TAI Weekly

TAI Weekly | Second Chances or Second Threats? Democracy After 100 Days of Trump

By TAI (Role at TAI)
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TAI Weekly

Dear readers,

At the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings last week, economic uncertainty dominated the headlines, but there were also many sessions on tax and all things digital. A new ODI report on public finance in the digital era was well-timed for the discussions, exploring emerging themes and implications for governance. Stay tuned for a TAI scoping on intersections of digital public infrastructure, fiscal affairs and accountability.

Talking of TAI reports, we are excited about our new paper on budget execution for climate finance - more on that below.

Happy reading!

TAI team

WHAT'S NEW?

Government officials in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, are appealing to citizens to end illegal gold mining operations — most of them small-scale, family operations within protected natural areas. They highlight the life-threatening risks and legal consequences as well as environmental costs.

Minouche Shafik and Masood Ahmed make a compelling case for health taxes as a tool to fund essential public services, and offer a thoughtful perspective on fiscal policy for public good.

As the Open Government Partnership enters a new chapter, new CEO Aidan Eyakuze shares his vision for the future of open government. He emphasizes unity, collaboration, and positive change, arguing transparency and citizen engagement are more vital than ever.

The IMF celebrated its new debt guidance last week, but good to read alongside this new Debt Working Paper Series edited by the Institute For Economic Justice, including a paper that reimagines sovereign debt through a human rights lens. 

Greg Michner analyzes how the Brazilian state is increasingly using "privacy" to conceal public spending on servant remuneration and public sector contracts.

Rhiannon McCluskey makes a compelling case for doubling aid to domestic resource mobilization and public financial management by 2030 in a new analysis.

In a new policy brief, Steven Dean, Erin Ryu, and Danna Lopez-Flores explore where international tax cooperation should be negotiated: at the OECD or the UN. Meanwhile, negotiations of a UN Tax Convention have another two years to go - so some inspiration from students from around the globe who replicated their own neogitations. Read what they came up with.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING

Check out this animation from Open Ownership on how beneficial ownership data can strengthen tax transparency and help tackle tax evasion, featuring clear recommendations for tax authorities and policymakers.

FROM OUR MEMBERS

OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS: Is advancing protections for rights defenders through legal aid, training for justice officials, and support for the Escazú Agreement on environmental rights. Meanwhile, the latest Ideas Letter, also supported by OSF, features David Klion’s essay on how a rising oligarchic class in the U.S. is undermining liberal institutions in favor of loyalty over expertise, reflecting on growing threats to democratic values.

MACARTHUR FOUNDATION: In a recent Guardian article, President John Palfrey emphasizes the need for charitable organizations to resist political pressure, warning they could soon be targeted. He urges the philanthropic sector to stand firm and reject capitulation—calling instead for collective resistance and principled leadership.

HUMANITY UNITED: Joins with more than 100 civil society organizations calling on the Department of Labor to restore $500 million in funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) to fight forced labor and child labor. Read the full letter.

TAI SECRETARIAT: Just released The Delivery Imperative: Making every climate dollar count, by Anjali Garg and Warren Krafchik. The report reveals that 10–14% of climate finance funds go unspent annually, with critical sectors suffering the most. As COP29 promises $300B in annual climate finance, our framework outlines practical steps to ensure these funds make a real impact.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING

As this week's meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund take place in Washington DC, economist Fadhel Kaboub warns that the current global economic architecture is failing—and that a New International Economic Order cannot emerge without African leadership to lift the continent from the bottom of the global value chain. 

TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS

Alliance magazine explains how intermediaries can be transformative actors in the philanthropic ecosystem - not just channeling funds but working as connectors, advocates, and interpreters of local contexts, enabling grassroots organizations to access support systems during times of political uncertainty.

Rights CoLab has introduced the term 'ecosystem catalysts' in a new paper to shed lights on the important set of civil society actors who help build civil society connections and shift power and resources to local actors. (Don’t forget TAI's own intermediaries scoping.)

Harriet McCallum, Mannifera Executive Office, shares learnings from the second Global Summit of Collaborative Funds in San Francisco, and notes how collaborative funds are increasingly recognized worldwide as effective and efficient ways to move resources where needed.

The updated Dignity Self-Assessment Tool is now available for organizations worldwide through a simple online form. This practical resource grew from ongoing research into measurable dignity standards and has been refined through partnerships with practitioners across multiple regions.

The Center for Effective Philanthropy examines foundation spending and signals that addressing the gap between urgent funding demands and foundation responses requires examining deeply held narratives about foundation spending.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING

Is Ghana ready to win the fight against corruption? Watch this great panel organized by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development.

FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK:

Democracy Under Strain: The First 100 Days of Trump’s Second Term Paint a Troubling Picture

As the United States crosses the 100-day mark of Donald Trump’s second term, watchdogs, scholars, and civil society leaders are sounding the alarm. A flurry of executive actions, policy reversals, and institutional pressure points to a rapidly shifting landscape—one that many argue undermines the core pillars of American democracy and has knock on effects for democratic and civic space globally.

A newly released report, Documenting the Damage: 100 Harmful Policies from the First 100 Days of the Second Trump Administration, offers a sobering snapshot. Focusing first on Democracy and Government, the report catalogs sweeping changes that weaken transparency, curtail oversight, and concentrate power within the executive branch. 

Anne Applebaum, whose book Autocracy, Inc. warned of creeping authoritarianism, now sees her hypotheses materializing in real time. In a recent article, she traces how patterns of democratic erosion—once observed from a distance in Hungary, Poland, or Russia—are now taking hold in the U.S. “What once felt hypothetical now reads like a field guide,” she writes.

This atmosphere of erosion has prompted personal and professional reckonings. In Why Authoritarians Attack Universities First, Jason Stanley, a Yale professor and leading expert on fascism, publicly announces his decision to leave the U.S., citing rising threats to academic freedom and an openly hostile political climate. His departure, he notes, is not an act of protest but of self-preservation—one echoed by educators and researchers across the country who fear becoming targets.

Meanwhile, civil society is bracing for impact. Environmental groups warn of impending executive orders that could strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status if they engage in legal advocacy—effectively stifling dissent under the guise of reform. Sources close to the White House suggest these measures are imminent, with potentially far-reaching consequences for environmental protections and public interest litigation. Moves against philanthropies are also under consideration.

In response to these threats, some thinkers are proposing bold new frameworks to reclaim democratic space. Marjan Ehsassi and Josh Lerner make a radical case for a fourth branch of government: a House of the People, composed of randomly selected citizens who would deliberate on national policy alongside the U.S. House of Representatives. This lottery-based assembly, they argue, could reinvigorate participation, reduce elite capture, and restore legitimacy to a system many view as broken.

Inspiration can also come from other geographies.  The Governing With Citizens report offers insights from senior civil servants on democratic innovations across eight European countries, and provides valuable perspectives on citizen participation in governance. 

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