In a mostly ceremonial parliamentary vote on Sunday March 11, the National People’s Congress of China voted to allow the abolishment of term limits for President Xi Jinping, allowing him to stay in …
A Streetcar named ‘Democracy:’ An Analysis of Democratic Erosion in Turkey by Sam Wieske @ University of California, Los Angeles
A few decades ago, Turkey was the poster-boy of a democracy in the Islamic world. Fast forward to present day and Turkey is far from being a paragon of democracy, in light of the recent coup and …
Could Marine Le Pen’s Potential Election Have Threatened France’s Democracy? by Héloïse Hakimi Le Grand @UCLA
On April 23rd 2017, what many French people and analysts abroad feared happened: the far-right, with 21.3% of the votes, was a round close to the presidency. But why were people so scared of Marine Le …
Re-militarizing Japan. Abe’s abuse of overwhelming power by Ippei Kato @ University of California, Los Angeles
Japan, one of the most peaceful and safest country that has never experienced any configuration after WWⅡ, is facing undemocratic crisis that can change its long-standing neutral position and find its …
A Single Referendum in Turkey by Julia Robinson @ University of California, Los Angeles
The recent referendum passed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey will lead to long term democratic backsliding. The redistribution of power to the executive office, the dissolution of checks …
The Orban Road to Autocracy by Lasini Piyadigama @ University of California, Los Angeles
Democratic backsliding is the process of democratic countries moving away from the fundamental ideas of democracy, like free and fair elections, strong rule of law and freedom of speech. This reversal …