On the EDP wire, we post and discuss a range of issues that emanate from our research and that are important to us. Here you will find – in English or German – opinion pieces, book reviews, conference reports, and important announcements. Are you interested in becoming a guest contributor? Get in contact with us!

Most Recent EDP WIRE Posts

December 18, 2020 | EDP Wire | Rebecca Wagner

Kyrgyzstan Before the Presidential Elections

Kyrgyz citizens will vote for a new President on 10 January 2021. Protests have caused the annulation of the parliamentary elections of 04 October 2020 which resulted in a series of high-ranked officials’ resignations and the third ouster of a President in the country’s recent history. Since then, the political landscape is changing quickly. Recent developments, including an initiated constitutional reform process, cast doubts on the future democratic path of Kyrgyzstan.

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October 17, 2020 | EDP Wire | Jonas Wolff, Felix S. Bethke

COVID-19 and shrinking civic spaces: Findings from a preliminary assessment

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of countries worldwide have introduced severe limitations on public life and individual freedoms. Although generally considered necessary to save lives and protect health care systems from overburdening, these restrictions pose the risk of government overreach, thereby potentially boosting the global trend of shrinking spaces for civil society actors.

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September 29, 2020 | EDP Wire | Julia Leininger, Karina Mross, Daniel Nowack

We Need Democracy Protection to Counter Autocratisation

This EDP Wire is part of the German Development Institute’s weekly column discussing the most recent topics of international development politics. The authors discuss the need for international democracy protection against rising autocratic tendencies.

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May 27, 2020 | EDP Wire | Jonas Wolff, Felix Bethke, Sophia Birchinger, Ben Christian, Melanie Coni-Zimmer, Julian Junk, Anton Peez, Simone Schnabel, Jens Stappenbeck, Antonia Witt

Developing Peace: Impulses for German and International Development Cooperation

This EDP Wire summarizes the results of the study “Peace and Development 2020: An Analysis of Current Experiences and Findings”, which was conducted at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

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May 18, 2020 | EDP Wire | Jalale Getachew Birru

Normative Jurisprudence: Finding a Solution for the Current Constitutional Impasse on the Postponement of the 2020 General Election in Ethiopia

Due to the Covid-19 related restrictions, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced on March 31 that it is impossible to hold an election on August 30, 2020. This created a constitutional impasse as the constitution requires holding an election at least one month before the end of the House of Representatives’ term which is the final week of the Ethiopian month of Meskerem (October 3-10). To resolve the deadlock, some opposition parties and the government put forward different solutions. This article examines the proposed solutions through the principle of normative jurisprudence.

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April 20, 2020 | EDP Wire | Rebecca Wagner

Internal Threats to EU’s External Democracy Support in Times of a Pandemic – Can the New EU Council Conclusions on Democracy still Kick-off?

In the course of the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, governments in Europe and across the world have called for states of emergency and restricted individual freedoms of their citizens in order to #FlattenTheCurve. While many citizens support the governmental initiatives, concerns about their implications on the state of democracy are growing stronger. Some fear that the coronavirus crisis will end in a crisis of democracy.

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April 1, 2020 | EDP Wire | Jonas Wolff, Felix Bethke

COVID-19 as a Threat to Civic Spaces Around the World

As countries across the globe are desperately trying to control the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapidly increasing number of governments have started to impose severe restrictions on core civic freedoms. Although restrictions are currently necessary to save lives and protect health care from overburdening, these emergency measures must be proportional and strictly limited in time. It is crucial to monitor how restrictions are implemented to prevent governments from using the current crisis to justify new constraints on civic spaces, which have already  been shrinking in many places during the last 15 years.

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February 24, 2020 | EDP Wire | Jonas Wolff, Felix Bethke, Sophia Birchinger, Ben Christian, Melanie Coni-Zimmer, Julian Junk, Anton Peez, Simone Schnabel, Jens Stappenbeck, Antonia Witt

Entwicklung und Frieden zusammendenken: Anregungen für die deutsche Politik

Die Erwartungen an die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, zu Konfliktbearbeitung beizutragen, sind gestiegen. Eine neue Studie zeigt: Es fehlt nicht in erster Linie das Wissen dazu, was nötig wäre, damit Entwicklungszusammenarbeit zu Frieden beiträgt. Es mangelt an der Umsetzung – gerade beim Primat der Prävention und der uralten Frage nach der Politikkohärenz.

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