COMMENT | DANI RODRIK | As a teenager growing up in Istanbul, I was lucky to be part of a generation that had democratic role models nearby. European countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Sweden fueled our aspirations for prosperity and democracy, giving us hope for the future of …
Read More »How California can save US democracy
COMMENT | Lenny Mendonca, Laura Tyson | At the explicit request of President Donald Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is pursuing an unorthodox mid-decade redistricting of the state’s congressional map to ensure that Republicans win five additional seats in the next election. This brazenly partisan move is yet another example of …
Read More »A warning from history
The transformation of democracy from a political form into a faith-based self-destructive secular religion THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | If one scans the political-intellectual map of the world today, one idea stands dominant: that the solution to the governance problems of any country is democracy. Even in those …
Read More »Denmark serves Uganda a taste of democracy at Constitution Day festival
Event serves as a vital platform for democratic dialogue, connecting people from across society in open, respectful conversations ANALYSIS | RONALD MUSOKE | On June 5, Denmark celebrates Constitution Day—a significant national event that commemorates the adoption of the country’s first constitution in 1849 and its modern revision in 1953, both …
Read More »Uganda: A case of democracy in chains
COMMENT | INNOCENT B. NATUKUNDA | As Uganda edges closer to the 2026 general elections, the atmosphere is increasingly tainted by a disturbing surge in abductions and illegal arrests, particularly of opposition members and youth activists. These practices are not only a direct affront to human rights and civil liberties but …
Read More »President Museveni calls on the UPDF to protect Uganda’s democracy
CIC Orders UPDF to deal with political intimidators Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to deal with any political intimidators. Museveni, who chaired UPDF High Command and Defence Council at Entebbe State House on Wedensday and Thursday, said UPDF …
Read More »Perhaps we should all be police officers
COMMENT | Olivia Nalubwama | As we continue headlong into the regurgitating inanity that is Uganda’s rollercoaster elections, the gross contradictions that embody our governance and politics continue unencumbered. Dear reader, let us review a few instances that should have us questioning why we remain overly yoked to the incumbent ruling …
Read More »From citizens to clients
Essay 2 of 7: How Uganda Forgot Its Citizens COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno | In a healthy democracy, citizenship implies both responsibility and entitlement. It is a mutual contract: citizens invest trust, taxes, and participation, while the state delivers services, justice, and opportunity. But in Uganda, this social contract has been …
Read More »The death of democracy under military captivity
If Museveni went to the bush over rigged elections, then restoring a credible elections should have been his main goal COMMENT | MORRIS KOMAKECH | The most deceptive narrative for justifying the 1980-85 Luwero bush war was that then-president Milton Obote’s Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) party rigged 1980 general elections. …
Read More »Breaking US democracy beyond repair
COMMENT | IAN BURUMA | Compared to other Western democracies, the United States is still a profoundly religious country. Around 24% of Americans identify as evangelical Christians. Five US Supreme Court justices are conservative Catholics (the only other conservative on the bench, Neil Gorsuch, was raised and educated as a Catholic but is …
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