Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, January 07, 2013

Rick Rowden argues that recent accounts of "Africa’s rise" are fundamentally flawed. In his column, Christian Caryl explains why 2012 was a good year for elections, but a bad one for democracy. Juan Nagel outlines possible scenarios for Venezuela if Hugo Chávez leaves the scene. Peter Passell sums up some of the recent research in ...

By , the former editor of Democracy Lab, published by Foreign Policy in partnership with Legatum Institute, and , a former editorial assistant and researcher at Foreign Policy.
Photo by AFP/Getty Images
Photo by AFP/Getty Images
Photo by AFP/Getty Images

Rick Rowden argues that recent accounts of "Africa's rise" are fundamentally flawed.

Rick Rowden argues that recent accounts of "Africa’s rise" are fundamentally flawed.

In his column, Christian Caryl explains why 2012 was a good year for elections, but a bad one for democracy.

Juan Nagel outlines possible scenarios for Venezuela if Hugo Chávez leaves the scene.

Peter Passell sums up some of the recent research in transitional economics.

In the latest of our continuing series of collaborations with Princeton’s Innovations for Successful Societies, Deepa Iyer recounts a Brazilian experiment aimed at uprooting corruption. 

Reflecting on the holiday season just past, Endy Bayuni shows how Indonesians are winning the war on Christmas.

And Jackee Batanda rounds out the year 2012 out with stories about extraordinary Ugandans

And here are this week’s recommended reads:

Syria Deeply publishes the powerful tale of a young Alawite woman whose pro-revolutionary mother was killed by her pro-regime father — a vivid example of how the civil war is tearing families apart. Al-Monitor shares the experience of Alawites living under siege.

Democracy Digest provides a useful collection of views from the experts on the directions that might be taken by a post-Chávez Venezuela.

Writing for The Irrawaddy, Gustaaf Houtman offers a vivid take on the recent changes in Burma as the society continues to open up.

Over at The New York Times, Simon Romero presents an unforgettable portrait of Uruguay’s ultra-modest president.

A new working paper from the International Monetary Fund analyzes economic transitions in post-conflict nations.

As part of its discussion of Vali Nasr’s new book The Dispensable Nation, Democracy Digest wonders whether American democracy promotion will survive relative economic decline.

Rami G. Khouri casts a critical gaze on some of the most frequent analytical assumptions about the Arab Spring.

Sebastian Mallaby, writing for the Council on Foreign Relations, joins the argument over Africa’s economic development, insisting that the continent is growing in more ways than one.

 

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Christian Caryl is the former editor of Democracy Lab, published by Foreign Policy in partnership with Legatum Institute. Twitter: @ccaryl

Neha Paliwal is a former editorial assistant and researcher at Foreign Policy.

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