Democracy and Institutions

BY TOBY VOGHT The British barrister Sir William Gallow famously coined the phrase “innocent until proven guilty” in the early nineteenth century.  The presumption of innocence quickly hopped the Atlantic and has been critical to the American pursuit of a more perfect judiciary. But the highly contentious nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh generated debate about […]

Since 2015, the DR Congo, a major rent-based economy in Africa, has embarked into macroeconomic turbulence with significant inflationary pressures and a severe exchange rate depression, partly due to a commodities slump. The economic downturn has contributed to strengthening the acute social crisis. The country is a fragile state on the edge, a product of […]

Newly minted President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi have one year to enact reform on pressing domestic issues, especially utility services and unemployment. If the government fails to implement changes, it may face another series of popular uprisings.

BY MATT MCDOLE Last week’s Congressional hearing on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was a painful moment for many Americans. 20 million watched on television and many more tuned in online – CNN reported this year’s biggest day of live-streaming yet – as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford tearfully recounted being sexually […]

The government’s ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the 377A repeal debate is problematic and a lazy excuse for inaction, writes Yong Han Poh. Singaporeans in favour of repeal should act now to support it, rather than keeping quiet because they assume a silent majority wants to keep the law.

BY KATYA KLINOVA My great-grandfather went through four labor camps during World War II and died in the fifth one. We try to keep the memory of him alive in the family, and when I tell his story to my school-age nephews, I consider it extremely important to refer to those death camps not as […]

BY DANIELA PHILIPSON In 2017, the average proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments was barely above 23% (World Bank). In Latin America this proportion is a little higher at 29%. While the representation of women in legislative bodies around the world is not predicted by GDP per capita or any other economic […]

Crazy Rich Asians has shattered recent box office records. The film grossed an estimated $117 million in its first three weeks and features an all Asian cast — something that hasn’t happened since The Joy Luck Club debuted in 1993. It has also ignited a firestorm of Asian American pride and public discourse. The story […]

BY ADAM GIORGI     Adam Giorgi is a proud Minnesotan seeking the intersection of government service and comic book superheroics. He is a master in public policy student at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and he swears he doesn’t draw cartoons during lectures (most of the time).   Edited by Neil Thomas

BY BEN MCGUIRE After a bruising 2016 election, a cascade of Democratic victories has given progressive activists reason to hope for future elections, and the use of new mobilization and engagement technologies in those campaigns is getting a lot of attention. Virginia Republicans barely held their gerrymandered majority after grassroots volunteers across the left powered […]

BY RAWAN ZEINE On May 30, 2018, as I sat in my apartment in Cambridge, MA, I scrolled through my Instagram photos of my home, Jordan. Usually, photos with the caption “Jordan is beautiful” are images of Jordan’s nature, heritage, and historical sites. But in May, it was different. The caption “Jordan is beautiful” was an […]

BY AUSTIN DAVIS US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has unchecked authority over thousands of people seeking asylum in the United States. The NAACP, among others, has also condemned Sessions’ history of “racist comments,” and he has spoken out on multiple occasions against asylum seekers as a group. So how has Sessions used his power? To […]