On July 28, Venezuela held one of the most consequential elections in its history. The country’s political opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado, overcame popular disillusionment, political divides and a rigged electoral system to earn a landslide victory for its unity candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia. According to one civil society group, estimates “extrapolated from the official vote count receipts” from a representative sample of local voting centers give González 66% of the vote. Venezuela’s opposition met the moment with an inspired pro-democracy campaign.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance;  Mediation, Negotiation & Dialogue;  Nonviolent Action

Bangladesh has experienced its most consequential political event in at least two decades. On June 6, one day after Bangladesh’s high court reinstated the country’s job quota system that favored descendants of the 1971 liberation war, about 500 students gathered at Dhaka University to demand its repeal. Two months later, on August 5, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had governed  for 15 years, abdicated power and fled the country as a coalition of Bangladeshi students, political opponents and ordinary citizens marched on her residence to demand her resignation. As the prime minister departed for India, the head of the army announced his plan to form an interim government in a televised address.

Type: Question and Answer

Democracy & Governance

After months of fraught negotiations and diplomacy between the Maduro regime, Venezuela’s opposition and the international community, Venezuelans finally cast their votes in the country’s presidential elections this past Sunday. Polls had consistently shown opposition candidate Edmundo González on route toward a landslide victory — and data from election day revealed voters were poised to end more than a decade of President Nicolás Maduro’s grip on the country.

Type: Question and Answer

Democracy & Governance

Bangladesh’s streets have again erupted with political violence. In early July, a university student protest began over Bangladesh's job quota system that disproportionately benefits the descendants of Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war fighters, which many students view as unfair and outdated. Early last week, peaceful protests turned violent as police and ruling party supporters violently dispersed crowds. At least a half-dozen people died in early violence, including one man apparently shot by police with his hands raised, while pro- and anti-government students clashed around the country.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance