Building Global Democracy

MANAGUA, Jun 16 (IPS) - Civil society groups are facing smear campaigns and threats in Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, according to human rights activists and information gathered by IPS.

WASHINGTON, 10 jun (IPS) - El generalizado aplauso a la propuesta de crear una "liga de democracias", formulada por el candidato oficialista a la presidencia estadounidense John McCain, no impidió escuchar algunos abucheos.

WASHINGTON, Jun 10 (IPS) - A radical foreign policy idea put forth by presumptive Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has drawn cheers of support from sources as varied as his campaign's neo-conservative backers to liberal internationalists

Zygmunt Bauman interviewed by Elisabetta Ambrosi European citizens today are frightened, fearful, and in search of protection for themselves and for their countries. They increasingly vote for political coalitions promising protection from the effects of

As governance indicators have proliferated in recent years, so has their use and the controversy that surrounds them. As more and more voices are pointing out, existing indicators - many of them developed and launched in the 1990s - have a number of

The EU routinely asserts that the promotion of democracy and human rights is central to its international identity. However, while in some places the EU has a relatively strong record as a supporter of democratic values, it is failing to respond effective

Has democracy promotion been discredited as a central theme of American foreign policy after the US experience in Iraq? Many American critics and friends overseas appear to believe so. It would be wrong, however, to believe that the ideational approach of

In our editors introduction to this journal when it was launched in 2003, we argued that the juxtaposition of processes of globalisation, societies and education provided a unique and important lens through which to examine the recalibration and transform

Asef Bayat, International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (Apr 7, 2008 at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA))

This article develops a novel approach to the relationship between public space and democracy. It employs the concept of the spectacle to show how public space can serve to destroy or weaken solidarity just as easily as it can foster a democratic ethos of

In recent years, Charles Taylor has become the foremost practitioner of a new kind of philosophical genre: the brief but wide-ranging historical survey of our contemporary intellectual categories. Modern Social Imaginaries is no exception to this trend. T

If a major leader in any other country talked about obliterating a country, that leader would be condemned as contemplating mass murder, even genocide. The word "obliterate" extends far beyond the usual American bluster about promoting "regime change" in

A day after the interim PM speech on guaranteeing Fiji media freedom, Mr. Evan Hannah, the managing director of the Fiji Times was detained and confirmed to have deported out of country. AuCorp, solivakasama, Babasiga and McKenzie have their says.

"Sami Al-Haj should never have been held so long," said secretary general Robert Menard in a statement released in Washington. "US authorities never proved that he had been involved in any kind of criminal activity. This case is yet another example o

Inter Parliamentary Union A new report by the Geneva-based Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) has shown that women are changing the priorities and sometimes the tone of legislatures around the world. But, it also highlights the slow pace at which the numbe

The "food riots" in Haiti are easy fodder for the media especially when no explanation is seen to be necessary. Try and find a single report with any historical background to the food crisis other than relating it to the overall food crisis across the

Line Beauchamp admet toutefois que nos démocraties pensent trop à court terme

This report reviews the current state of women's participation in Latin American countries that have either maintained or adopted a representative and multi-party democratic system since 1978. It also examines the extent to which women are present in po

In this article I confront Jürgen Habermas' deliberative model of democracy with Claude Lefort's analysis of democracy as a regime in which the locus of power remains an empty place.

The major obstacle to building respect for academic freedom in Muslim societies is the persistence of authoritarian culture. Given that most Muslim-majority countries remain under a form of authoritarian rule, Muslim academics largely face the same kinds