Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, Feburary 16, 2016

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Sergii Leshchenko, a Ukrainian legislator, calls for Prime Minister Yatsenyuk to step down after having failed to make a dent in the country’s crippling corruption. (President Poroshenko has since called for the prime minister’s resignation, and just hours ago Yatsenyuk’s government narrowly survived a no-confidence vote.)

Nic Cheeseman, Gabrielle Lynch, and Justin Willis explain why Uganda’s presidential campaign is so heated, even though the victory of the incumbent is all but assured.

Scott Radnitz says it’s too easy for Europeans to blame the rise of extremist parties on Putin, and urges them to look closer to home.

Brian Klaas argues that the European Union is wrong to go easy on Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

And Fadil Aliriza reports from Tunisia on how the country’s crooked cops are undermining its revolution.

And now for this week’s recommended reads:

In the Guardian, Christian Davies looks into the roots of Poland’s “Law and Justice” party, which, since being elected to power, has set about dismantling the country’s democracy. Also in the Guardian, Alex Duval Smith reports that the Polish government may strip an award from a renowned Holocaust historian who has insisted that Poles were also guilty of crimes against the country’s Jews during the Second World War.

In the Washington Post, Michael Ignatieff and Leon Wieseltier demand that the United States finally take action to save Syrians from their country’s brutal war. For the “Good Morning Syria” blog, Basel al-Malla reports that selling plundered goods from civilians who have fled the war has become commonplace in Syria.

The Economist reports on how President Erdogan’s party has taken over Turkey’s formerly independent institutions.

Foreign Policy’s Dan De Luce argues that Libya still matters because of the recent gains made there by the Islamic State. Also in FP, Christopher Sabatini lays out the huge challenges facing Brazil’s economy.

Project Syndicate’s Joshua Kurlantzick warns that the Obama administration is failing to hold autocratic Southeast Asian allies accountable for their slide away from democracy.

In the Christian Science Monitor, Steven Radelet highlights the good news, arguing that we should take note of huge improvements in health and poverty around the world in recent years.

International IDEA offers a free collection of essays about how Latin American countries regulate the financing of electoral campaigns.

And finally, Jessica Weiss of the Miami New Times introduces us to the world of Cuba’s female skaters, who are breaking barriers on an island poised for change.

In the photo, U.S. President Barack Obama and Southeast Asian leaders take a group photo during a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Sunnylands estate on February 16, 2016 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images