I’m back on the road this week, this time reporting on a visit to Cairo. Stalled at immigration control at Cairo International Airport, a run in with grumpy border guards has me thinking about accountability, rule of law… and the Bush legacy. As I walk into the chaotic Cairo terminal, I’m jumpy about my visa…
Our friends at the International Budget Partnership will be releasing their 2008 Open Budget Index on February 1. For those not familiar, the Index and its component country reports are among the most in-depth assessments of national-level budget transparency available. This is must-read material for those working on transparency and accountability issues. Via email: How…
We just noticed that one of our (personal) Facebook friends became a supporter of, “Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich – The Greatest Statesman of Modern Russia.” Why we think this is interesting: the president has 18,925 Facebook supporters! For those that bemoan Russia’s slide back to authoritarianism (our hands our raised too), remember: this isn’t happening in…
Think that US law requires that citizens be charged with a crime before being imprisoned? It does… except when it doesn’t. Welcome to the weird legal backwater of civil contempt, where a defendant’s guilt is presumed until they can prove otherwise. While the indefinite detentions at Guantanamo have (reasonably) gotten more attention, the stories collected…
New from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an analysis of the “MCC effect” — the catch-all term for the American aid agency’s indirect impact via their big money, pay-for-performance approach to policy change in countries receiving aid. Via email: I would like to bring a new publication to your attention entitled The “MCC Effect”: Creating…
Drawing from local examples, a new report entitled Soft Censorship: How Governments around the Globe Use Money to Manipulate Media provides a global perspective on a transparency issue that is likely to continue despite changes in the media industry. Globally, the traditional print media industry is declining. With the rise of new forms of media,…
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