Schlagwort: democratisation

Photo: Group of the G20 Leaders at the Rome Summit 2021

Democratic Participation and the Populist Challenge to Global Governance

This year’s G20 summit took place this weekend in Rome and – as it is always the case when the G20 meets in a country where protests are not suppressed – thousands of protestors used this occasion to express their opposition to the supposedly neoliberal agenda of the G20 and the human rights violations perpetrated…

How to reconcile values and interests in EU-Africa relations?

Image: African Union Headquarters

Europe and Africa at a crossroads

The democracy, rule of law and human rights agenda is under pressure but it is more relevant than ever in the Europe-Africa dialogue. Fears of the negative effects of globalisation, growing inequalities and the refugee crisis have caused a wave of populism in Western liberal democracies. In several European countries, traditional political parties are losing the trust of significant parts of the population. This also affects the role that Europe is playing in the global world and in its partnership with Africa as the closest neighbour. Geopolitical and economic interests seem to take the upper hand over the values in EU foreign policy.

Africa’s Democracy is Good for Growth

Image: Polling Booth

Democracy promotes economic growth

Does democracy promote economic growth? An immense body of literature already exists on this topic but there is, as yet, no hard consensus among scholars and policymakers alike about the general link between democracy and growth. This question is particularly relevant to sub-Saharan Africa—a region where two broad trends of fast economic growth and democratization concurrently happened over the past two decades.