Democracy Lab Weekly Brief, May 9, 2016

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Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez covers the Venezuelan opposition’s latest attempt to unseat President Nicolás Maduro.

Tom Bowker, Simon Kamm, and Aurelio Sambo reveal the extent of government-directed violence against civilians in Mozambique’s invisible civil war.

Paul Hockenos explains how Croatia’s far-right culture minister is weaponizing his country’s past.

Christian Caryl argues that the insurrections led by Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, and the European populists may herald the end of traditional notions of “Right” and “Left.”

And now for this week’s recommended reads: 

For Freedom House’s Nations In Transit, Vasyl Khomiak assesses the state of Ukraine’s economy since the Euromaidan revolution. Neil Abrams and M. Steven Fish argue in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog that Western money is feeding the country’s corruption. And Hanna Hopko, writing for the Atlantic Council’s New Atlanticist blog, calls for Ukraine’s regional activists to join together to demand real reform.

The Global Anti-Corruption Blog’s Daniel Binette explains why Brazilian anti-corruption investigators must tread carefully to avoid permanent damage to the country’s democracy.

For Politico Europe, Sinan Ulgen explains how the dismissal of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is likely to affect the Turkey-EU refugee deal.

The Wall Street Journal’s Martin Sobczyk reports on the weekend’s big anti-government, pro-EU protest in Poland.

For the World Post, Andrei Soldatov describes how Putin is collaborating with China to strengthen his control over the Russian Internet.

Mada Masr covers the accidental leak of an internal memo from Egypt’s Ministry of Information detailing how to respond to a sit-in by protesting journalists.

In Prospect, Alina Rocha Menocal and Heather Marquette argue that attributing all of the developing world’s problems to corruption is simplistic.

Christopher Groskopf of Quartz looks at the intriguing correlation between traffic accidents and corruption in countries around the world.

In the photo, people protest against the right-wing government in Warsaw, Poland, on May 7.

Photo credit: WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty Images