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2. Democracy, Demography, and the Future of the European Union
- Author:
- Dubravka Šuica and William Kattrup
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Dubravka Šuica is the European Commission Vice President for Democracy and Demography. She is leading the Commission’s work on deliberative democracy, the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE), demography, children’s rights, and child protection.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Children, European Union, Democracy, and Protection
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3. Fighting Gangs to Dismantle Democracy: How Anti-Crime Policies Have Contributed to the Authoritarian Drift in Central America
- Author:
- José‐Luis Cruz
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- For several years, the northern countries of Central America—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—have seen some of the highest levels of criminal violence globally. 5ey are also ground zero for two of the most brutal street gangs in the Western Hemisphere: the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street Gang (Barrio 18). Di6erent government administrations have imple- mented various policies to address gangs and criminal violence; however, no policy has been more controversial or frequently used than the zero-tolerance, or mano dura (iron fist), crackdowns. Zero-tolerance crackdowns were introduced at different moments in all three countries but have been a dominant feature of state response to crime in Central America in the last two decades. In this essay, I examine the latest installment of hard-on-crime policies in El Salvador and how they contributed to the democratic erosion of the country. This case exemplifies how Central American governments have repeatedly used the fight against crime as a justification to strengthen security forces without oversight, ignore human rights standards, and leverage the justice system to serve corrupt government officials.
- Topic:
- Crime, Authoritarianism, Democracy, and Gangs
- Political Geography:
- Central America
4. 30 Years Since the Collapse of the Soviet Union: Democracy, Community, and Russia
- Author:
- Jerzy Buzek
- Publication Date:
- 09-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- I am a man of Solidarity—Solidarność. That is the name of the mass social movement that began in Poland in 1980 and brought freedom and democracy to not only my country but to all of Central and Eastern Europe. 1989 marked the end of the Eastern Bloc, and 1991 brought the collapse of the Soviet Union. Back then, there was hope it would indeed be “the end of history” and that there would be no going back to the past. The fall of the communist empire seemed to be the ultimate proof for us in Poland and Central Eastern Europe, but also for the entire world, that there was no more place for authoritarian regimes and that oppressive governments would perish sooner or later. Such was the experi- ence of generations that lived through the twentieth century. Three decades prior, the air we breathed was full of democracy; we needed that air once more.
- Topic:
- Communism, Democracy, Community, and Post-Soviet Space
- Political Geography:
- Russia and Soviet Union
5. The Power of Law and Justice: The Contribution of Latvia to the Global Development and Defense of Democracy
- Author:
- Egils Levits
- Publication Date:
- 09-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- In May 1985, I wrote the following statement in a Canadian Latvian maga- zine: “In 5-, 20- or 50-years’ time the Soviet Union will be gone from Latvia.”1 Back then, I was just a young lawyer and political scientist—a researcher at the University of Kiel in Germany—having emigrated from the USSR-occupied Latvia 13 years earlier. I took an active part in the political life of Latvians in exile. Most believed that the bipolar world in which the nuclear superpowers of the West and East faced off would never change. So, why was I convinced that the Soviet Empire would collapse?
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Development, Law, Democracy, Justice, and Post-Soviet Space
- Political Geography:
- Latvia and Baltic States
6. Contemporary Challenges to Global Democracy
- Author:
- Erica Frantz
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Today’s democracies are under threat. According to the watchdog organiza- tion Freedom House, each year of the past decade has seen a decline in global democracy.1 Importantly, many of these declines have occurred in wealthier and more established democracies, which scholars have typically considered resistant to democratic backsliding. In some instances, these erosions have left democracies weakened, such as in India and the United States; however, in other instances, they have led to complete democratic collapse and the emergence of authoritarianism, such as in Turkey and Serbia.
- Topic:
- Governance, Democracy, Dictatorship, Political Crisis, and Autocracy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7. Absolutely Corrupted: The Rise of an Illiberal System and The Future of Hungarian Democracy
- Author:
- Anna Júlia Donáth
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”1 Lord John Dalberg-Acton’s words should not be relevant in the era of modern democracy, when political power is distributed and filtered through the institu- tions of checks and balances. Absolute power should simply be off the table. Yet, as shown by the events unfolding in Hungary in the last decade, democratic institutions can be transformed into mere façades that obscure the grim reality of unchecked power in the hands of one person. In the case of Hungary, this man is Viktor Orbán, the leader of Hungary’s dominant right-wing party.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Democracy, Far Right, and Illiberalism
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Hungary
8. Academic Freedom: A Test and a Tool for Illiberalism, Neoliberalism, and Liberal Democracy
- Author:
- András L. Pap
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Using the case study of Hungary, this article investigates the status and role of academic freedom in (neo)liberal democracies and illiberal regimes. Here, academic freedom is gauged in three dimensions: teaching, research, and publishing (cultivated at research institutes and universities). The inquiry begins with an overview of academic freedom under Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. This case study provides a snapshot of how academic freedom can be curtailed in a hybrid illiberal regime. The article’s second half provides an assessment of the three contextual dimensions through which the case study may be relevant—particularly for a social science and international affairs audience. The first context shows how the second phase of emerging authoritarian regimes target cultural life as a soft tool to cement and solidify illiberalism once the capture of constitutional institu- tions has been accomplished. The second context refers to the role and ambition of international instruments to sustain autocracies in the making. The case of the Hungarian government’s entanglement with the European Union (EU), Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, and the European Court of Human Rights documents the institutional inability of multilevel constitutional organs to administer ex-post restorative constitutional justice. It also points to the ten- dency of these organs to experiment with “Al Capone”-like judicial strategies in referring to the breach of equal treatment and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) commitments to disguise inadequate rule of law shortcomings.
- Topic:
- Democracy, Neoliberalism, Illiberalism, and Academic Freedom
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Hungary
9. The Two Sources of the Illiberal Turn in Brazil
- Author:
- Afonso de Albuquerque
- Publication Date:
- 03-2021
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- In the early 2010s, the consolidation of Brazilian democracy seemed a well- established fact. Although far from perfect, the prospects for Brazil’s future looked bright. The economy was booming, and Brazil appeared to be on the verge of assuming a more prominent role in international politics. A few years later, Brazil’s fortune has reversed dramatically. In 2018, far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro won the Brazilian presidential election. Nostalgic for the military dictatorship that governed the country from 1964 to 1985, Bolsonaro has cham- pioned an anti-human rights agenda. Throughout his tenure, he has minimized the COVID-19 health crisis,1 denied the existence of climate change, and used his platform to spread disinformation.2 He often attacks the National Congress, Supreme Court, and press. Bolsonaro has even threatened these entities, argu- ing he has the Armed Forces and the people on his side. How did this happen?
- Topic:
- Democracy, Institutions, Jair Bolsonaro, and Illiberalism
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and South America