Paper
The future looks bleak for independent media worldwide, but there is a robust infrastructure of knowledge, organizations, and people to build upon.
Daniel Sabet, Susan Abbott
Research
A New Phase of Civic Movements: Implications for International Democracy Support
International democracy support has yet to catch up with the changing shape of global civil society. Many democracy-support donors remain uncertain about how to engage with activists, given the lack of institutionalization and accountability mechanisms.
Published on May 7, 2025
About the Authors
Richard Youngs
Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Richard Youngs is a senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, based at Carnegie Europe. He works on EU foreign policy and on issues of international democracy.
Elene Panchulidze
Head of Research, European Partnership for Democracy
Elene Panchulidze is head of research at the European Partnership for Democracy.
Carlotta Magoga
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- The Impact of Ending U.S. International Media Assistance
- Alarm or Caution? Defending Democracy During BackslidingPaper
Defenders of democracy often split over perceptions, methods, urgency levels, and priorities.
Murat Somer, Jennifer McCoy
- Protests Like No Kings Can Only Go So Far to Stem AuthoritarianismCommentary
Lessons from other backsliding democracies show that mass mobilization needs to feed into an electoral strategy.
Saskia Brechenmacher, Shreya Joshi
- Win or Lose, Orbán Has Broken Hungary’s DemocracyCommentary
Hungarians head to the polls on April 12 for an election of national and European consequence. Three different outcomes are on the cards, each with their own implications for the EU.
Zsuzsanna Szelényi
- Is France Shifting Rightward?Commentary
The far right failed to win big in France’s municipal elections. But that’s not good news for the country’s left wing, which remained disunited while the broader right consolidated its momentum ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
Catherine Fieschi
