Building Global Democracy

This contribution uses insights from the field of critical pedagogy to study North-South power relations. It analyses the attempts of the European Union to promote democracy in the 'developing world', or Global South. The metaphor of development helps to

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (ramsi), an Australian-led state-building intervention, has attracted considerable attention in policy-making and scholarly circles world-wide since its July 2003 inception. ramsi was lauded by the Develo

This article critically examines the discourse surrounding fragile states in relation to the security-development nexus. I draw on the case of Haiti to problematise key assumptions underpinning mainstream approaches to resolving concerns of security and d

This article examines the trajectories of democratization in India and South Africa. Both democracies are exemplary cases of democratic consolidation but face critical challenges in deepening democracy. Focusing on the notion of `effective democracy', the

International efforts to promote democracy can have unanticipated effects. International election observation is perceived to increase domestic confidence in the electoral process and reduce fraud. Conversely, election boycotts are perceived to be more li

HARARE, Feb 6 (IPS) - Among the vital tasks spelled out in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that frames Zimbabwe's power-sharing government is the drafting of a new constitution. Even before the process begins, it is under challenge from Zimbabwean ci

For the first time, there was also a tent for the Collective Rights of Stateless Peoples, initiating a reflection at the WSF about a "radical democracy" that upholds the self-determination of peoples, said Arnau Flores, a Catalonian journalist responsible

NAIROBI, Jan 31 (IPS) - A rare sense of optimism rose in Mogadishu in the early hours of Jan. 31 as people learnt that the leader of a moderate faction of the Union of Islamic Courts, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, had been elected as head the Transitional Federal

PRETORIA, Jan 28 (IPS) - Following an extraordinary Summit of SADC heads of state in Pretoria on Jan. 26-27, it was announced that a unity government is to be formed in Zimbabwe, apparently resolving months of disagreement following a power-sharing agreem

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (IPS) - Despite the possibility of isolated violence and other problems, close watchers of Iraq's upcoming provincial elections say that a relatively smooth process there could be a bellwether for better days ahead, according to a new r

The global economic crisis could, perhaps perversely, highlight democracy's resilience and appeal despite the evidence that global freedom is in retreat for the third year successive year, a Washington meeting on Freedom after the Freedom Agenda heard tod

Belém, 27/01/2009, (IPS) - -TerraViva.- Tornar a ciência, seu vocabulário e suas soluções mais próximas da sociedade é o desafio posto aos participantes do Fórum Mundial Ciência e Democracia durante o FSM.

Citizenship is the cornerstone of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's democratic security policy. In this paper I ask what kind of citizen is formed under this policy. I examine the premises of citizenship when implemented under the double logic of democra

This contribution uses insights from the field of critical pedagogy to study North-South power relations. It analyses the attempts of the European Union to promote democracy in the 'developing world', or Global South. The metaphor of development helps to

The employment of autochthony discourses has become a prominent feature of contemporary politics around the world. Autochthony discourses link identity and space, enabling the speaker to establish a direct claim to territory by asserting that one is an or

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (ramsi), an Australian-led state-building intervention, has attracted considerable attention in policy-making and scholarly circles world-wide since its July 2003 inception. ramsi was lauded by the Develo

Political speeches and even policy analysis from Washington, Ottawa, and the capitals of Europe about promoting democratization have tended in the past two decades toward generalities and platitudes. This research asks what Western and international agenc

This article examines the trajectories of democratization in India and South Africa. Both democracies are exemplary cases of democratic consolidation but face critical challenges in deepening democracy. Focusing on the notion of `effective democracy', the

Although the Chinese government has reacted severely against the framers of the so-called Charter 08, the most serious intellectual challenge to the Communist Party since the student-led protests of 1989, there is little likelihood that they can snuff out

Jia Qinglin, China's fourth-most senior official, demanded officials throw their weight behind the one-party state in an essay in the Party's main ideological journal "Seeking Truth" (Qiushi), which was reproduced on major web portals on Sunday.