Policy Briefs on Global Challenges to Democracy

This report analyses the challenges in Yemen which has for fourteen years suffered from the problem of aborted democratization. This is aggravated by acute and continuous state failure. After a discussion of state fragility since the popular uprising of 2011, the report outlines what is needed in Yemen. This includes a process of national reconciliation without which no democratization will be ever possible, to revive the National Dialogue begun in 2013-14, a strategy of stabilization, and a development and social justice vision to prevent further state collapse.

This report seeks to chart the political transition and the prospects for pluralist, if not democratic, rule in a situation that remains very much in flux since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024. Profound changes in Syria, spearheaded by President (of the Transitional Phase) Ahmed Al-Sharaa and his government, unfold in a setting where issues of security and basic territorial sovereignty remain highly volatile, shaped by regional and international dynamics. Following analysis of the political transition, the civic space and pressing security issues, a set of recommendations suggests ways that civil society and international stakeholders can work towards greater inclusiveness and popular participation.

This report focuses on the impasse of legal and political reform in Lebanon, with special reference to political parties. It examines some of the chief challenges Lebanon’s political parties face in a fragile and sectarian political system. In particular, how do the obstacles to reforming political parties limit the prospect of genuine democratization? It addresses how these obstacles historically played out in three different arenas: a) within the country’s existing sectarian political parties, b) within parliament, and c) within the legal profession. It concludes with a policy approach that is key for brokering forms of representation and distribution of power that have the potential to state–society relations more inclusively and democratically.

This report examines recent political developments in Mauritania which show signs of democratic backsliding, with increasing restrictions on political freedoms and declining public trust in political institutions. In recent years, the country has witnessed attempts to introduce constitutional amendments allowing the extension of presidential terms, changes to electoral laws that have restricted the participation of opposition parties, as well as restrictions on the media and suppression of civil society organizations. To halt this democratic regression in Mauritania, it is essential to implement a set of reform policies.

This report aims to examine the process of Tunisia’s autocratisation, which continues to reverse the gains from the 2011 Arab Spring. With receding civic freedoms and the rising tide of populist politics, there does not seem to be much room for democratic resilience and defence against democratic backsliding in Tunisia. The report provides a background that outlines key areas where democratic gains from the 2011–2021 period have been reversed since the July 2021 coup, and maps out the political landscape, highlighting the main difficulties facing the protection of civil society and civil and political freedoms. It then offers recommendations designed to limit the impact of autocratisation and revive free civil activism.