America as a Developing Country
That's what a famous journalist once labeled the Philippines. But what about America?
– Donald Trump, 2016
– Trump attorneys, 2019
Study links Trump rallies to more than 700 Covid deaths
– Stanford University economists, 2020
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While reviewing a legal aid program in Bangladesh 25 years ago, I visited a mediation between two families in the middle of a small town’s evening market. The issue in dispute was whether and how much the 17-year-old husband’s clan should compensate that of the 16-year-old wife for throwing her out of its household.
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The seeds of this site were planted in 1987, when I went to work in the Philippines for an American foundation, making grants to groups focusing on human rights, legal aid, investigative journalism and land reform. I hoped to contribute in some small way to rebuilding that former American colony’s democracy following its 1986 “People Power” revolution. That revolt toppled a dictatorship and inspired pro-democracy movements across the globe, from South Korea to parts of the former Soviet Union.
My six years based in Manila launched a professional journey that took me to more than 40 other developing and transitional societies as a researcher and consultant on matters such as corruption, democracy, justice for the poor and the rule of law. I’ve been fortunate to work with some remarkable reformers in those nations. These people pursue the promise of their societies through good times and – as unfortunately is the case in the Philippines and many other places today – bad.
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