In the past year, citizens of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Ethiopia have taken to the streets to demand accountability from their governments, while voters in Malaysia and the Maldives ousted corrupt governments at the ballot box. Countries with a strong civil society or decent-sized middle class continue to push back against autocrats, even though the headlines are more often about the threats to democracy. A new paper published this month found that the world has been in “a wave of autocratization” since 1994, and as many as 75 democracies have seen a reversal to autocracy.

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 14:44:29 -0400

Diana Feliú was studying for a master’s in business administration when she decided her future in Venezuela was reaching a dead end. “In a way, I feel like Venezuela kicked me out. Ms. Feliú is one of the estimated 3 million Venezuelans who have fled the country in recent years amid multilayered economic, humanitarian, and political crises, rapidly accelerating a nearly two-decade trend.

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 13:17:20 -0400

It’s mid-afternoon on another long day of Brexit debate, and the chamber’s green leather benches are mostly empty, including the backbench whence Ms. Ryan has just returned after supporting an amendment calling for a second referendum to be held. The amendment was the latest move in the three-dimensional chess game of Brexit – Britain’s fitful path out of the European Union – that is lurching forward again this week. Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to build support for a twice-rejected Brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of an EU summit at which the United Kingdom will be asking to extend its departure date past March 29.

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 17:04:20 -0400

Mystery novelist Radha Vatsal was playing detective. The Queens resident had recently heard about an upstart young woman who was taking on the district’s longtime Democratic congressman, Joe Crowley. Ms. Vatsal wanted to learn more about her, but couldn’t recall her name.

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 16:58:22 -0400