Stories about Governance from March, 2013
Trying to Get Through: Hungarians Send Video Messages to Prime Minister
Young Hungarians are shocked by the government's stubborn refusal to acknowledge their protests and their demands for a more democratic decision-making. To get their message across, four young people launched...
Blackout has Trinidad & Tobago Bloggers Seeing Red
Good Friday in Trinidad and Tobago was suddenly dubbed “Black Friday” as the country descended into darkness, thanks to a nationwide blackout. Most people were communicating via Facebook and Twitter,...
Majority Religion In A Country Is A Curse
Sri Lankan blogger Patta Pal Boru opines that the majority religion in a country is a curse as the simple weight of the established religion (inertia) gets people thinking about...
Status of Vietnam's Civil Society Organizations
The Asia Foundation estimates that there are about 2,000 Civil Society Organizations or CSOs in Vietnam. It recently published a survey on Vietnam's CSOs: The nature of civil society in...
Brazilian LGBT Advocates Beaten, One Arrested
On March 27, a protest against the recent election of congressman and controversial evangelical preacher Marco Feliciano as chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and Minorities in the Brazilian Deputy...
Official Fine Dining Goes Underground as China Curbs Excesses
China's crackdown on extravagance and banqueting has sent official fine dining underground. Local governments have turned in-house cafeterias into fine restaurants and hosted lavish private dinners in their homes in...
China Government's Growing Weibo Footprint
The number of Chinese government Weibo accounts has soared over the past few years and will continue to be so. Via China Digital Times: The survey by the Chinese Academy...
Trinidad & Tobago: Warner's Woes
The headlines in Trinidad and Tobago's mainstream media over the last couple of days have focused on a Reuters exclusive report that Daryan Warner, son of former FIFA Vice-President (and...
Brazilian Military Enters Indigenous Lands
On March 22, the Brazilian Government deployed [pt] 60 forces of the police and army to the lands of the Munduruku indigenous people, at the Tapajós river basin. Activists and...
China's Feel-Good Viral Photo Wasn't Real
A feel-good viral photo showing a young girl on her knees helping an elderly homeless man eat has turned out to be a publicity stunt and netizens feel cheated. More...
Film Exposes Madagascar's Child Sex Trade
The journeyman.tv published on March 25 a detailed investigation using undercover filming to expose the booming child sex trade in Madagascar: One mother in the film testifies: My daughter was...
Despite Bans, China's Uyghurs Wear their Identity with Pride
A viral photo showing Uyghur students being punished for wearing Muslims caps in Xinjiang's Urumqi city has been labelled by the authorities as a "rumor" and a "plot" by "outside...
Crisis in Sabah After Malaysia's Standoff with Armed Filipinos
Sabah is part of Malaysia but the Sulu Sultan from the Philippines insists its part of his kingdom. His armed followers occupied parts of Sabah in February but the Malaysian...
Drones and Drug Politics in China and Myanmar
Burmese drug lord Naw Kham was executed by China through lethal injection last March 1 after being found guilty of killing 13 sailors on the Mekong River in 2011. His...
How Will St. Lucia's Civil Servant Strike Turn Out?
A civil service strike in St. Lucia has dominated online conversation in the country, as netizens discuss issues like the size of the public service, St. Lucia's debt burden and...
Why China's Real-Name Microblog Rules Fail
The real-name registration regulation of micro-blogs in China has been implemented for more than a year, but a majority of netizens just ignore the regulation. David Caragliano from Tea Leaf...
Shades of Communism in New Russian Registration Law
On the evening of March 18, 2013 group of around 12 people [ru] unveiled a long black-and-white poster in the Red Square, reading “Go f*ck yourself with your registration”. They...
Latin America after Chávez: Change and Continuity
As a staunch critic of the United States and a leading figure of the left-wing revival across Latin America, Hugo Chávez Frías has undoubtedly left a remarkable footprint on contemporary...
Tunisia: “No to IMF Loan”
As Tunisia works to secure a US$1.78 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to cover next year's budget, the government has ignited anger across the country raising taxes and...
INFOGRAPHIC: More Money for Ukraine's Bloated Police Force
The infographics on Ukraine's law enforcement that many Ukrainian Facebook users have been sharing this month tells us that the country's police force is a bit too numerous and has...
