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picture alliance / AP | Dita Alangkara

Democracy and society

Pirates against the machine

Pop culture creates global symbols of resistance. But can its borrowed power truly reshape political reality?

By Hanna Kirchberger

Canva

Democracy and society

Sacred cows make for bitter feasts

When everyone insists on being right, debates harden. Understanding outcomes, not just principles, may be the only way through today’s polarised world

By Steven Sloman

picture alliance / Ikon Images | Thomas Kuhlenbeck

Democracy and society

Blame it on the boomers?

Germany’s baby boomers leave a complex legacy. Reducing it to blame obscures the real challenges of sustaining prosperity across generations

By Peter Bofinger

picture alliance / AP | Thoko Chikondi

Democracy and society

When tomorrow looks like yesterday

A former Malawian president, once seen as a symbol of failure, now tempts voters again — proof that economic despair can rewrite political memory

By Golden Matonga

picture alliance / AP | Achmad Ibrahim

Democracy and society

Polite democracy, brutal reality

Indonesia’s mass protests signal not just public anger at inequality, but the quiet dismantling of democratic space

By Andreas Ufen

picture alliance / Anadolu | Gerald Anderson

Democracy and society

Rising giant or fading echo?

The Gen Z protests have made Kenya’s youth impossible to ignore — the question is whether they can now remake politics itself

By Charles Wachira

picture alliance / Anadolu | Diego Radames

Democracy and society

Spain’s real trial

The amnesty law is polarising Spain. But it’s the right and far right – not PM Sánchez – who are threatening democracy

By José Montilla Aguilera

picture alliance / AP | Jose Luis Magana

Democracy and society

The ones who cry fascist

Democracies collapse not only through extremism, but also through the slow corrosion of debate and the narrowing of acceptable opinion

By Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf

picture alliance / abaca | Europa Press/ABACA

Democracy and society

The illusion of normalcy

Unlike what is happening at the national level, the shift to the right in the EU is much less visible, creeping in, unnoticed by the public

By Tobias Mörschel

picture alliance / Sipa USA | SOPA Images

Democracy and society

A seat at the table

Russian democratic forces in exile seek representation in the Council of Europe’s Assembly — but will they succeed?

By Ekaterina Venkina