Category Archives: JD Democratization

Speculation about Post-Election Scenarios

By Julian Dierkes Of course, there is lots of speculation about what election results next week might mean for the next four years. Coalitions? Long-time Mongolia watchers have heard this story before: rampant speculation around Ulaanbaatar that regardless of a … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, KhUN, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics | Leave a comment

Constituency Competitiveness

By Julian Dierkes With the men’s European Championship in football about to start, one might ask if any of the constituencies in the election are a “group of death” like Group D in the Euro where Austria, France, the Netherlands … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization | Tagged | Leave a comment

Balance of Power in Expanded Parliament

By Julian Dierkes The 2019 constitutional amendments were partly aimed at shifting the balance of power toward parliament and cabinet, away from the presidency. For example, the prohibition on the double deel was intended to strengthen the prime minister by … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Governance, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, KhUN, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Expectations of Coming Election

By Julian Dierkes With Marissa Smith and D Enkhtsetseg, I have set the stage for the coming parliamentary election in terms of the changes to the electoral system. I have previously offered some thoughts of what these changes might imply … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Democratic Party, Elections, Foreign Policy, Governance, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, KhUN, Mining Governance, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Public Policy, Social Issues, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Party Strategies under a Mixed Electoral System in 2024

By Julian Dierkes Recent constitutional amendments will have a profound impact on the 2024 parliamentary election especially as they will change candidates’ calculus about their nomination. Individuals seeking office or re-election will have the option of attempting to win one … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Party Landscape and Constitutional Amendments in Summer 2023

By Julian Dierkes and Marissa J. Smith While the MPP has now had a supermajority in parliament since 2016, the 2024 election is beginning to loom and the newly adopted constitutional amendment and amended Law on Elections with their shift to a … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

New Constitutional Amendments Toward Expansion of Parliament and Proportional Representation in Parliamentary Elections

By Julian Dierkes In mid-May it is looking like the constitution will be amended. D Amarbayasgalan has been very involved in process of proposing amendments as General Secretary of the MPP (more information about Amarbayasgalan) Үндсэн Хуулийн өөрчлөлтийн төслийг өргөн … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Aspirational Statements as Legislation

By Julian Dierkes With the “Protecting Human Rights on Social Media Law” we have seen another round of what seems like fairly misguided legislation. Tegshbayar has already questioned the need for an expedited process and other aspects for this law. … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Governance, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Law, Media and Press, Politics, Protest, Social Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

December 2022 Protests

By Julian Dierkes Once again, following protests in April 2022, primarily younger Mongolians took to Sukhbaatar Square in protest in early December. I initially wrote about these protests for The Diplomat, pointing out the simmering corruption worries connected to state-owned … Continue reading

Posted in China, Corruption, Erdenes Mongol, JD Democratization, Mining, Mining Governance, Politics, Protest, Protest, Tavan Tolgoi, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

State-Socialist Legacies and Selective Perception of Propaganda

By Julian Dierkes Every so often, my conversations, especially on visits to Mongolia which are so valuable for my thinking, touch on bigger issues that are challenging to frame as a blog post. This is one of those attempts to … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Dissertation Ideas, Gender, History, JD Democratization, Policy, Politics, Protest, Protest, Reflection, Social Issues, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Challenging Supermajority

By Julian Dierkes Following the 2020 parliamentary and 2021 presidential election, there were some fears that the MPP’s electoral wins and occupation of all three highest offices would lead to some kind of one-party domination. Most readers will recall then-Pres … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Democratic Party, JD Democratization, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Constitutional Amendments, Again?

By Julian Dierkes It appears that constitutional amendments are in the air again and some claim that these are likely to be addressed in a special parliamentary session in August or early on in the Fall session. These amendments would … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Governance, JD Democratization, Law, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

A More Constructive Longterm Interaction Between Rio Tinto and Mongolia

By Julian Dierkes In a previous post, I gave my sense of where the re-negotiations regarding the OT Agreement are heading and how I see this as a step in a repeating cycle. I have also pointed to a quest … Continue reading

Posted in Education, EITI, International Agreements, JD Democratization, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Politics, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fragmented Power

By Julian Dierkes A recent article in The Economist compares political contestation around the Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan and Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia. There a number of aspects to that comparison that make it very interesting: Democratization: Kyrgyzstan has – … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, EITI, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Kyrgyz Republic, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Young Voter Turnout

By Julian Dierkes There has been some debate around the low turnout rate in Mongolian election. The overall turnout was under 60% and thus much lower than the first round in 2017 and a continuation of the long-term trend of … Continue reading

Posted in Demography, Elections, JD Democratization, Presidential 2021, Younger Mongolians, Youth | Tagged | Leave a comment