Time to Renew the Democracy

                 The most important feature of democracy is the respect for human rights, because there is not democracy without human rights. We all must fight for both, because as everybody knows your life depend on it, your voice as a citizen, your dignity, every right you ever think of. This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published with the incomplete title above, in 2018 at https://www.csis.org/analysis/time-renew-democracy-playbook. The second was published at https://www.renew-democracy.org/manifesto/

                 Concern surrounding the state of democracy is deafening, with rhetoric becoming increasingly dire. A barrage of news illuminate alarming developments: In Romania, democracy is facing its "gravest danger"; Venezuela has banned opposition in the name of democracy; and India's supreme court judges have warned that democracy is under threat. Indeed, over the past few years, the world has suffered a democracy recession. Public opinion polls measuring citizens' faith in government institutions have recorded historic lows in the U.S., for example; and an abundance of academic research points to a resurgence of illiberal democracy. According Freedom House are 11 consecutive years of decline in global democracy. Moving beyond surface-level trends and news headlines, democracy around the world has systematically stalled. Setbacks can be found in Hungary, where Prime Minister has consolidated his power by asserting authority over the judicial and legislative branch, as well as the media-clamping down on dissent and independent civil society. Meanwhile, Poland, once lauded as a success story, recently overhauled its judicial system, putting the courts under the control of the right-wing governing party. While experts worry that democracy is on its heels, the gloom is exacerbated by the impression that authoritarian regimes are making a comeback. Once a dying breed, autocrats are evolving and find new ways to come into power. Today, autocrats are likely to come to power through a democratic election, but retain it through a gradual erosion of democratic norms and practices. Both illiberal democrats and traditional autocrats are employing similar strategies to exert influence and sow confusion within democratic societies. Perhaps even more palpable than the threat to democracy is the anxiety about its future. Especially among younger generations, a rising number of individuals are willing to experiment with different forms of governance. further analysis finds that only 23% of people are strongly committed to democracy. Citizen engagement is also at a global low, with voter turnout declining significantly since the 1990s. These indicators demonstrate that democracies, even those that are historically strong and resilient, are not immune to threats and do not function on autopilot. Instead, democracy must be continually worked and fought for. democracy is at a critical juncture, falling behind in the face of complex global challenges, such as grave environmental issues and the migration crisis. Further emboldening of authoritarianism would only give rise to global instability. Resilience in the face of these trends comes from strong citizen engagement and sound institutions, Civil society and journalists, both face their own threats that coincide with the closing of political space, play a crucial role in expressing dissent and holding government accountable. To push back against further decline in democracy, civil society and the media should effectively communicate potential backsliding to the public, and further mobilize in response to early warning signs. Citizen engagement should be renewed through a reinvigoration of the narrative surrounding democratic values and processes and enhanced civic education. Other have much to learn from Uruguayans' commitment to resolve differencs at the voting booth and their healthy mistrust of messianic leaders which fortifies them against unsuitably long presidential terms. Democracies must also band together in order to defend its institutions and remove barriers to citizen engagement. Estonia, for example, has positioned itself as a leader in e-government, and citizens have trust in their government, which they exercise when signing official documents digitally. Germany has also led the way in combatting disinformation, the creation of a center to combat false news and foreign influence. There is much to learn from other democratic nations, and it will be important to leverage forums such as the Community of Democracies, so democratic countries can take the next step in their renewal and evolution. At its prime, the democracy playbook included providing democracy assistance and enhancing influence through soft power means such as exchanges. A renewed democracy playbook must be nimble and innovative to fight back against democracy's decline.

              The modern world is at risk losing its way. The liberal-democratic order is under attack. The historical arc toward greater global stability, freedom and prosperity in large parts of the world is at risk of being bent back. The core principles of liberal democracy that once defined a centrist political majority across the free world are being pulled apart as once fringe views from the left and right gain public acceptance. Relentless partisanship has led major parties to abandon common cause, leading to the debilitation of vital civic institutions, including responsible news media. It is essential to defend and refine the values and institutions of democracy before they are further crippled. These include: the integrity of elections, freedom of the press and assembly; the safety of individuals; business free of corruption or excessive government intervention; a representative democracy that makes government accountable to its citizens; citizens who feel they are fairly treated and fully represented by their governments. It is equally essential to defend democracy against global adversaries: authoritarian regimes, terrorist groups, and the ideologies and theologies that underpin both. The pillars of modernity are interlocking. Responsible political and digital revolutions in closed or suppressed societies unlock the economic and intellectual potential of millions of people. In recent years these trends have slowed or are in retreat in parts of the world. Protectionism is likewise gaining popularity in countries that have benefitted from free trade. Modern technology provides new weapons, new recruits, for the forces of illiberalism, and they have moved far more quickly.  There is little doubt that many of the problems being addressed by the advocates of illiberalism are real. But their proposed solutions range from the impracticable to the illusory to the immoral. The extremists share a disdain for the globalism on which modern prosperity is based. They seek power without compromise and defer to the rule of law only when it strengthens their own position. These illiberal forces embrace divisive rhetoric that makes rational debate impossible. Democracy must address the problems of those disadvantage with programs grounded in fact and reason. The free world must rally in defense of free societies and their values and promote them where they are most urgently needed. Political polarization has opened the door wide for active interference. We must reject this dangerous path. We must not allow the political fringes to pull the center. To achieve this, there must be credible alternatives, real solutions, and ongoing dialogue. Western politics needs to be revitalized: intellectually, culturally and politically. And an understanding that free societies require protection from authoritarians promising easy fixes to complex problems. The immediate need is to help restore political confidence. This does not require fundamentally new ideas. It erequires fresh thinking about good ideas, a new way of arguing for sound principles of democracy. The aim is to help generate this fresh thinking and to convene the best minds from different countries to come together for projects in the service of democracy in the west and beyond.

Amnesty International Report 2017/2018

                  This post is a summary of the book with the title above published at  https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL1067002018ENGLISH.PDF

                  The Amnesty International Report 2017/2018 shines a light on the state of the world's human rights during 2017. The foreword, a survey of 159 countries from all regions document the struggle of many people to claim their rights, and the failures of governments to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. Yet, there are also glimpses of hard-won progress, demonstrating that the defence of human rights does yield positive developments. This report pays tribute to the human rights defenders who continue to fight for change, sometimes risking their own lives in the process. As we enter 2018, the year in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 70, it is abundantly clear that none of us can take any of our human rights for granted. We certainly can not take for granted that we will be free to gather together in protest or to criticize our governments. Neither can we take for granted that social security will be available when we are old or incapacitated; that our babies can grow up in cities with clean, breathable air; or that as young people we will leave school to find jobs that enable us to buy a home. The battle for human rights is never decisively won in any place or at any point in time. The frontiers shift continually, so there can never be room for complacency.  Faced with unprecedented challenges across the world, people have shown that their thirst for justice, dignity and equality will not be extinguished; they continue to find new and bold ways of expressing this, in 2017, this battle of values reached a new level of intensity. 2017 demonstrated the enduring willingness of people to stand up for their rights and for the values they want to see in the world. New and severe threats gave fresh oxygen to the spirit of protest. But the cost of speaking out against injustice continues to grow. In Turkey, the ruthless and arbitrary assault on civil society continued at a furious pace. China unleashed unprecedented crackdowns on individuals perceived to be critical of the government. Following large, widespread protests in Russia, hundreds of peaceful protesters and journalists were arrested. Across Africa, the intolerance of public protest was alarming apparent, from arbitrary bans in Angola and Chad, to heavy-handed crackdowns in the R.D.Congo, Togo and Uganda. In Venezuela, hundreds of people were arbitrarily detained and many more suffered the consequences of abusive force in response to public protesters. 2018 will mark 20years since the U.N. adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which provides for their protection and support and encourages everyone to stand up for human rights. Yet two decades later, those who take up the mantle of defending human rights often face the gravest of consequences. Today, many of our most important public space exist online, where the tools for addressing emerging challenges have at times proved wholly inadequate to the task. The avalanche of online abuse, the incitement of hatred against minorities, drew weak and inconsistent responses from social media companies and scant action from government. The impact of "fake news" as a tool for manipulating public opinion was widely discussed throughout 2017. These concerns are compounded by the concentration of control in only a handful of companies over the information people view, and by the huge power asymmetry between individuals and the companies and governments who control vast amount of data. As we approach the 70th anniversary of the U.D.H.R., the challenge ahead is clear. This is the time to reclaim the essential idea of dignity of all people, to cherish those values, and demand that they become a foundation for policy-making. The artificial boundaries erected  by a politics of demonization lead us only towards conflict and brutality, a nightmarish vision of munanity governed by naked self-interest.  It is time for this to change. We must refuse to accept narratives of demonization and build instead a culture of solidarity. We must assert the right of all people to participate in building the societies to which they belong. And we must seek constructive answers, rooted in human rights, to anger and alienation that provide a ready context for toxic political narratives of blame. Huge numbers of people across the Americas region faced a deepening human rights crisis, fuelled by the downgrading of human rights in law, policy and practice, together with increasing use of the politics of division. Such regression exacerbated a lack of trust in the authorities and in institutions such as the justice systems, manifested in low levels of participation in elections and referendums. Rather than using human rights as a way to secure a more just and sustainable future, many governments fell back on tactics of repression, misusing their security forces and justice systems to silence dissent and criticism; allowing torture and other ill-treatment to go unpunished by failures in accountability and justice. Huge numbers of people fled their home to escape repression, violence, discrimination and poverty. Many suffered further abuses while in transit or upon reaching other countries in the region. At the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly, held in Cancún, Mexico, there was a clear lack of political leadership to address some of the region's most pressing human rights issues. After the previous year's financial crisis, the OAS took a step forward by doubling the budget allocation for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights systems to hold states accountable for human rights violations. Impunity remained pervasive and a key driver of human rights violations and abuses in many countries. The extreme risks and dangers of defending human rights were apparent in numerous countries in the region, with human rights defenders facing threats, harassment and attacks in bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico and Paraguay. Brazil's human rights record was examined for the third time under the U.N. UPR process. Brazil received 246 recommendations, including on indigenous people's rights to land; killings by the police; torture in prisions; and protection of human rights defenders. In Brazil, human rights defenders, especially those in rural areas, continued to be threatened, attacked and killed. The states of Pará and Maranhão were among those where defenders were at highest risk. Budget cuts and lack of political will to prioritize the protection of human rights defenders resulted in the dismantling of the National Programme of Protection, leaving hundreds exposed to a higher risk of attacks. Conflicts over land and invasion by illegal loggers and mine workers into indigenous peoples' territory continued, resulting in several episodes of violence against indigenous people. The courts undermined the institutional framework, introdicing further delays in the already slow land demarcation process, aggravating conflicts over land. In Venezuela security forces continued to use excessive and undue force to disperse protests. Hundreds of people were arbitrarily detained. There were many reports of torture and other ill-treatment. The judicial system continued to be used to silence dissidents. Human rights defenders were harassed and subject to raids. The food and health crisis continued to worsen. The number of Venezuelans seeking asylum in other countries increased.

World Press Freedom Day 2018

                Ten days ago, precisely on 3rd of May, All over the world was celebrated the freedom to speak the truth, to talk about things that matter. This post is a summary of three articles. The first was publushed at https://en.unesco.org/news/world-press-freedom-day-2018-keeping-power-check-media-justice-and-rule-law. The second was published at http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/04/world-press-freedom-day-2018/. The third was published at https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/201618-campus-journalists-world-press-freedom-day-2018. The fourth was published at  https://webfoundation.org/2018/05/keeping-power-in-check-media-justice-and-the-rule-of-law/

               May 3 will mark the 25th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) whose flagship celebration, organized by UNESCO and the government of Ghana, will be held in Accra. The theme chosen for this year is "Keeping Power in Check: Media, justice and the Rule of Law." It explores the interaction between the judiciary and the media, and their complementary roles in fostering transparency, accountability and governance. Dozens of WPFD events are being organized around the world. The programme of the International Conference in Accra highlights the media's contribution to government accountability and to the transparency of elections. Ways to reinforce the ability of the judiciary to protect press freedom will be assessed along with the risk posed by attempts to regulate online speech. On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, UNESCO will launch its flagship publications on press freedom: the World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development and Re-shaping Cultural Policies. An exhibition of works by this year's winners of UNESCO's annual World Press Photo Contest will be on show during the celebration. Independent news organizations come together, launching a new campaign, Read More, Listen More,  for WPFD urging everyone to look beyond their usual information channels and seek out news sources that offer a different perspective. Meanwhile, video messages by high profile journalists, artists and advocates will highlight the inportance of press freedom and freedom of expression from various perspectives at a time when misinformation, censorship, harassment and violence against journalists put new strains on fundamental human rights.

              The theme for the 25th celebration of World Press Freedom Day is "Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and the Rule of Law," focussing on the importance of an enabling legal environment for press freedom, and gives attention to the role of an independent judiciary in ensuring legal guarantees for press freedom and prosecution of crimes against journalists. Only 13% of the world population enjoys a free press, where coverage of politics is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, and state intrusion in media affairs is minimal. Political and economic transformations of some countries alongside with their technological developments place new restrictions on press freedom. Governments of these countries tend to implement restrictive laws and cersorship on freedom of press, usually justifying these actions as a necessary tool for national security against terrorism. Since 2000, annual incarceration of journalists has continued to increase globally, with many of them never seeing inside of a courtroom. In 2017, 81 journalists died whilst committed to their jobs, 66% of them were murdered. According to the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, violence and restrictions against media freedom has risen by 14% in the period of 2012-2017. At the same time, since 2016, media freedom in countries where it was ranked as "good" decreased by 2.3% Among the countries that suffered the largest declines on the report's in 2016 were Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Bolivia, Serbia, and R.P.Congo.

              For World Press Freedom Day, several campus journalists from different universities in Manila shared their thoughts on why press freedom is important in an era of fake news and disinformation. "As a student, I have been a managing editor of a newspaper, and this is how I saw the world now, how I started my passion in communication," Aica Escarez told. "This is where I saw that there are lots of problems that can be addressed by opening the eyes of the people," she added. This was echoed by Franco Luna, a campus journalist from Manila University, "I have seen how  journalism triggers critical thinking on campus, freedom of the press and freedom of expression help people make informed decisions by themselves," Luna added. Several students also noted how journalism can shape public opinion, and how this allow them to think critically about issues that are important to the country. "Journalism encourage citizens to act according to their democratic rights," said Josiah Antonio. Another student, Luis Foronda said, "I believe that press freedom provides a critical perspective of our history and of our current events." Another campus journalist, Gerard Guillermo, also said that journalism and the media are among the pillars of a democracy. "If we do not give it sufficient importance or emphasis, we will see the continuous erosion of democracy," He said. For Flint Gorospe, a campus journalist from Polytechnic of the Philippines, press freedom is important in unveiling the truth. He said, "I believe that press freedom is important because it helps unveil the truth about events in our country especially now that fake news and spreading disinformation is becoming common practice for a lot of people."

               My name is Nnenna. I come from the internet. I work with the organisation founded by and on the principles set forth by Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. At the WWW Foundation, we work with all stakeholder to keep the web a beneficial, open and safe space for evryereryone. With the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), we consistently seek good practices to make broadband connectivity affordable. For the past few years that I have been on the board of Pen+Bytes, a media organisation that works for the enhancement of governance through citizen participation. I am also an Advisory Council member of European Digital Rights (EDRi). It has been a challenge, a rewarding challenge. Whether we are charing by physical hand-over or by clicking a button, I can say one thing: that the people from the internet and people from the press share the same principles. We want: Freedom; of information and of disseminating the benefits of information and knowledge.  Independence; from political, religious or corporate pressure. Safety; to go about our daily work and lives freely. Plurality and diversity; especially as we now live in a global village.  Gender balance and social justice; so we leave no one behind. The web has opened up journalism to new writers, editors and outlets. And the potential audience for journalism has grown as more people become connected, consuming more media than ever before. But this window of opportunity could close if we do not fight to keep information flowing and the web free and open. Traditional media, new media, online platform, face the same threats. We face government crackdown on free expression. We all face the threat of fake news. It is only when information is credible and reliable that papers and platforms will truly empower people.

200th Birthday of Karl Marx

                  Yesterday the German writer Karl Marx would complete 200 years old, so this post is a tribute to him. He influenced and was influenced so much by literature that there is a literary criticism with his name. He was a studious of Balzac's works. His writings helped the awareness against exploitation and injustice, and brought the politics and solidarity to the workers, until then totally excluded from political participation and opinion. This post is a summary of three article. The first was published at  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Marx. The second was published at http://neoenglishsystem.blogspot.com.br/2010/12/influence-of-karl-marx-on-modern.html. The third was published at https://books.google.com.br/books?id=Z63PgY7W1lkC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq. The fourth was published at  

 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/142174/9/09_chapter%202.pdf

                Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German sociologist, historian and economist. He published with Friedrich Engels "The Communist Manifesto,"  the most celebrated pamphlet in the history of the socialist movement. He also published the movement most important book, Das Capital.                                                                                                                                                                             Marx and Freud have influenced life and literature in the 20th century more deeply and extensively than the earlier great thinkers and scientists like Copernicus and Darwin influenced the life and literature in their own respective areas. Marx and Freud had very different fields and orientations. While Marx was basically a social philosopher, Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis. Marx's philosophy is known as "dialectical materialism." No place is given by him to the soul or the spirit. According to him, religion is the opium of the masses. He adopted the Hegelian dialectic to give a materialist account of social formations. His concept to class conflict is a basic point. Conflict arise from the desire to control the means of production. So far as English literature is concerned, Marx's impact manifests itself in four different ways: 1) A greater concern for the poor exploited masses, without any overt projection of the Marxian ideology. Even non-Marxian writers tend to give a greater representation to the working class in their works. In the novels of Arnold Bennett, for example, we have mostly working-class heroes. 2) Use of literature as a means of communistic propaganda, See, for example, the English Socialist theatre of today. 3) A tendency to subvert the conventional literary forms by condemning them as constructs of the bourgeoisie. 4) A reaction against Marxian ideology which seems to encourage statism as against the concept of the sanctity and freedom of the individual and abject materialism as against higher values of life. Of all the literary genres it is the novel that allows an author to represent life the most comprehensive. There have been practically no English novels based on Marxian theories like the materialistic basis and class struggle, there have been novels representing the life of the poor, exploited classes with all its unrelieved gloom. Two novelists who wrote such novels with some distinctiveness were George Gissing and George Moore. Moore unlike Gissing, was a rare combination of an uncompromising realist and a refined aesthete. George Orwell's well-known novels, Animal Farm and 1984 are satires on Socialism and Stalinism. The former has the form of an allegorical fable. The latter came after World War II. This novel is a vision of a world ruled by dictatorship of the Stalinist style, taken to an extreme in which private life and independent thought are all but eradicated by surveillance and propaganda. Marxian thought has had a impact on literary criticism all over the world. To Marx, literature was only part of the "superstructure" of which the "base" was formed by economic conditions and dispensation of a society. In its purity Marxian criticism tends to be simplistic if not severely blinkered. But it has its own insights to offer. The Marxian school has in its ranks such great critics as Lukacs, Walter Benjamin, Fredric Jameson, and Macherey, to name just a few. Several latter-day critics have tried to relate Marxism with Structuralism, psychoanalytic theories and even Reconstruction criticism, leading to new insights if not comprehensive systems.

               Let us try, to imagine what effect Balzac's work actually had or could have had on Marx, as both a reader and a writer. Marx's interest in reading Balzac's fiction need not have been limited to its uses for "illustrating" his scientific analyses and historical investigations. Thus, it can not be simply a question of speculating on how Balzac's fiction provide Marx with a "dramatic medium" for representing history, an "unconscious depiction" of social reality. History becomes accessible and assimilable to Marx not despite but through Balzac. The assertion of Marx's "Balzacian" is akin to attempts to approach these issues fron the other direction, that is, from a perspective that tries to preserve the critical functions of Marxism within literary analysis generally, and in particular to discern the dimensions of a Marxist or political unconscious in Balzac's own literary creations. Both Marx and Balzac are concerned with in the practice of their respective crafts. For them, it is not a question simply of trying to gain access to historical reality as or through texts, fictional or factual, but particularly of discerning the fictionality of our sense of reality, as well as the sense of reality that may be communicated through our fictions. 

               Marxism is understood as a philosophy of history. It is an attempt to formulate a scientific theory of human societies. It suggest a programme of political action for bringing about change in society by making free from explotation and tiranny. However, It should be remembered that Marx himself was aman of letters and a scientific critic. In order to understand the Marxist view of literature, it is necessary to take into account the relationship between literature and life, literature and society and literature and social, political, and economic conditions. In this regard, the terms like 'base and superstructure', 'ideology' ans 'socialist realism' are of a greater help here for having a clearer sense of the relationship between Marxism and literature. Marx held a view that the social relations are bound up with the way they produce their material life. The capitalistic class owns the means of production and the proletarian class whose labour the capitalist buys for his own profit. Georg Lukacs was a Marxist critic. He represents a flexible view of the role of ideology. In his opinion each great work of literature creates its own world which is unique and seemingly distinct from everyday reality. However, great realists like Balzac and Tolstoy who are called as 'masters of realism' bring life the greatest possible richness of the objective conditions of life and create typical characters who manifest to an essential tendencies and determinants of their epoch. These novelists become successful in producing a fictional world which is a reflection of life in the greatest concreteness and clarity and with all its motivating contradictions. Thus, the fictional world of such writers becomes harmonious with Marx conception of the real class-conflict, economic and social contradictions, and the alienation of the individual. Lukacs has made use of the major critical concepts like 'totality' and 'world historical'. These concepts are essentially Hegelian. Thus, for Lukacs, the realist writer penetrates through the accidental phenomena of social life for making open the essences of a condition by selecting and combining them into a total form and putting them in concrete experience. He further remarks that the rise of realists writers takes place from a history which is visibly in the making. For example, the rise of historical novel as a genre at a point when there was a revolutionary turbulence in the early 19th century. He says that writers like Scott, Balzac, and Tolstoy can produce realist art because they are present at the tumultuous birth of an historical epoch. They are engaged with the vividly exposed conflicts and dynamics of their societies. Here, the basis of their formal achievement is the historical context.