Collins Molua Ikome
Collins Molua Ikome writes that the political and electoral landscape in Cameroon makes it impossible to defeat the ruling CPDM party in an election. Paul Biya's regime is exploiting the Anglophone conflict to consolidate power. A potential military coup in Cameroon is, however, unlikely Read more
Gülşen Doğan
Over the past two years, the number of people living under populist governments has dropped by 800 million. Why? Gülşen Doğan explains the factors helping to overturn authoritarian rule, and reveals why authoritarian leaders have been unseated in some countries, but not in others Read more
Nathan Brown
Conceptions of authoritarianism have broadened to include all nondemocratic rule. Unnoticeably in that process, the role of religion and religious institutions has declined. Political and religious authority interact and overlap. Nathan Brown argues that rediscovering how they do so will help us refine our understanding of autocracy Read more
Katharina Natter
Throughout 2023 Tunisia's immigration policies have made headlines, with authoritarian President Saied’s xenophobic speech, a new EU-Tunisia migration deal, and repeated protests condemning violence against Black migrants. But authoritarianism doesn’t inevitably result in increased migrant rights violations. Nor, however, does democratisation guarantee improved rights, as Katharina Natter shows Read more
Michael Bauer
Populists have risen to executive office worldwide. In this context, Michael W. Bauer argues, we must pay more systematic attention to threats to the state and its institutions; the potential long-term impacts of the damage that populist governments can inflict 'from within' are potentially devastating Read more
Andrea Cassani
Following years of uncertainty, Senegal’s President Macky Sall has announced he will not run for a third term in 2024. Andrea Cassani, Tiziana Corda, and Giovanni Carbone consider Sall's decision less unexpected than it would have been some years ago. They discuss how term-limit politics could influence democracy and development across Africa Read more
Anca Turcu
Populists thrive on being perceived as outsiders. This creates an incentive for mainstream governing populist parties to portray themselves as challengers to the establishment. Anca Turcu examines the tactics Hungary’s and Turkey’s governing populists employ to survive mainstreaming Read more
Daniela Donno
Gender-washing regimes pay lip service to liberal norms, but reforms tend to be top-down and symbolic. To advance women’s rights, we need to pay attention to the question of how de jure legal rights can be effectively claimed and experienced by women, according to Daniela Donno Read more