until, in the words of another
founding father, “it is refreshed by the blood of patriots and tyrants”
– both of which, I’m afraid, Armenia has plenty.

Armenia is currently not eligible for receiving additional U.S. economic assistance under a program designed to reward good governance and reforms around the world, U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said on Friday. She said the approaching parliamentary and presidential elections in the country will be an opportunity for the Armenian government to improve its democracy and human rights record and thus again qualify for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) program.

The U.S. government approved $236 million worth of MCA assistance to Armenia in 2006 to finance a rural development plan submitted by Yerevan. In June 2008, Washington scrapped a $67 million segment of the aid package,Armenia had a
democratic constitution, there were problems in practice with
elections, freedom of speech and the judicial system. “The parliamentary
and presidential elections of 1990 and 1991 were democratic, but 1995
and 1996 saw a huge step backwards, and the tradition of electoral fraud
has continued since then, albeit with some modification,” he said.Manoukyan
said free speech was marred by the removal of the A1+ TV channel from
the airwaves some years ago, the judicial system was far from perfect,
and economic domination by the oligarchs had curbed both market
competition and the growth of democratic institutions.

Democracy Derailed: How Armenia Has Become the Post-Soviet Region's Model Dictatorship

On December 7, 2015, Armenia held a landmark referendum on constitutional reform. The results were resounding. Over 63% of Armenians voted in favor of reforms
that would greatly increase the power