Democracy is good for heart, increases life expectancy

A study of 170 countries between 1980 and 2016 brings out for the first time the impact of democratic systems on population health

Why bullshit hurts democracy more than lies

The bullshitter may do even more damage than the liar in politics

Mass protests protect Hong Kong’s legal autonomy from China – for now

If the "One country, two systems" falls, what remains of Hong Kong’s democracy will go down with it

How accurate are exit polls? There's no easy answer

In the world's largest democracy, the science of poll forecasting is still struggling with the basics

Abiy put Ethiopia on road to democracy, but major obstacles still stand in the way

Abiy’s major achievement was dismantling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. But this was not without its challenges 

Invisible Trillions review: global capitalism operates beyond the rule of law and threatens democracy

In Raymond W Baker’s view, democracy is self-correcting, but capitalism is not. His main message is: reform capitalism or forfeit democracy

The African Union at 20: some reason to cheer, but lots of work ahead

There is some reason to cheer as the continental body celebrates its 20th anniversary on 9 July. Yet a lot remains to be achieved.

Why farmers don't have electoral clout

Although farmers vote at least as much, if not more than industrial workers or urban middle classes, elections are not fought around farmers' issues

What ‘third-term fever’ tells us about the state of democracy in Africa

This year no fewer than 16 elections will take place in Africa, many of which involve removing presidential term limits. The motives are worth …

Why history will judge Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza harshly

Pierre Nkurunziza ruled with an iron fist, making few compromises: his insistence in 2015 on changing the constitution to enable him to have …

Chakwera has his work cut out restoring democratic rule that delivers for Malawians

Chakwera will need to build consensus to ensure that the new electoral laws don’t worsen tensions in the country

How IT Threatens Democracy

Social media could be just the start of a slippery slope leading to an Orwellian world controlled by Big Data Brother

Why tyranny could be the inevitable outcome of democracy

The elected political leadership in many countries currently has vindicated Greek philosopher Plato's observation

The world is pro-protests, now

While economic crisis often push people to demonstrations, there is an increasing level of dissatisfaction with democracy

How democratic was the 16th Lok Sabha?

A lot of recent decisions, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s low attendance in Parliament to passing Constitutional Amendment Bill as a …

Deliberate omission: Certain provisions in Digital Personal Data Protection Act regression for democracy

By providing wide discretionary powers to the bureaucracy, the new data protection law severely restricts the scope of the Right to Information …

US court quashes Monsanto's 'undemocratic' plea to Avaaz to hand over internal documents

The order prevents the agrochemical major from silencing the civic network that has been working actively to stop EU from re-issuing a …

Here are the seven challenges that will shape our 2020s

Plastic pollution, migration, nationalism and three other critical issues require immediate attention from world leaders for the next decade to …

In the next 14 months, 62 countries will go to polls

India’s 130 million first-time voters will play a decisive role in the world’s state of economy

Facebook's wild and severe side effects

Facebook is undermining democracies and leading to shallow and degraded public discourse

US is becoming a ‘developing country’ on global rankings that measure democracy, inequality

Racism, devotion to ‘American exceptionalism’ behind the decline; US slips to 41st position on UN’s development index 

Twenty20: Can Kerala’s experiment in corporate-led panchayats be trusted

Twenty20, which established a corporate panchayat in Kerala in 2015, has expanded its reach during the local body polls this year. How …

Haiti cholera victims threaten to drag UN to court for compensation

8,000 people have lost their lives because of the disease in the past two-and-a-half years

UN@75 vs multilateralism & democracy

The United Nations was set up after World War II, and today, we are at the beginning of a new one — only this time,…

Lithuania, Latvia ranked as world’s top environmental democracies

The index evaluated the availability of information and public participation related to environment matters in 70 countries