Highlights — April 2008

Russia's Transition to Autocracy
By Pierre Hassner
Just as Russia's leaders pretend that they are ruling over a democracy, they also pretend that they are ruling over an empire.

Progress and Retreat in Africa: Challenges of a "Frontier" Region
By Richard Joseph
In Africa today, investment flows in and civil societies grow stronger, yet many of the continent's leaders continue to behave autocratically, defending their privileges against the spread of law-based rule.

Highlights — January 2008

Turkey Divided
By Zeyno Baran
Events surrounding Turkey’s 2007 elections reveal a country with a vibrantly democratic political sphere and a society badly split over the role of Islam in national life.

The Arroyo Imbroglio in the Philippines
By Paul D. Hutchcroft
Asia’s oldest democracy is sinking into a morass of corruption and scandal. The Philippines’ president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, continues to undermine the country’s democratic institutions in order to remain in power.

Senegal: The Return of Personalism
Penda Mbow
Senegal's 2000 presidential election marked the end of forty years of one-party rule. But the reign of President Wade has been a severe disappointment, dashing hopes for democratic consolidation.
*This is a corrected text of the print and original online version of this essay, portions of which drew heavily on Tarik Dahou and Vincent Foucher's "Le Sénégal, entre changement politique et révolution passive: 'Sopi' or not 'Sopi'?" Politique africaine 96 (December 2004) without adequate attribution. This is the only version that should be used for citation or further dissemination.

Highlights — October 2007

The Strange Death of the Liberal Consensus
by Ivan Krastev
The paradox of East-Central Europe is that the rise of populism is an outcome not of the failures but of the successes of postcommunist liberalism.
*This is a corrected text of the print and original online version of this essay, which lacked proper citation for some of its sources. This is the only version that should be used for citation or further dissemination.

From Democracy Fatigue to Populist Backlash
By Jacques Rupnik
The populist backlash against corruption, the CEE transition-era elites, and the liberal consensus has led to a democratic crisis, but does not portend systemic change.

The Untold Story of the Fight for Human Rights
By Ladan Boroumand
Observers who focus too much on elections have failed to grasp the maturation of Iranian civil society, even as hard-liners have come to dominate the government.

Highlights — July 2007

The July issue features a debate on "sequencing," with essays by Francis Fukuyama, Thomas Carothers, Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder, and Sheri Berman. A second cluster analyzes the democracy barometers, assessing public opinion on democracy in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and postcommunist Europe.

Free articles (PDF):

When Will the Chinese People Be Free?
By Henry S. Rowen, Minxin Pei, and Dali L. Yang
Henry S. Rowen begins the discussion with an essay to answer the question, "When Will the Chinese People Be Free?" Minxin Pei and Dali L. Yang each follow with comments on Rowen's answer as well as their own assessments.

The Institutionalization of Political Power in Africa
By Daniel N. Posner and Daniel J. Young
Sub-Saharan Africa has been traditionally depicted as a place where formal institutional rules are largely irrelevant—yet in the past fifteen years these rules have come to matter, and this trend is unlikely to reverse.