Category Archives: Research on Mongolia

2019 Mongolia Focus in Review

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Our blog is in its 9th year. We smashed through our 600th post this year. Most notably we were recognized through a Public Outreach Award from the Central Eurasian Studies Society. Mendee defended his PhD. I’d say, … Continue reading →

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

Back to the 2008 Future in Voting?

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Enkhtsetseg D and Julian Dierkes After toying with the idea of a mixed electoral system, in which 50 seats were to be distributed based on the FPTP system and 26 seats to be distributed proportionally from an open party … Continue reading →

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Posted in Elections, Enkhtsetseg Dagva, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ever-Creative Electoral System Discussions

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Long-time readers of our blog (really committed readers are looking back on 8 1/2 years of analyses!) will know that I get very interested in elections and that many of my collaborators have also chipped on an … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Constitutional Amendments Adopted

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes While some details remain curiously unclear (as is so frustratingly often the case with Mongolian legislation and reporting on it, the Ikh Khural approved a number of constitutional amendments on Nov 15. While these are subject to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Governance, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Party Politics, Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Book Review S Ruhlmann “Inviting Happiness: Food Sharing in Post-Communist Mongolia”

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Jade Marie Richards Sandrine Ruhlmann. 2019. Inviting Happiness: Food Sharing in Post-Communist Mongolia. Leiden: Brill, 2019. 288pp. ISBN 978-90-04-41063-3 So much recent work in the anthropology of Mongolia focuses on broad scale politico-economic transformation, urbanisation or the divisive mining … Continue reading →

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Posted in Anthropology, Change, Countryside, Food, Jade Marie Richards, Publications, Research on Mongolia, Reviews | Leave a comment

CESS Public Outreach Award

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

The Central Eurasian Studies Society has awarded our blog their 2019 Public Outreach Award. Congrats to CESS’ Public Outreach awardee Mongolia Focus blog https://t.co/WhEMwkgbUB — CESS (@CESS_news) October 12, 2019 Thank you, @CESS_news, we’re so proud!#Mongolia #research pic.twitter.com/IrydpIogIC — Julian … Continue reading →

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Constitutional Amendments

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan Constitutional change has been discussed in Mongolia for some time. Despite the super-majority that the MPP holds in parliament at the moment, we were not expecting amendments to actually be proposed, but now they … Continue reading →

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

Security Cameras Everywhere

Posted on June 17, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Maybe this will turn out to be a longterm series of posts on “contemporary Mongolia dissertations I wish someone was working on”. On visits to Mongolia, I see the streets and hills paved with dissertation topics, so … Continue reading →

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Posted in Crime, Dissertation Ideas, Morals, Research on Mongolia, Social Change, Social Issues | Tagged | Leave a comment

Roadmap for New Parties

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Let’s imagine scenarios that could lead to real political change, not only a change in leadership and possibly the party landscape, but a re-orientation of Mongolian democracy, a change of political culture, that gives Mongolians more of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Protest, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dr. Bloggers

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

Our blog has always been rooted in academic research and in the training that regular bloggers have received. We are all delighted that two of our regular crew (more or less active, at this point), have recently graduated to become … Continue reading →

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Posted in Democracy, Mongolia and ..., Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Leave a comment

Mine Aesthetics and OT as National Symbol

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes {This post continues a series of posts based on a visit to Oyu Tolgoi at the invitation of the company.} I think it’s fair to say that Mongolians have had an ambivalent relationship with Oyu Tolgoi ever … Continue reading →

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Posted in JD Mining Governance, Nationalism, Oyu Tolgoi, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Biased How?

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In 2016 I came back from a trip to Mongolia slightly puzzled and concerned. It seemed to me during meetings on that trip that there was a real concern with some interlocutors that I was some kind … Continue reading →

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Posted in Politics, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Likelihood of Political Renewal

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By  Julian Dierkes Why I am generally optimistic about Mongolian developments, Mongolian politics presents a lot of challenges and the current state of affairs causes more despair than it has in the previous 12+ years that I’ve been paying attention. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Nationalism, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Not the end of Democracy?

Posted on April 19, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes On March 27 2019, the Mongolian parliament passed legislation giving the National Security Council greater authority over judicial appointments and dismissals. This very sudden decision has caused a great deal concern among international observers of Mongolia and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Governance, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Law, Public Service | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Beginning of the End of Democracy?

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Boldsaikhan Sambuu Mongolians have voiced strong reactions to the proposal and the passage of a series of amendments to the laws governing the appointment and dismissal of judges, the Prosecutor General, and the Head of the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Boldsaikhan Sambuu, Corruption, Governance, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Law, Public Service | Leave a comment