TAI Weekly

TAI Weekly | When Democracy Shrinks: Lessons from the Frontlines of Civic Space

By TAI (Role at TAI)
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TAI Weekly

Dear readers,

Another packed week of stories ranging from defending democracy to NGO diplomacy to funder collaboration lessons and a host of new events and jobs. Plus, we have several stories relating to governance in sectors - minerals, waste management, and, we start with Yogi Setya Permana’s assessment of the accountability gaps and governance issues that contribute to Indonesia’s chronic flood problem.

Happy reading!

TAI team

What's New

Arthur Sidney draws our attention to AI rules being written by African nations, who are using data laws and procurement standards to govern AI systems, challenging the dominant narrative that the continent is lagging behind.

A new volume in D-Hub's Fight for Democracy Chronicles brings together firsthand accounts from campaigners, researchers, and analysts to dissect the factors behind Javier Milei's victory at Argentina's 2025 legislative elections.

The Global Futures Bulletin from Instituto Igarapé frames the Amazon not only as an environmental asset but as a strategic mineral reserve now at the intersection of clean energy and hard security.  

Susan Stokes draws on a wide range of country examples in her new book to unpack the paradox of elected leaders who erode the very institutions that brought them to power. An unsettling read for anyone tracking democratic backsliding around the world.

Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 is out and shows a decline. A slim point drop in the score for the United States will surprise many, but is due to a lag in the data that is reviewed. Expect more significant changes next year. In the meantime, TI urges efforts around the world to boost independent justice, transparent political finance, media freedom, and action against illicit financial flows.

For those interested in alternative economic models, check out how Rethinking Economics have been revising education of economists, while Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis propose 3 steps to move beyond the capitalist model to address climate change. 

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning an international NGO centre in Taipei as part of a broader bid for what it has dubbed "NGO diplomacy", a strategy to attract more nonprofits to the country amid increasing concerns about Chinese incursion.

Two new pieces on effective anti-corruption: The Basel Institute on Governance argues Syria’s Transitional Government should strengthen institutional capacity and accountability in key sectors. Meanwhile, a joint paper with Adam Smith International, drawing on experience in Malawi, stresses that sustainable reform goes beyond technical fixes and must engage seriously with political economy realities.

A new working paper from the International Centre for Tax and Development explores how national policies and local service delivery shape plastic and solid waste management in Uganda. Based on interviews across five cities, it finds that design flaws and uneven implementation have weakened results. The authors call for clearer price signals, stronger enforcement of local rules, and dedicated funding for city waste and recycling infrastructure.

A joint investigation by PIJ Malawi, Finance Uncovered, and The Continent reveals how entities linked to the Chinese state covertly took control of one of Malawi's most strategically important rare-earth mineral projects, bypassing required oversight from Malawian authorities. The findings add to growing concerns around governance and sovereignty in critical mineral extraction across Africa.

Nicholas Bequelin worries whether democracy can be defended internationally, while Andrej Nosko, Director of PILnet, offers practical reflections on how to protect and sustain civic actors in challenging contexts, drawing on two decades of experience supporting civil society under autocratic regimes.

ESSENTIAL WATCHING:

BBC Africa Eye documentary investigates forced disappearances in Tanzania, surfacing harrowing testimonies and the institutional failures that allow such violations to persist. An essential viewing for anyone working on civic space and human rights in sub-Saharan Africa.

From Our Members

HEWLETT FOUNDATION: Jehan Velji, Director of the Effective Philanthropy Group at Hewlett Foundation, reflects on why collaborative funding models offer a genuine source of optimism in a challenging moment for the sector,  and how they can strengthen the field's collective response to uncertainty.

HUMANITY UNITED: In a new blog, Jesse Eaves, Senior Director of Peacebuilding at Humanity United, argues that lasting change depends not on networks alone but on the agreements that shape relationships within them, centring shared norms and community-led leadership to address violence and injustice.

OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS: Seeks a Program Manager (deadline February 24, 2026) to advance people‑centred public safety in Kenya and Nigeria. The role involves supporting community pilots, strategic engagement, and coordination with local partners in Nairobi, Mombasa, Benue, and Bayelsa, promoting rights‑respecting, accountable approaches to security.

TOOLS AND TRENDS FOR FUNDERS

In a conversation with Shelly Helgeson of Connective Impact, the structural forces reshaping philanthropy come into focus: closed funding pipelines, lower risk tolerance, and the loss of USAID are squeezing capital for social impact work. Helgeson argues that in this context, intentional relationship-building is not optional but central.

An interview with Christine Darcas, a consultant on Philanthropy Australia’s collective giving research initiative, explores emerging trends in collaborative generosity and what current research suggests about its direction and potential.

Alex Jacobs of the Joffe Charitable Trust shares five lessons from collaborating with funders to tackle the UK’s estimated £100 billion dirty money problem. From building bridges and investing in relationships to aligning strategies and adapting quickly, he argues that coordinated, flexible philanthropy is essential to confronting corruption and defending democracy.

Fan Li reflects on the 2025 Asia Philanthropy Congress, held under the theme "Philanthropy's Role in a Fragmented and Uncertain World." Speakers from foundations, NGOs, and international organisations returned repeatedly to shared pressures: climate escalation, widening inequality, shrinking aid, and geopolitical fragmentation.

ESSENTIAL LISTENING:

As artificial intelligence reshapes labour and value, architect and activist Indy Johar urges a fundamental rethinking of what it means to be human. In this talk and accompanying podcast, he explores what civilisational-scale resilience requires in an era of cascading and compounding volatility.

Focused Topic of the Week

Defensive or Generative? What It Means to Strengthen Civic Space

We are facing a harsh reality: by the time civic space violations become visible enough, the damage to democratic participation has often already occurred. The launch of the European Civic Forum's Civic Space Watch is a step towards moving from documentation to proactive intervention through an early warning system designed to alert EU institutions, media, and human rights bodies before restrictions calcify into permanent barriers. Yet even as European civil society builds these institutional safeguards, the nature of attacks on civic actors continues to mutate.

A good example is the gendered dimension of digital assaults, documented in "The Price of Freedom" study on Lebanon. The report exposes how online harassment functions as a strategic tool to silence women's political participation rather than merely an unfortunate byproduct of polarized discourse. Women journalists and political figures in Lebanon face coordinated campaigns designed to exploit both technological vulnerabilities and deeply entrenched social norms about women's public roles. This weaponization of digital space creates a chilling effect that extends far beyond individual targets—when prominent women are systematically harassed for their civic engagement, it sends an unmistakable message to all women about the costs of entering public life. 

In Angola, Rafael Marques de Morais's denunciation of rising impunity and expanding police power demonstrates how the erosion of civic space often follows a predictable trajectory: the gradual accumulation of unchecked authority, the weakening of accountability mechanisms, and the creation of gray zones where state violence operates beyond legal oversight. His warnings carry the weight of someone who has consistently exposed the intersection of political power and economic exploitation in Angola, understanding that restrictions on civic freedoms rarely arrive as dramatic ruptures but rather through incremental degradation: the investigation not pursued, the complaint dismissed, the pattern of abuse left unexamined…

Against this backdrop of constriction, the launch of Entretanto Magazine by Pacto pela Democracia in Brazil offers a reminder that defending civic space requires not only resistance to repression but also the cultivation of spaces for rigorous democratic deliberation. 

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