Category Archives: Democracy

Presidential Election Analyses & Outlook

Public Podium Discussion Friday, June 11 18h (PST)/Saturday, June 12 9h (Ulaanbaatar) Program Moderator: Julian Dierkes, Univ of British Columbia Observations on the Ground Enkhtsetseg D, Open Society Forum: Domestic Election Observations Jana Zilkova, Caritas Czech Republic in Mongolia: International … Continue reading

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EIAS Talk: Political Transformations, Upcoming Presidential Election

I recently discussed Mongolia’s political trajectory toward the June 9 presidential election with Lin Goethals and Allesandra Tamponi at the European Institute for Asian Studies.

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Who is KhUN presidential candidate D. Enkhbat?

By Marissa J. Smith With one party member in Parliament, the KhUN party has the right to register a candidate for the presidential elections on June 9, 2021. They announced on May 12 that D. Enkhbat would be the candidate. … Continue reading

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Presidential Election Candidates: Initial Outlook

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

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

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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The Constitutional Court and Gridlock in Mongolian Democracy

By Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag and Marissa J. Smith As covered by Mongolia Focus, the Mongolian government made significant changes to the Constitution in 2019. This was the second time that changes have been made since the Democratic Constitution was adopted in … Continue reading

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Stability of Presidential Election System

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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Presidential Election Outlook

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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Mongolian Democracy Through the Lens of Animal Farm

By Bulgan Batdorj When I recently read the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, a book written as an allegorical critique of the Soviet Union in 1945, I could not help but compare the characters and story to Mongolia. The … Continue reading

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Podcast: 77Nation

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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Democratic Convulsions

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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Friends in Defence of Democracy?

By Julian Dierkes Throughout the past 30 years of democratic foreign policy, Mongolia has been a multi-lateral joiner, i.e. eager to participate in international initiatives that raise its profile, in particular aimed at deepening relationships with “Third Neighbours”. Now, there … Continue reading

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Guest Post: A Flawed Electoral System?

By Johann Fuhrmann and Max Duckstein Already a day after the elections some independent candidates began to call for a recounting of the ballots. In the following days, smaller parties and parts of the DP joined these demands. But irrespective … Continue reading

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Comparing 2008 and 2020 Elections

By Byambajav Dalaibuyan The 2008 parliamentary election had some features resembling the current election. Election systems A multi-member majoritarian or block voting system was used in 2008. Compared to single-member, majoritarian systems, this system requires candidates to run campaigns in … Continue reading

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