Since the uprising erupted last year, Bahrain has continued to experience unrest. Despite continuing reforms by the government, the opposition movement has steadily hardened its stance against the al-Khalifa monarchy. Last weekend, protests in Bahrain escalated in one of the most violent confrontations between the opposition movement and police. Tens …
Congress rarely considers a bill that would change the way Washington works. But this is exactly what the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act would do. The REINS Act (H.R.10) would require Congress to approve all “major” regulations—those costing $100 million or more annually—before they take …
Press pundits and many Latin American experts are predicting that Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas will easily win presidential elections in Nicaragua on Sunday, November 6. The Economist captures the tone of the elections quite accurately: “Buoyed by a growing economy and Venezuelan cash, the Sandinista leader who toppled a …
According to the Wall Street protesters, American representative government has failed and therefore they are replacing it, “Since we can no longer trust our elected representatives to represent us rather than their large donors,” the Zuccotti Park occupiers explain, “we are creating a microcosm of what democracy really looks like.” …
Political and technological changes have a history of going hand in hand. Technology empowers individuals to overcome their isolation and connect to share ideas, information, hopes, and dreams. The most recent phenomenon in this long history (which dates back at least as far as the Gutenberg printing press) is the …
Venezuela’s authoritarian populist President Hugo Chávez announced that presidential elections will take place on October 7, 2012. Chávez, who continues to battle an unspecified cancer, is convinced he will win. In office since 1999, Chávez argues he must have another six years in order to install Socialism of the 21st Century, …
Last week President Barack Obama praised Presidents Yayi of Benin, Condé of Guinea, Issoufou of Niger and Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire as models of Africa’s democratic progress. Since gaining their independence, many African countries have suffered poor governance and widespread instability due, in part, to the unwillingness of African leaders …
