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Police Reform in Brazil and Mexico: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What the U.S. Can Learn
News / June 30, 2020
On the World Class Podcast, Beatriz Magaloni discusses how community-oriented policing and constitutional reform can impact violence committed by police.
What Protests For Racial Justice Tell Us About U.S. Democracy
News / June 16, 2020
American democracy is facing its most serious challenge in decades, says Larry Diamond on the World Class Podcast. But there are signs of hope.
New Research from the Poverty, Violence, and Governance Lab Examines Police Brutality
News / June 10, 2020
For the last 10 years, a team of social scientists at the Poverty, Violence, and Governance (PovGov) lab at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) have been developing action-...
Amr Adly Explains Market-Making Failure in Egypt [VIDEO]
News / June 9, 2020
In a webinar dated June 8, 2020, American University in Cairo Scholar Amr Adly presented findings from his new book Cleft Capitalism: The Social Origins of Failed Market Making in Egypt (Stanford University Press, 2020). Egypt has undergone significant economic liberalization under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, USAID, and the European Commission. Yet after more than four decades of economic reform, the Egyptian economy still fails to meet popular expectations for inclusive growth, better standards of living, and high-quality employment.
The Spread of Populism Around the World is a Threat to Democracy According to New Stanford Report
News / June 2, 2020
Global populism is on the rise, and four FSI scholars are working to understand why populist parties and leaders have seen increased support in recent years.
Ziad Abu-Rish Analyzes the Trajectory of Lebanon's Uprising [VIDEO]
News / May 29, 2020
In a webinar dated, May 27, 2020, Ohio University Historian Ziad Abu-Rish analyzed the trajectory of Lebanon's Uprising and the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the contemporary political scene. Abu-Rish examined the multiple crises manifesting in Lebanon today and their impact on the fate of the uprising that began in October 2019. While the currency, fiscal, and infrastructural crises were central to the making of Lebanon’s uprising, he argued, the novel strategic innovations that the protesters made were key to shaping its trajectory relative to past protests.
Our Democracy Depends on a Safe Election in November
News / May 26, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the effects could be potentially devastating to global democracy and the upcoming U.S. election. On the World Class podcast, Larry Diamond and Nathaniel Persily...
Samer Abboud Examines the Politics of Exclusion in Syria [VIDEO]
News / May 12, 2020
In a webinar dated May 12, 2020, Villanova University Scholar Samer Abboud examined the emergent "illiberal peace" in Syria. The absence of an internationally mandated or internally negotiated peace process, he argued, has allowed the Syrian regime to craft an illiberal peace as an outcome to the nearly decade-long conflict. This illiberal peace is shaped through a politics of exclusion in which Syrian society is bifurcated into the loyal and disloyal through processes of reconciliation, settlement, and new legal regimes of citizenship. Click below to watch the recording of the talk.
The COVID-19 Crisis Can Be A Historic Opportunity for Morocco
Commentary / May 5, 2020
[The following article originally appeared in French in Le Soir]
Over the past 20 years of exile, I returned to Morocco sporadically to visit family and friends. Now, I am here indefinitely until the coronavirus pandemic passes. I have observed its effects upon my homeland as not just a proud Moroccan, but also a trained social scientist assessing how the Moroccan state has responded – and how new social dynamics can emerge from it.
Covid-19 Crisis: Is a Showdown Between Public Health Imperatives and Civil Liberties Inevitable?
Commentary / April 10, 2020
David Studdert addresses the tradeoff between basic liberties and societal health in the current coronavirus pandemic in a New England Journal of Medicine perspective.
Totalitarianism as a Mindset Can Be Anywhere
Commentary / March 27, 2020
The authors of “The End of History” and “Reading Lolita in Tehran” discuss coronavirus, Iran, James Baldwin, campus culture, and why imagination and literature are essential to combatting authoritarianism. Read here.
How We Can Manage the Pandemic and Preserve our Democracy
Commentary / March 27, 2020
COVID-19 presents us with both our worst public health crisis in a century and the greatest challenge to our democracy since World War II. Here is a national strategy to address both challenges, writes Larry Diamond. Read here.
Populism Is a Political Problem That Is Putting Democracy At Risk, Stanford Scholars Say
Q&A / March 13, 2020
This article was originally published in Stanford News
Global Populism Is On the Rise But There Are Solutions, Say FSI Experts
News / March 12, 2020
Once associated with Latin American and post-communist democracies, populist parties and politicians have now gained support and power in established democracies.
How to Beat a Populist
Commentary / February 24, 2020
"Democrats don’t need to peddle in falsehood or invective to find lively and creative ways to communicate their message of hope, inspiration, and concrete policy alternatives, and to do so with passion and conviction," writes Larry Diamond in The American Interest.
Francis Fukuyama: Populism is a threat to democracy
Commentary / February 24, 2020
Countries retreating into closed systems and deciding to protect only their own groups could prevent international cooperation on climate change issues which is the only way to avert climate catastrophe, says Francis Fukuyama in conversation with Ana Kasparian. Watch here.
How to Fix Democracy | Larry Diamond
Commentary / February 4, 2020
"Freedom is inseparable from human dignity," says LarryDiamond for Bertelsmann Foundation talks on "How to Fix Democracy." The crisis is “bad, deepening, accelerating,” but he suggests several steps we can take to reverse the trend, such as ranked-choice voting to tackle the two-party system, and spreading “motor voter” laws to increase the number of registered voters. Watch the video here.
Stanford Experts Publish Recommendations to Safeguard Democratic Elections Around the World
Q&A / February 3, 2020
A Q&A with Professor Stephen Stedman, who serves as the Secretary General of the Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age.
Elections Globally Are Under Threat. Here's How to Protect Them
News / January 24, 2020
"The Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age found the rise of social media has caused irrevocable harm to global electoral integrity and democratic institutions—and the effects may get even worse," Paris Martineau writes in Wired. CDDRL's Deputy Director Stephen J. Stedman served as the Secretary-General of the Commission.
China and the global challenge to democracy
Commentary / January 16, 2020
In the inaugural episode of the Power 3.0 podcast, featured guest Larry Diamond discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s range of influence and interference activities that target the public, civic, and social institutions of democracies, including subnational governments, universities, think tanks, media, corporations, and ethnic Chinese communities. Listen here.
Where Does Tehran Go from Here? Abbas Milani on Post-Soleimani Life in Iran
News / January 15, 2020
The January 3 assassination by the United States of Qassem Soleimani — the commander of Iran’s Quds Force — transformed Iran, Abbas Milani told Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Director Michael McFaul on the World Class podcast.
Posters of Soleimani’s face were plastered everywhere, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni announced three official days of mourning, and hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to grieve Soleimani’s death, Milani explained.
Francis Fukuyama on Why We Should All Be Paying Attention to Ukraine
News / December 12, 2019
Of all of the countries in the world attempting a transition to democracy, Francis Fukuyama thinks that Ukraine is the most promising.
“The election of [Volodymyr] Zelensky and the new parliament is just a miracle,” Fukuyama told Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) Director Michael McFaul on the World Class podcast. “Can you imagine, a country getting rid of two-thirds of its parliament and starting over with new people, many of whom are under 35 years old?”
A Season of Caesars
Commentary / December 12, 2019
"Ideologically, today’s autocrats are a more motley and pragmatic crew. They generally claim to be market friendly, but mainly they are crony capitalists, who, like Putin in Russia, Orban in Hungary, and Erdogan in Turkey, are first concerned with enriching themselves, their families, and their parties and support networks.