There is a medieval view of politics that unfortunately persists in societies like ours: that the winner takes all; that, following the election of a new president, all the key positions in government must be vacated to give way to the appointment of those most loyal to the president, irrespective of merit. Nothing does more … Read more
The word “impunity” simply means “without punishment,” or exempted from penalty—in reference to acts that normally require accountability and punishment. In the vocabulary of human rights advocacy, however, the term has a more textured meaning, reflecting the complex challenges that human rights activists have had to face over the years in societies wracked by political … Read more
My good friend, Dodong Nemenzo, professor emeritus of politics and former president of the University of the Philippines, recently gave me an intriguing book. The title alone, “The Dictator’s Handbook” (2011), is sufficiently beguiling, and I couldn’t wait to read it. But, halfway through the book, I realized it is not just about tyrannical regimes; … Read more