Author Archives: Julian Dierkes

About Julian Dierkes

Julian Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton Univ) and a Mongolist by choice and passion since around 2005. He teaches in the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He toots @jdierkes@sciences.social and tweets @jdierkes

Guest Post: An Election with Handpicked Candidates?

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Max Duckstein On May 6, the election commission confirmed the receipt of the third and last candidate for the upcoming presidential elections: S Erdene. In the hours before, the deputies of his own party urged the commission not to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democratic Party, Max Duckstein, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Leave a comment

Presidential Election Candidates: Initial Outlook

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Before the presidential election campaign gets started in earnest, I want to offer my sense of the candidates, issues, and some thoughts about possible outcomes. Candidates have now been nominated. In one of the great surprises of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

More Presidential Election Speculation

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes If you have been reading our blog, you know that I cannot resist speculating about electoral chances and outcomes. That is even more speculative now, as I have been unable to travel to Mongolia since December 2019 … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Democracy in Danger? A Court Ruling with Serious Implications for Mongolia’s Future

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Johann Fuhrmann and Max Duckstein The lead-up to the Mongolian presidential elections on June 9 is getting messier by the day. On April 16 the constitutional court ruled to bar the incumbent president Kh Battulga from running a second … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Democratic Party, Johann Fuhrmann, Judiciary, Law, Max Duckstein, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Leave a comment

The Military, Populism, and Trepidation about Single-Party Rule

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Marissa J. Smith The constitutional amendments of Nov 2019 seemed to result from a bargain between Pres. Battulga and the MPP that would allow him to run for another term under the new six-year single term. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, History, JD Democratization, Military, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: COVID19 in Ulaanbaatar II – Emergency Levels, Lockdowns and Patterns

Posted on April 8, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Paweł Szczap [This is a second part to a post published on Apr 2 2021 focused on mass testing and risk areas.] In order to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Ulaanbaatar, a two-week-long, citywide lockdown was introduced mid-February … Continue reading →

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Posted in Health, Paweł Szczap, Public Policy, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

Guest Post: COVID19 in Ulaanbaatar – Mass Testing and Risk Areas

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Paweł Szczap In mid-February 2021, a mass testing program for COVID-19 called Neg khaalga – Neg shinjilgee (One Door – One Test; below abbreviated as 1D1T), was implemented in Ulaanbaatar. It was undertaken in reaction to the gradual spread … Continue reading →

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Posted in Health, Paweł Szczap, Public Policy, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

Stability of Presidential Election System

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In June, Mongolians will participate in a presidential election again. The electoral system has remained largely unchanged since the first free election in 1993. In late January 2021 a conference on “Democratic Challenges in Asia and Mongolia” … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Elections, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Presidential Election Outlook

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Parties will nominate candidates my May 2 before Mongolians will vote on a new president on June 9, 2021. Depending on the outcome of the election this will be the 5th or 6th president since the democratic … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, JD Democratization, Military, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Oyun-Erdene Cabinet

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Bulgan B, Marissa Smith and Julian Dierkes After U Khurelsukh’s sudden resignation, the MPP moved swiftly to nominate 2-time MP and serving Cabinet Secretary L Oyun-Erdene as Prime Minister. As speculated, (see: here, here, and here), the new Cabinet … Continue reading →

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Posted in Agriculture, Education, Energy, Foreign Policy, Ikh Khural 2020, Mongolian People's Party, Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

PM Khurelsukh Resigns Suddenly

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Over 30 years of Mongolia’s democratic history we have seen a lot of surprising developments. By comparison, recent months seemed relatively calm. The Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) cruised to a first-ever consecutive election victory, seemingly on the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Health, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Protest, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

2020 Mongolia Focus in Review

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes This summer, we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of our blog, though one would have to be very hopeful that this will involve a reunion of our regular authors together in one place. It will also be … Continue reading →

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Posted in Reflection, Research on Mongolia, Social Media | Leave a comment

Podcast: 77Nation

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

On Dec 11 2020, I appeared on the 77Nation podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of Mongolian politics with L Bolor, E Enkhtamir, and B Geser.

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, International Relations, Podcast, Politics | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Spirituality and Wisdom Cherished by “The Legend of the Shaman”

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By OTGONSUREN Jargal  I know one researcher, a woman from Europa who researches shamanism and admires the magic of Mongolian shamans. She says that her life has changed dramatically after become a researcher and every summer she comes to Mongolia, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Buddhism, Literature, Otgonsuren Jargal, Religion, Shamanism | Leave a comment

Democratic Convulsions

Posted on November 7, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Two ongoing convulsions of democracy are having me reflect on Mongolia, elections, and political system challenges: the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan According to Katie Putz, one of the choices that is coming out of the revolutionary upheavals … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Elections, JD Democratization, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and ..., Politics, United States | Leave a comment