tailieunhanh - Freedom in the World 2013: DEMOCRATIC BREAKTHROUGHS IN THE BALANCE

Pepperdine University is an independent, medium-sized university enrolling approximately 7,600 students in five colleges and schools. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the University’s 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. Courses are taught in Malibu, at four graduate campuses in Southern California, and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, and China. The University was founded in 1937 by Mr. George Pepperdine, a Christian businessman who started the Western Auto Supply Company. For the. | FREEDOm Freedom in the World 2013 HOUSE DEMOCRATIC BREAKTHROUGHS IN THE BALANCE Selected data from Freedom House s annual survey of political rights and civil liberties ME Freedom in the World 2013 Democratic Breakthroughs in the Balance by Arch Puddington As the year 2012 drew to a close events in the Middle East dramatized two competing trends demands for change pushed forward by popular democratic movements and an authoritarian response that combines intransigence with strategic adaptability. The ambiguous nature of these developments combined with either instability or authoritarian retrenchment in other regions had a significant impact on the state of global freedom. The findings of Freedom in the World 2013 the latest edition of Freedom House s annual report on political rights and civil liberties showed that more countries registered declines than exhibited gains over the course of 2012. This marks the seventh consecutive year in which countries with declines outnumbered those with improvements. Yet the number of countries ranked as Free increased by three and now stands at 90 suggesting that the overall ferment includes a potential for progress as well as deterioration. Developments in Egypt in particular encapsulated a pattern in which gains for freedom in the Middle East and North Africa MENA were threatened by opposition from governments security forces ruling families or religiously based political factions. In Egypt the year was notable for a flawed but competitive presidential election the withdrawal of the military from its self-appointed political supremacy and a continued assertiveness by popular movements in the face of antidemocratic threats. Despite the energy of civil society and the shift to civilian rule however the country was confronted by daunting problems experiencing at various times a campaign to hobble foreign and local nongovernmental organizations the dissolution of an elected parliament by the judiciary a faulty process to draft a .