Right-wing Populism in Associated Countries: A Challenge for Democracy

DENIS CENUSA, TAMTA GELASHVILI, ANNA MEDVEDEVA This policy paper provides a structured comparative analysis of the nationalist populist actors, discourses and strategies in three Associated[1] Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. It assesses the challenges of the rad...
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Report presentation: Monitoring the Implementation of the Code of Conduct by Political Parties in Georgia

On 9 June, GIP presented a report on “Monitoring the Implementation of the Code of Conduct by Political Parties in Georgia”, published with the support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Prior to the 2020 elections, 40 Georgian political parties signed the political party Code o...
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EU Mediation in Georgia’s Political Crisis: What did We (not) Understand?

Nino Samkharadze  [1] For five months, Georgia has faced a severe political crisis that has been worrying enough for its European partners to express unprecedented interest in the country’s ongoing political processes. Indeed, the EU has been actively involved  in attempting to solve the cri...
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A New Challenger to Georgia’s Bipolar Politics: Chances and Impediments

Givi Silagadze* Georgia’s polarized political landscape has been shaken by a newcomer—Mamuka Khazaradze. His entrance to politics coupled with a promised transition from a mixed electoral system to a fully proportional one has generated a great deal of interest in Georgian society as well as in ...
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Government and opposition share blame for increasing trends of polarization and populism, experts say

Expert Polls # 9, Georgian Institute of Politics, April 2019. The ninth expert poll conducted by the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) explored the increasing trends of populism and polarization in Georgia. The GIP asked 34 renowned Georgian and foreign experts and scholars about the degree of po...
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GIP hosted its annual Democracy Conference “Polarization trap: Georgia’s democracy on the edge of trust crisis and the rise of populism” #GEODEM2019

The rise of populism and the polarization of political parties and the media are two of the most problematic issues that Georgia faces today along its path to democratization. In spite of the actuality of these topics, there is a lack of sufficient knowledge and academic discussion about these probl...
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Compendium of Policy Briefs 2019

Salome Minesashvili, Levan Kakhishvili,Bidzina Lebanidze, Nino Robakidze The four policy briefs in the publication introduce policy recommendations to tackle the trust crisis, polarization, and populism in Georgia. In particular, the publication focuses on the effect the decreasing level of trust in...
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Polarization: What do we know about it and what can we do to combat it?

Dr. Fernando Casal Bértoa[1] A specter is haunting Europe, the specter of polarization. In the last decade vote for anti-political-establishment parties, being them populist, radical and/or extreme has exponentially increased. And with it the distance between political parties and the irreconcilabl...
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Decreasing level of trust in Georgian political parties: What does it mean for democracy and how to avoid negative consequences?

Levan Kakhishvili[1] Trust in political parties in Georgia has dropped from 21 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2017. Although the level of trust has never been particularly high, this trend should raise concern and inspire political parties to act. Political trust is mostly determined by societal be...
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Defining the far right in Georgia: From neo-fascists to populist parties

Adriana Stephan As countries throughout Europe fall prey to far-right dissent, Georgia is also witnessing gains in its own domestic, far-right movement. Though still a marginal phenomenon, the burgeoning success of these movements threatens Georgia’s European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organi...
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