After struggling for 39 years to develop a fertile ground for democratic governance, Nigeria had its turning point in May 1999 when it became the world’s fourth largest democracy. This came after 16 years of brutal military rule. Despite complaints of fraud by political opposition in each election held since 1999, local and international election observers have regarded each of Nigeria’s general elections as relatively free and fair. On the economic front, Nigeria is now the largest economy in A...
This Friday, pupils in countless cities across the world will skip school and march for climate action. In just a few months, the movement has made quite an impact. It now needs policy backup – and action. In a recent tweet, the 16-year-old Swedish youth leader Greta Thunberg gave a list of practical recommendations for all school-striking youngsters: “no violence, no damage, no litter, no profit, no hatred, minimize your own carbon footprint, and always refer to science.” The last one may seem ...
The Dutch government’s refusal to allow Turkish ministers to visit Rotterdam and address the large number of Dutch-Turkish citizens on how to vote in the Turkish constitutional referendum of April 16 was a game-changer in the Dutch elections....
This paper describes the relationship between political leaders' migration experience and the evolution of democracy during their leadership. We build up an original database on the personal background of 932 politicians who were at the head of the executive power in a developing country over the 1960 - 2004 period. These data reveal the existence of a positive correlation between the fact that leaders studied abroad and the change in the score of democracy in their country during their tenure, ...
Our press review features the latest publications by UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance, as well as mentions in the media. Output for February includes nine working papers, a policy brief and a journal paper, covering among others things nanotech cancer therapies, semiconductor life cycles, and R&D constraints and patent quality. Our research spans the globe, covering more than 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and several more across Central and East Asia. ‘Political versus Economic In...