The ‘democratic deficit’ in Cuba – what does it mean for the people?
I was fascinated to read Tom Franklin's blog posting about the struggle between the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts in Thailand and his insights into some of the different opinions around the development of democracy more generally.
A popular uprising – against democracy?!
I've just returned from travelling in Thailand and Cambodia over the New Year break. My adventure started in Bangkok and I found it certainly lived up to its reputation for being overwhelmed by traffic jams and associated pollution. My adventure also ended in Bangkok, last week – and it was a very different city. Major roads were covered in tents, I could have lain down in the middle of the flyovers such was the lack of traffic, and the biggest road junctions had been turned into open-air pop concerts and markets. It felt like the city had been taken over by a mixture of Reclaim the Streets and the Occupy Movement.