Political Turmoil and Receding Reform: Democratic Governance in Uncertain Times

At a time when democracy is experiencing a worrisome global deterioration, an important subset of struggling, democratic developing states has been dealt an especially hard blow from the economic crisis. Spread across the globe, these countries occupy the world’s political “middle ground.” Because many of these states receive significant attention from international donors, the challenges they face raise serious questions about the prospects for fostering development, deepening democratic roots and expanding effective governance.

On April 7, Freedom House and Foreign Policy Studies at Brookings hosted the release of the 2010 edition of “Countries at the Crossroads,” Freedom House’s latest analysis of democratic governance. A panel of experts discussed the regional governance challenges in Africa, Asia and Latin America. After the discussion, speakers took questions from the audience.