Presidential ballots after counting
Photo: Presidential ballots after counting, by MONUSCO via flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0

Sub-Sahara Africa Fights over Presidential Term Limits

August 30, 2016 / Claudia Simons

Should he stay or should he go? With regards to the president, the answer to this question is subject of heated debates in Burundi, Congo, DR Congo and Rwanda. The hollowing out of term limits raises grave concerns about the political transformation of many Central and East African countries. It’s election time in Central and […]

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A Last day of Hajj - all pilgrims leaving Mina, many already in Mecca for farewell circumambulation of Kaaba
A Last day of Hajj, by Omar Chatriwala via flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
Government buildings in Tunis
Government buildings in Tunis (Photo: Cernavoda via flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Is Tunisia’s 2014 Constitution Already Obsolete?

August 15, 2016 / Mohamed Limam

Tunisia – often lauded for its democratic development after the Arab Spring – is engulfed in a political power struggle and personal rivalries between office holders. Now the country’s constitution is increasingly coming under threat. More than one year and a half after the legislative and presidential elections in Tunisia in October and November 2014, […]

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Ulan Bator - Mongolia - The Parliament
Ulan Bator - Mongolia - The Parliament, by Mario Carvajal, via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

Mongolia: The Hidden Welfare Champion?

August 09, 2016 / Justine Doody

The World Social Forum convenes in Montreal from August 9-14. On occasion of the world’s largest civil society gathering, we look at an unknown star of social policy: Mongolia. Capitalizing on its mineral wealth, the country has set out to become a leading welfare state amongst emerging and developing countries.  In parliamentary elections on 29 […]

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Rio de Janeiro downtown and Favéla/Sugarloaf/Pain de Sucre
Rio de Janeiro downtown, by dany13, via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

Political Doping on the Eve of the Olympics

August 03, 2016 / Hauke Hartmann

Hardly any other country included in the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) has been as diligent in combating corruption as Brazil. Indeed, the country’s prosecutors need all the resolve they can muster: Brazil’s political system has recently been shaken by several bribery scandals, which have contributed to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. An analysis. […]

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Presburg Castle in Bratislava
Presburg Castle in Bratislava, by Guillaume Speurt, via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

Putting the Fox in Charge of the Hen House?

July 26, 2016 / Hauke Hartmann

On July 1 Slovakia took over the EU Council Presidency. Until now the government led by Prime Minister Fico refuses to assume responsibility in the refugee situation and attracted attention with islamophobic and populist comments. Is it now able to play the intermediator in Europe?  How strong is the consensus on values in present-day Europe? […]

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Map of Republic of South Sudan through magnifying glass
Map of Republic of South Sudan through magnifying glass (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto/naruedo)

The World’s Youngest State Plunges into Renewed Violence

July 22, 2016 / Sabine Donner

The terrorist attack in Nice and events in Turkey have pushed developments in South Sudan out of Western media headlines. Yet five years after independence, the situation in the East African state remains tense. The most recent outbreaks of violence have driven more than 10,000 South Sudanese to flee their homes. After more than 20 […]

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Partially Blurred Image of Iran on a Map
Partially Blurred Image of Iran on a Map (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto/Marcio)

Iran: Euphoria Following the Nuclear Deal Has Passed

July 21, 2016 / Behrouz Khosrozadeh

Four months on from the reformist victory in the double election and five months after the closing of the nuclear deal new prospects for Iran have opened up on the international stage. Yet, a climate of insecurity in the Islamic Republic remains and the country stays unpredictable. On 26 February 2016, Iranians went to the […]

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Protesters in São Paulo
Protesters in São Paulo call for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, by Agência Brasil, via commons.wikimedia.org, CC BY 3.0 br

Revisiting a Success Story

July 05, 2016 / Hauke Hartmann

Solid economic growth, combined with social policies: This was the recipe for success followed by many Latin American countries like Brazil. Now, the boom in exports has ended – all at the cost of social advances made in recent years. Is it time to question previous reform policies? Most economies in Latin America and the […]

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Russian Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: Xiaojun Deng via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0
Russian Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: Xiaojun Deng via flickr.com, CC BY 2.0

Is Cambodia Becoming the Sick Man of Southeast Asia?

June 29, 2016 / Markus Karbaum

Lack of transparency, accountability and judicial independence as well as widespread corruption seem to be unalterable elements of Cambodia’s development process. Could the reform bottleneck harm the country’s economic prospects and how far will the regime go to stay in power? Sometimes odds and ends are enough to reveal the whole picture. In April 2016, […]

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Welcome to the blog of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index.

We share local insights from our network of BTI experts and journalists in developing and transition countries.

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