Ten years after a young street vendor’s self-immolation helped catalyze the Tunisian revolution that toppled its authoritarian leader and inspired protest movements across the Middle East and North Africa, Tunisian democracy is at a turning point. Although Tunisians are now free to choose their leaders, have held numerous elections, and […]
Read Time : 77 Minutes
Why Obama Fears for Our Democracy
Barack Obama was describing to me the manner in which the Mongol emperor and war-crimes innovator Genghis Khan would besiege a town. “They gave you two choices,” he said. “‘If you open the gates, we’ll just kill you quickly and take your women and enslave your children, but we won’t […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
Twitter and Facebook labels on Trump’s posts won’t save democracy
Facebook joined in, flagging Trump posts with the line: “Ballot counting will continue for days or weeks.” Were the labels a win for democracy? They were a win for Twitter and Facebook public relations, which got to look just responsive enough to avoid being blamed for botching another election. But […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
Yes, the Constitution Set Up a Democracy
Jeffrey Rosen: America is living James Madison’s nightmare Yet while dependent on the people, the Constitution did not embrace simple majoritarian democracy. The states, with unequal populations, got equal representation in the Senate. The Electoral College also gave the states weight as states in selecting the president. But the centrality […]