· May, 2008

Stories about Governance from May, 2008

Brazil: PeBodyCount joins Brazilian Disarmament Network

  31 May 2008

PEBodyCount blog [pt] is now officially a member of the “Brazilian Disarmament Network”, which brings together more than 40 entities. “The network will stimulate and strengthen the idea that carrying guns is risky and, hence, handing them over is better than registering them.” Also check out these t-shirts, that have...

Ukraine, Russia: Personae Non Gratae

On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compares the two cases.

Bangladesh: Compromised Media

  30 May 2008

Ever since Bangladesh was put under a state of emergency by an interim government supported by the military it was a testing time for Bangladesh media. The credibility of Bangladesh’s Bangla and English-language press is in question as their recent role seems biased and appeasing. This post discusses the degrading situation of the Bangladeshi media.

Paraguay: The Creation of a People's Union

  29 May 2008

Edgar Ruiz Díaz of Las Preguntas de Venerando [es] writes about the change in power in Paraguay, and how many public workers will now try to convince the new administration that they belong. He also suggests the creation of a “People's Union,” which will help control the public administration.

Bermuda: Freedom or Manipulation?

  29 May 2008

Bermudian bloggers are incensed about the Premier's statement that making certain information public is “akin to asking a neural surgeon to come out of the operating room in the middle of an operation to answer about costs and procedures”: IMHO.bm: “This is not progressive, this is regressive”; Vexed Bermoothes: “The...

Romania: Corruption

Transatlantic Politics writes about corruption in Eastern and Central Europe: “A survey made amongst Romanian judges showed that most of them don’t consider corruption as being a serious crime.”

Hungary: Ferenc Szálasi

Hungarian Spectrum writes about Ferenc Szálasi and Hungarian nationalist politics – here and here: “Perhaps no one will be surprised to discover that the man who came up with “Hungarism” wasn’t an ethnic Hungarian. His original name was Szalosján. His fraternal ancestors came from Armenia and settled in Transylvania […]....

Russia: “Medialogia”

Scraps of Moscow writes about Russian politics and the media: “Sometimes, though, mediologists, not meteorologists, are the best way of trying to figure out which way the political winds are blowing on a given week.”

Peru: Rate of Poverty Reduction Difficult to Believe

  29 May 2008

Juan Sheput of Mate Pastor [es] and other analysts are doubting the Peruvian National Statistic and Information Institute's announcement that poverty has decreased 5.2% over the course of the past year. Among some of the reasons why this figure seems too high is the “inequality, poor administration of social programs,...

China: Chinese Red Cross on corruption watch

  28 May 2008

Bloggers continue to monitor earthquake corruption, as they wait for the truth to come out as to why so many school buildings collapsed so easily in this month's massive earthquake. The parents of children who died, though, aren't waiting. On Sunday a group from Mianzhu city took photos of their...

Armenia: Public Chamber

The Armenian Observer reports on plans to create a public chamber of NGOs, businessmen and public figures to help facilitate dialogue between the authorities and society. However, with most of Armenia's many thousands of NGOs inactive and interested only in hunting grants, the blog has its doubts about the effectiveness...

Kyrgyzstan: Police Fighting Crime

The Azamat Report analyzes a recent news story about Kyrgyzstan's police effort to fight crime and particularly on its alleged “operation to expel” a notorious criminal leader, and says that it has plummeted his respect to police way below the imaginable level.

China: No Corruption in Building Schools

  28 May 2008

The education ministry has denied corruption in the construction of school buildings in the Sichuan earthquake zone. The comments in Zhaomu's blog showed that no one believed in the official statement [zh].