Many Nigerians hope that general elections scheduled for next year will mark a turning point for their country. Since the end of military rule in 1999, elections have been held every four years, but they have been progressively marred by egregious and pervasive fraud, making each poll less credible than the previous one. Dissatisfaction with the last elections, held in 2007, resulted in extensive violence that led to more than 200 deaths and diminishing citizen confidence in democratic institutions and processes.
Grassroots Haitian organizations known as Initiative Committees (ICs) are working to educate citizens about the importance of hygiene and safe drinking water in the face of a cholera outbreak that is taxing the resources of this island nation still reeling from last January’s devastating earthquake.
As Southern Sudan prepares for a referendum that will determine whether it will become a separate country, public opinion research by NDI shows significant support for independence and a strong desire for the referendum to be held on time.
The linkages between democracy assistance and development aid are explored in depth in an article by Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a commentary by Kenneth Wollack and K. Scott Hubli that appear in the new issue of the Journal of Democracy.
In "The Elusive Synthesis," Carothers, vice-president for studies at Carnegie, takes a historical view and looks at some of the reasons the two camps have eyed each other with suspicion.
"New candidates may win half the seats in Afghanistan’s lower house of parliament amid fraud complaints that forced the scrapping of nearly a quarter of votes cast in last month’s poll, the election commission said...
