National Democratic Institute Research Articles

Exploring the Nexus of Democracy and Mental Health: a Study of Urban People in Solapur City

Purpose: The present study aimed at understanding the intersections of democracy and mental health of people with reference to urban people of Solapur city. Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework integrates insights from political understanding and social determinants of mental health to explore the nexus among democracy and mental health in Solapur city’s citizens. Study assess how individual perceptions and perspectives of democracy, including political efficacy and trust in social institutions, intersect with social factors such as access to resources, political power, to influence mental health outcomes. Research Method: The study has incorporated mixed method approach. The sample consisted of 231 adults (117 male and 114 female), in the age range of 18 to 65 years. The participants were administered the Democracy indicators developed by National Democratic Institute, Iraq (2007) after voluntary oral consent. Findings: The result of percentages shows that less than two-fourth of respondents opened that they have more democratic state, more than two-fifth said they have less democratic state, less than one-tenth of them opined that they have least and most democratic state respectively. It has found that the opinions are not associated with their age, gender, and earnings. However, the study tried to explore intersections of democracy and mental health of people in the context of eleven subscales of democracy index. Research Practical and Social Implications: The article intends to raise the debates and deliberations around democracy and mental health. They article pave the way for future in depth study on understanding the democracy and mental health with a larger sample size and in transnational study areas. Originality/value: Mixed research on mental health and democracy is need of the time and it’s become crucial to study democracy and mental health in different nations democratic nations.

National security and political space for youth in Thailand’s Deep South

The study at hand focuses on youths in Thailand’s violence-ridden Deep South, since they tend to become drawn into political struggles more than other groups. Youths are not only targets of security officials but are people who represent the future of Thailand’s Deep South. Using the concept of political space from the United States’ National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the conflict transformation theory of John Paul Lederach, this study found that national security measures drawn up by the Thai state have limited the political space of youth in conflict area. The main target group of this study is youths of 15–35 years old who have sought to broaden political space with regard to social and political activities. This study shows that the Thai government has used the strategy of “Politics leading the military,” prioritizing political space rather than using force to solve problems. However, state policies were organized under a framework of security which affected the political expression of young people. Nevertheless, youths have been aware of this limitation and have thus sought to improve their strategies of broadening political space as a means of helping to create a more fear-free atmosphere to increase their influence on potential peacebuilding processes.

U.S. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC VALUES IN UKRAINE: THE INSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION

The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of U.S. governmental and non-governmental institutions in supporting democratic values in Ukraine following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. It examines how American assistance has contributed to preserving Ukraine’s democratic governance, sovereignty, and political freedoms during the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict (war). The article also provides an overview of key U.S. institutions and organizations that have actively supported Ukraine’s democratic aspirations through financial aid, technical assistance, and institutional reforms. The methodological basis of the study includes a thorough review of publications from the websites of relevant organizations and agencies, official reports and news for 2022–2024. The research also draws on analytical works from prominent U.S. think tanks, including the Brookings Institution and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, alongside data from surveys conducted by the National Democratic Institute and Razumkov Center. Comparative analysis and case studies are used to assess the feasibility of U.S. support in areas like anti-corruption initiatives, civil society development, and local governance reforms. The scientific novelty of the article lies in its holistic approach to understanding the diverse dimensions of U.S. support for democratic values in Ukraine. Unlike previous studies, which focus on specific aspects of U.S.–Ukraine cooperation, this research presents a comprehensive examination of how American institutions, including the U.S. Department of State, USAID, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) etc. are making efforts to strengthen democracy in Ukraine during the war. The author concludes that U.S. assistance is important for Ukraine’s democratic foundations. However, it has not yet addressed such problems as the decline in Ukrainians’ trust in government institutions, which underscores the need for continued efforts to increase transparency, anti-corruption measures, and accountability to bring Ukraine closer to European standards in the long run.

To be or not to be is not a matter of compromise

To be or not to be is not a matter of compromise

«Цветные революции» на постсоветском пространстве: социально-экономические предпосылки и последствия

Relevance. The "color revolutions" that literally filled the entire post-Soviet space in the early 2000s are based not only on political roots, but to a large extent on a socio-economic basis, which manifested itself in the miserable existence of citizens of the post-Soviet space who saw the reason for their economic difficulties in power, in its inability to govern the state at this stage. The purpose is to reveal the influence of socio-economic factors on the process of the "color" revolutions on the example of such countries as Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan. Methods. Objectives: consider the dynamics of the main macroeconomic indicators of the EU and the US from 2015 to 2020; to study and visualize the dynamics of GDP growth, GDP in PPP per capita, inflation in the EU member states for 2016–2020; investigate the dynamics of the total US government debt for 2015-2020. Metodology: the method of statistical and critical analysis of data from world agencies (Solidarity center, Center for International Private Enterprise CIPE, International Republican Institute, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, National Security Council); the method of comparative analysis was used to compare the socio-economic causes and consequences of the “color revolutions” in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. Results. "Color revolutions" in the post-Soviet space were developed according to the same technologies developed in the West and tested in the countries of the Near and Middle East during the period of "velvet" revolutions. The only basis for their course, which ensured their success, was the worse state of the country's economy, the poverty of the bulk of the population and the presence of youth groups financed from the West to incite protest and sometimes nationalist sentiments. Conclusions. After the events in Georgia and Ukraine in Russia, at the level of high-ranking government officials, decision-makers gradually formed a point of view according to which "revolutionary events" in the CIS republics are causing real damage to Russian national interests in the post-Soviet space. Key words: Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, post-Soviet space, "color revolutions".

The Chasm of Structural Discrimination: Women on the Frontline Against COVID-19

The swift and unceasing spread of COVID-19 has created a new wave of complications that have revealed dozens of issues dishevelled in the gendered and obsolete state management and in the low levels of social development, primarily focusing on the Balkans. With the onset of the pandemic, women with specific diseases belong to the most critical group, given the fact that infection with COVID-19 itself increases the risk of subsequent development of numerous health complications. This text briefly highlights the negative effects of the pandemic on women from several perspectives, trying to fleetingly show its severe impact on a global level and the necessity to improve a system that is barely surviving on already unsteady grounds. Author(s): Gala Naseva Title (English): The Chasm of Structural Discrimination: Women on the Frontline Against COVID-19 Journal Reference: Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 17, No. 2-3 (Winter 2020) Publisher: Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities - Skopje Page Range: 90-93 Page Count: 4 Citation (English): Gala Naseva, “ The Chasm of Structural Discrimination: Women on the Frontline Against COVID-19,” Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 17, No. 2-3 (Winter 2020): 90-93. Author Biography Gala Naseva, Researcher Gala Naseva (1992, Skopje) is a legal researcher and interdisciplinary artist. She is currently the main editor of the multilingual Association of Young journalists from the Balkans Platform. Naseva completed her LLM in Intellectual Property Law at CEIPI, Strasbourg University and is now finishing the MA program in Gender Studies at ISSHS, North Macedonia. She was a visiting student at Justus Liebig University, Germany (Applied Theatre Studies and Musicology departments). Naseva worked as a legal consultant for the Helsinki Committee of Human Rights, USAID, The National Democratic Institute and OSCE (ODIHR). She has been engaged in the process of harmonizing various domestic legal acts with EU legislation.

Election, International Election Monitoring Groups and Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

A representative democracy can be achieved through a free and fair electoral environment. It is at the instance of ensuring free and fair election that observation has emerged as a fundamental principle in restoring people’s confidence, trust and appraising electoral integrity for democratic development. The participation and involvement of international election observers in electoral matters aim to ensure that elections are conducted in accordance with conventional democratic ethical standards across the globe. Premised on this background, this paper seeks to examine the role of international election observers in major elections conducted in Nigeria’s fourth republic. Six international election observation bodies were sampled: National Democratic Institute (NDI), The Commonwealth Secretariat (CS), European Commission (EC), International Republican Institute (IRI), Human Right Watch (HRW) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The study unravels the essential roles of international election observers in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections in Nigeria. The paper therefore avers that international election observers have performed more than expectation in correcting previous electoral malfeasances through their dynamic reports and recommendations. Their monumental roles discerned the 2011 general election from the preceding 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections which were marred by miscellaneous electoral flaws in Nigeria. Thus, the paper recommends ultimate cooperation of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), civil society, security agency and electorate with International Electoral Observers for the realization of sustainable democracy in Nigeria.

When the Brand is Losing its Archetypes it Dies Georgian Political Marketing at Elections

The main hypothesis, making me to write this article was about the importance of archetypes, sounded as the following: when political brand is losing its archetypes it dies. To confirm or deny this hypothesis the goal was to explain the importance of video tape of abuse in a prison released during 2012 Parliament Elections of Georgia. The question is why it was so effective and damaging for the governing “United National Movement of Georgia”? The comparison of TV advertisement budgets of the main rival political organizations is very surprising. It shows that the governing political party - “United National Movement” spent 10 times more than (approximately 11 million GEL - more than 6 million USD) its main competitor “Georgian Dream”, (having spent only 123833 GEL - around 71000 USD) but lost historical elections, against the fresh political alliance.
 “Opinion polls taken by the U.S. National Democratic Institute in June and August 2012—before the release of the videos-seemed to indicate that more Georgianspreferred United National Movement to Georgian Dream and that support for GD may have weakened” (Nichol, 2012). The survey of focus group members was conducted for the purposes of this article to know their attitude to subjects of elections – political parties and their leaders - five focus groups consisting of the total of 63 people before and after the elections.

МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЕ НЕПРАВИТЕЛЬСТВЕННЫЕ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ (МНПО) В СОБЫТИЯХ «АРАБСКОЙ ВЕСНЫ» В ЕГИПТЕ: РОЛЬ, МЕХАНИЗМЫ ВМЕШАТЕЛЬСТВА И РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ

“Arab spring” has launched a process of large-scale political transformation of the countries in the North Africa and the Middle East. There are many “points of tension” in the region of North Africa, in which converge the political and economic interests of external actors, including international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). The lobbying of democratic values as opposed to clan interests led to the strengthening of the role of the West in relation to the state and public institutions of the North Africa and the Middle East. Moreover, academic community recognizes that currently INGOs actively participate in modern international relations, in internal policy of the countries where they perform their activities. Their actions have even more significant impact during the times when the political regimes change. This article aims to analyze the activities of INGOs before, during and after the change of H. Mubarak’s government in Egypt, under the governments of M. Mursi and A.F. As-Sisi (2010-2016 gg.). The article deals with several active INGOs of the “Arab Spring”, such as National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, Carter Center and other. The analysis of the activities of the above-mentioned INGO allows us to draw conclusions about their strategies, methods, and instruments of modern technologies facilitating the change of the political regime. The most common mechanisms of INGOs influence on political transition were participation in or-ganization of the electoral process, organization of election campaigns, seminars, consultations for civil society that promote the emergence of new potential political leaders. Great attention in this article is paid to the socio-economic situation in Egypt after the mass unrest. The author shows how the external forces behind foreign NGOs contributed to the political transition, and relates to the ambiguous results for population it has brought. Methodological basis of this study was system and comparative methods of analysis, event-analysis.

Civic Engagement and its Role in Mitigating Electoral Violence in Nigeria: Implications for the 2015 General Elections

In May 1999, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, made an epochal transition to democratic civilian rule following roughly thirty-three years of military dictatorship. Since 1999, Nigeria has held four successive elections, which have all been (more or less) undermined by electoral violence. Despite this recurrent and disturbing trend of electoral violence, few works have attempted to systematically engage with three key questions: why is electoral violence a recurrent phenomenon in Nigeria? Why have there been so few constitutional provisions to mitigate its recurrence? What lessons can be learned from Nigeria’s turbulent electoral past, especially with regards to the role of civic engagement? These are the core questions this paper seeks to address. This paper draws its data primarily from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)-Electoral Violence Education and Resolution (EVER) programme, with which the authors were actively involved during the 2007 and 2011 general elections in Nigeria. To balance any inconsistencies, data derived from a content analysis of IFES reports and cumulative observations will be triangulated and cross-validated with reports of different Election Observation Missions to Nigeria (1999-2011), as well as reports from local and international observation teams and key International NGOs working in the areas of elections and democracy in Nigeria, including National Democratic Institute (NDI), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and International Republican Institute (IRI). The paper thus argues that as Nigeria prepares for 2015 elections, important lessons should be adapted from the IFES-EVER project to ensure robust civic engagement in preventing and mitigating electoral related violence. The use of electoral support networks, link with Nigerian police and other security agencies, constant engagement and information sharing between INEC and all relevant stakeholders as well as biweekly reportage and publication of incidents of electoral violence with names of perpetrators will go a long way in preventing and mitigating incidents of electoral violence in Nigeria 2015 General Elections. Furthermore, crucial attention should also be paid to Nigerian legal and constitutional provisions on electoral violence with the view to reviewing the standards and level of sanctions to perpetrators.

The Fragility of the Liberal Peace Export to South Sudan: Formal Education Access as a Basis of a Liberal Peace Project

This study examines the disjuncture between the policy transposition of the Liberal Peace Project (LPP) in South Sudan from the country's local context. It underlines how deep rooted historical exclusion from social welfare services reinforces political exclusion and exacerbates poor civic engagement among different ethnicities in the country causing a constant relapse to violence. The study combines a qualitative review of data from Afrobarometer, the National Democratic Institute, international NGOs, and South Sudan's government reports within depth interviews and participants' observation. The research finds that restricted access to formal education alongside the conservative and orthodox approaches to peacebuilding, which broadly focus on centralised urban political institutions and exclude diverse local needs and preferences, limit citizenship participation to elections and preclude an equitable social order in South Sudan, establishing a continuum of fragile authoritarian peace, institutional peace and constitutional peace. In an emancipatory approach, the study proposes a framework that prioritizes an extended access to primary and post-primary vocational education as a more credible establishment for sustainable civil peace in the country. The LPP by the international community needs to be tailored to enhance the political will of the South Sudan government to extend free primary education access, incentivize primary education with school feeding programmes and to invigorate vocational training curricula. These will yield civil peace dividends, which avert South Sudan's structural source of relapse into violence with sustainable disincentives. Apart from women's empowerment through education and in all spheres of life, the government needs to ensure sustainability by guaranteeing a sustainable future for the present and for returning refugees by reducing the effects of climate change so as to cope with the increasing pressure on natural resources.

Strengthening Women's Roles in Parliaments

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world for nearly three decades. This article provides an overview of strategies used by NDI for improving democratic governance by increasing womens representation and mens awareness of the value of womens participation in the parliaments. Best practices include providing support to women legislators, strengthening the institution, promoting cross-party caucuses and working with gender affairs committees.

Party-Building in the Middle East

After 16 years working in the field of democracy promotion, 14 of those leading the Middle East and north Africa division of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), it has been my experience that the citizens of the Arab world prefer to be able to choose their leaders, believe that democracy is the best way to order their societies, and demonstrate a desire to participate in the governance of their communities and nations. Unfortunately, Arab regimes are, at best, wary of ceding real authority to processes or institutions that would empower voters, and in some cases actively suppress indigenous attempts to diffuse authority. Outside providers of democracy assistance can, with the cooperation of local partners and the acquiescence of regimes, play a modest but significant role in helping people claim the right to choose leaders and demand that governments be responsive to their citizens.In this article, I will enumerate some of the key achievements of democracy assistance in the Arab world over the past decade; describe the strategies democracy assistance practitioners employ in their work; and explain, through four case studies and the voices of recipients, how specific interventions have contributed to the advancement of democracy in the Middle East and north Africa.1The people of the Middle East are acutely aware of what the United Nations development program has termed a deficit, and the pursuit of democratic norms and freedoms are increasingly part of public demands.2 Even where democratic practice is scarce, the language of debate is changing and meaningful progress is being made.For example, a national women's list for parliament in Morocco in 2002 saw 35 women take office.3 That success had repercussions around the region: it led to the election of six women through a quota in Jordan, the guarantee of seats for women in Iraq's council of representatives, the election of women in Bahrain and Qatar, and the right to vote for women in Kuwait. Spurred by these achievements, women activists in Saudi Arabia are increasingly assertive - demanding the right to drive, for example - and forming advocacy networks, including the Saudi Women's Action Network, formed recently with the National Democratic Institute's assistance.In addition, Islamist parties in Morocco, Bahrain, and Yemen have become more pragmatic and participate peacefully in the political system; newspapers in Algeria have written about and sponsored forums to discuss corruption and nepotism in government; Yemen has formed a public anticorruption commission crystallizing demands for more transparency; thousands of Facebook activists and bloggers in Egypt, Tunisia, and throughout the region are calling for government reform; and a number of Arab networks for democracy have been formed and are using coordinated action for more effective advocacy.Despite considerable evidence of indigenous Arab demand for change, democracy practitioners are cognizant that their vocation is viewed with suspicion and skepticism by some. Democracy assistance strategy is carefully formulated to reinforce local initiatives, and it has evolved over time. Active in the Arab world since 1993, the National Democratic Institute's early activities were modest and consisted of assessing the outlook for democratic progress in selected countries, building the capacity of local organizations, and waiting for an opportunity - sometimes provided by elections or leadership changes - to work with local partners to expand openings. It was possible to establish beachheads by opening small offices in a number of countries in the region, including Morocco, Algeria, the West Bank and Gaza, Bahrain, and Yemen. The maintenance of small offices with knowledgeable staff with the appropriate language skills allowed the institute to expand its network of local partners and contacts and to increase its understanding of the local political landscape.Support for democracy assistance and demand from local activists started to increase around 1999, paradoxically, as the Palestinian- Israeli peace process broke down and terrorist bombings, such as the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen and the embassy bombings in Africa, highlighted instability in the region and demonstrated the need for better governance. …

Cambodia: The Cambodian People´ s Party Consolidates Power

Cambodia held national elections on 27 July; they were the fourth general elections to be held since the end of the Cambodian conflict in 1991. In 2007, the National Electoral Committee (NEC) revised its national voter list and removed 586,160 names due to death, duplication and other reasons. The list of deregistered voters displayed publicly for thirty-five days and citizens were given the right to contest their deletion. According to a U.S. Embassy assessment, virtually all who took steps to protest the deletion of their names were re-instated.1 Nonetheless, an audit by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) found that as many as 57,401 voters (or 0.7 per cent of the total) were deleted. This figure challenged by the NEC and reduced to 49,340 voters (or 0.6 per cent of the total) who may [have been]... improperly and unintentionally disenfranchised.2 The U.S Embassy noted that the deletion of as many as 57,000 legitimate voters was a high price to pay for the successful removal of over 450,000 ghost voters.3 The final official list totalled 8,125,529 registered voters.

Les organisations de « promotion de la démocratie » et la construction des bureaucraties électorales indonésiennes

Democracy Promotion Organizations and the Building of Indonesian Election Bureaucracies The political effects of the 1999 Jakarta visit of some one hundred representatives of democracy-building organizations can only really be measured in view of Indonesia's historical relationship to law and voting, which has its own historicity over the long term. This history is especially marked by the emergence within the anticolonial nationalist movement in the 1930s of theories hostile to competitive multipartism. Strongly influenced by the doctrines of spiritual leaders such as Ki Hadjar Dewantara, and included in the Constitution of 1945 by Raden Soepomo, these theories were the spearhead for the authoritarian disqualification by General Suharto's regime (1966-98) of the parliamentary order of the 1950s. In 1999, prior to the first election meant to do away with authoritarianism, those theories found elective affinities with the preferences for a majority voting system advocated by representatives from North American democracypromoting organizations. The presence in Jakarta of these representatives moreover led to profound changes in the internal hierarchies of certain social-professional spaces and certain segments of the bureaucracy. The Reformasi in fact signaled the comeback of legal professionals in the political field, whereas the relationship with democracy experts of the NDI (National Democratic Institute) or the IFES (International Foundation for Election Systems) enabled subaltern personnel in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to gain ascendancy over their higher-ranking colleagues.

The Backlash against Democracy Promotion

IN JANUARY, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a controversial new bill imposing heightened controls on local and foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOS) operating in the country. The new legislation, which requires all NGOS in Russia to inform the government in advance about every project they intend to conduct, is another marker of the country's dispiriting slide back toward authoritarianism. The law is also a sign of an equally disturbing and much broader trend. After two decades of the steady expansion of democracy-building programs around the world, a growing number of governments are starting to crack down on such activities within their borders. Strongmen-some of them elected officials-have begun to publicly denounce Western democracy assistance as illegitimate political meddling. They have started expelling or harassing Western NGOS and prohibiting local groups from taking foreign finds-or have started punishing them for doing so. This growing backlash has yet to coalesce into a formal or organized movement. But its proponents are clearly learning from and feeding off of one another. The recent color revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan and the widespread suspicion that U.S. groups such as the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute

Russian Policy toward Ukraine during Elections

Abstract: The Orange Revolution (1) in Ukraine in November-December 2004 that propelled Viktor Yushchenko to power as Ukraine's third president will lead to Ukraine and Russia undertaking divergent trajectories in domestic and foreign policies. In 1999, Leonid Kuchma was reelected to a second term. Under Kuchma, the oligarchs continued to accumulate power and influence and were set to establish an oligarchy if Viktor Yanukovych had won the 2004 elections. This is different from Russia, in which Putin was made acting prime minister by then president Boris Yeltsin, a position that propelled him to Russia's presidency in 2000 and 2004. Under Putin, the oligarchs were removed from politics and those who refused to stay away from politics were subjected to repression. The first part of this article surveys Russian policies toward Ukraine under Kuchma. Since the rise of Putin in 1999-2000, Russia's intervention in Ukrainian elections has grown, culminating in its blatant interference in the 2004 Ukrainian elections to support Yushchenko's main opponent, Yanukovych. The second part of this article discusses Russian policies toward Ukraine after Yuschenko was elected president. Key words: media policies, Orange Revolution, Russia, Ukraine elections, Viktor Yushchenko, Vladimir Putin, Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko poisoning Russian Policy toward Ukraine under Kuchma Gleb Pavlovsky, a close adviser to Putin, began operating on the Ukrainian scene in the 1999 election and considerably expanded Russia's subsequent activities in alliance with Russophile oligarchs. The main focus for Pavlovsky was pro-Western politicians, such as former Prime Minister Yushchenko, who led Our Ukraine, and other anti-Kuchma group leaders, such as Yulia Tymoshenko and Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz. In November 2000, fragments of tapes covertly recorded in President Kuchma's office over the course of three years by presidential guard Mykola Melnychenko began to be released. One tape incriminated Kuchma in the murder of opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. For five months, Kuchma's position was tenuous. But he clung to power and removed the Yushchenko government in April 2001. Yushchenko then went into opposition where he created his bloc, Our Ukraine. Russian political technologists imported anti-American conspiracies into Ukraine, alleging that the United States was behind Melnychenko and Kuchmagate. One of these was the Brzezinskiplan, which claimed Kuchmagate was a U.S.-backed provocation that aimed to topple Kuchma and replace him with Yushchenko. It was a convenient way to sidetrack the numerous allegations of executive misconduct found on the tapes. Yushchenko's supporters and the anti-Kuchma opposition that sprung up during Kuchmagate were allegedly anti-Russian nationalists financed by the U.S. government through foundations, such as Freedom House, the International Republican Institute, and the National Democratic Institute, all of which were allegedly involved in overthrowing Serbian President Slobodan Milosovich. Radio Liberty's Ukrainian-language service was also sharply attacked for rebroadcasting allegations found on the tapes. (2) Evidence of the plan promoted by the oligarch-controlled television station Inter and rebroadcast by Russian Public Television to back this conspiracy included Yushchenko having an American-Ukrainian wife and the United States granting of asylum to Melnychenko in April 2001. A documentary titled PR that developed this conspiracy theory was made for the March 2002 elections. The main group with whom Pavlovsky is working in Ukraine is the oligarchic Social Democratic Party--United (SDPUo). The SDPUo also has their own think tank, the Centre for Political and Conflict Studies (TPKS), headed by Mikhail Pogrebynsky, who has been a close ally of Kuchma since he was first elected in 1994. Pogrebynsky's think tank defended Kuchma from the allegations made on the Kuchmagate tapes, and backed up claims of a Brzezinski plan. …

Francophone Africa in Flux: Democratization in Fits and Starts

In early 2001, Benin stood proudly poised for its third competitive presidential election in ten years. Expectations were high and a sense of accomplishment filled the air. Benin had, after all, moved smoothly in 1991 from military rule under Mathieu Kerekou’s Marxist-Leninist regime to functioning democracy under former World Bank official Nicephore Soglo. Soglo’s election victory over Kerekou was a turning point for Francophone Africa. It was the first time an incumbent president lost at the polls, accepted the outcome, and peacefully relinquished power. This achievement brought Benin into the limelight as a model for democratization in the subregion and a harbinger of hopeful political trends. In the ten years since, Benin had created new institutions—including a highly respected Constitutional Court and an autonomous Election Commission—to strengthen the foundations of democratic governance. In 1996, the country held a second credible presidential election, in which Soglo was defeated by Kerekou and peacefully ceded power back to his rival. Three successful National Assembly elections were held during the 1990s, with a new legislative majority emerging each time. The reputations of Benin’s Election Commission and Constitutional Court grew, and the perception that democracy was taking root in Benin became widespread. As the 2001 elections approached, analysts therefore predicted a smooth ride for a country increasingly considered Francophone Africa’s “laboratory of democracy.” Unexpectedly, however, the tide turned. The opposition banded together to challenge President Kerekou’s early and substantial lead in the first round of the March 4 elections. The challengers Christopher Fomunyoh, who holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. in political science from Boston University, is senior associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and adjunct professor of African politics and government at Georgetown University.

Supporting Democratic Reform and Consolidation in the Former Soviet Union

Through its support for local efforts to develop democratic political parties, active civic groups, and representative governmental institutions, the National Democratic Institute is helping to create the foundations for pluralism in the former Soviet Union.

Independent Central Asia

Essay| April 01 1994 Independent Central Asia: A Primer James Chavin James Chavin James Chavin is a doctoral candidate in the department of political science at the University of California at Berkeley and is currently working as a Moscow-based field program officer for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (Washington, D.C.). He worked as the Central Asian field representative for the ndu from June 1992 to June 1993. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Democratic Institute. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Current History (1994) 93 (582): 160–163. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1994.93.582.160 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation James Chavin; Independent Central Asia: A Primer. Current History 1 April 1994; 93 (582): 160–163. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1994.93.582.160 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentCurrent History Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1994 by The Regents of the University of California1994 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.