democracy

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been called "Trump before there was a Trump." Here's why his reshaping of Hungary's political institutions inspires U.S. conservatives.

Most — but not all — political scientists are deeply troubled by the president's attempts to expand executive power, according to a national survey.

The dismantling of Hungary's democracy is a point of fascination for political scientists around the world — including those advising the Trump administration.

The brief declaration of martial law in South Korea last month has drawn comparisons to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The attempted power grabs could hold lessons for other democracies.

Indian police accused Stan Swamy of terrorism. His supporters say he was framed and evidence planted on his computer. Some call it Narendra Modi's Watergate. Six years on, no one has resigned.

Starting in 2018, sixteen people were arrested in India for allegedly plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They included professors, a poet, trade unionists and members of an improv acting troupe. Even an elderly Jesuit priest.

The evidence against them, discovered on their electronic devices, appears damning: minutes of terror cell meetings, emails to banned Maoist rebels and a letter suggesting a suicide attack on Modi.

Today, fifteen defendants continue to await trial. They all say they were falsely accused and that the evidence against them was fabricated and planted by hackers in order to silence them. Digital forensic investigators not only agree but say Modi's own government may be involved.

In this episode of The Sunday Story, NPR's Lauren Frayer follows the twists and turns of what Indian police say was a complex plot to sabotage Modi's government, and that defendants say was a setup. One of the defendants, the Rev. Stan Swamy, died while fighting to clear his name.