With oil, Gabon has one of the highest GDPs in Africa. But the fact that it is the largest African importer of champagne illustrates that the wealth distribution there basically runs along the lines of the Bongo family versus the Gabonese people.
Articles by DC Authors
DC Authors articles from Democracy Chronicles writers across the globe are colleced here. And take a look at DC's Author Central page for more information about the writers and even inquire about getting involved yourself. Together, they help cover free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on American democracy.
How Religion Wrecks Democracy and Our Justice System
Religion is the foundation of our legal, political and electoral system still. Would you choose to download software built with 2,000 year-old logic onto your computer or fly on a plane built according to first century aeronautics?
Our Political Polarization Lacks an Ideological Solution
The increasing political polarization, a problem of the entire western world, is based on misconceptions to which today’s politicians find themselves without an ideological solution. They are as trustworthy as a runaway train!
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death?
The revolutionary Patrick Henry who voiced this opinion in 1775 was the biggest slaveholder in the New World. He wanted freedom and liberty for himself but not for the slaves who made him his fortune.
New Year’s Resolutions at the Center for Election Science
This year was a banner year. We hired new staff, spoke on the world stage, and led a successful campaign that made Fargo, North Dakota the first city in the US to implement approval voting.
Consequences: A Country Gets the President it Deserves
I’ve heard it said, that a country gets the president it deserves. Does that count if that person cheated to gain power? It seems amazing that many Republican voters still support Trump. What are they thinking?
Peculiar Patterns In U.S. Disability Legislation Politics
We are moving into another period with a Democratic House and a Republican president, and this tells me there will be opportunities for fantastic advances in disability rights. We need an omnibus disability rights bill.
Citizens United: A Battle of Money vs Democracy
It is time to demand change and this begins with staging mass protests against the Citizens United decision and the system of election campaign financing in America. Our freedoms and our rights hang in the balance.
Don’t Do the Daley Clan in Chicago Again
Bill’s father, Richard J. Daley, was the longest-serving Chicago mayor ever, serving from 1955 to 1976. That record was beaten by Bill’s brother, Richard M. Daley, who ran the city from 1989 to 2011.
Thoughts on Meritocracy
When we adopt such a truly bottom-up, democratic system of representative government, it will be meritocratic naturally because the people will decide which of their peers have the merit to serve as their representatives.