlooked. This new détente gives cover for the Kremlin to prepare […]
July 2, 2018
Revisiting the “Open Letter” to Obama in the Era of Trump
In fact, people have been worrying about Kremlin revisionism and mischief since the 1990s. Another error is to assume that Donald Trump’s surprise election victory in 2016 undermined a previously solid European security order. True, the U.S. president’s reported off-the-cuff remarks can sound alarmingly ill-informed: “NATO is as bad as NAFTA;” the European Union was created […]