Founded in 1990, the Journal of Democracy is an influential quarterly journal which focuses on analyzing democratic regimes and movements around the world. The Journal is a branch of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy, and is published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner are its editors. [read more...]

Twenty Years of the Journal of Democracy


Highlights — January 2010

The first issue of the new year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Journal of Democracy. Nine essays by such top scholars as Robert Putnam, Francis Fukuyama, Philippe C. Schmitter, Guillermo O'Donnell, and others, as well as our editors Marc F. Plattner and Larry Diamond, seek to shed light on "Democracy's Past and Future," while a shorter set of articles written by seven leading analysts seeks to draw out the lessons of "Twenty Years of Postcommunism."

Free articles (PDF):
    Democracy's Past and Future
    The Editors

    Populism, Pluralism, and Liberal Democracy
    By Marc F. Plattner
    In recent years, scholars have begun to focus on the sources of "authoritarian resilience." But democracy has also shown surprising resilience, in part because the disorders to which it is prone tend to counteract each other.

    Why Are There No Arab Democracies?
    By Larry Diamond
    Democracy has held its own or gained ground in just about every part of the world except for the Arab Middle East. Why has this crucial region remained such infertile soil for democracy?

Highlights — October 2009

The cluster "Iran in Ferment" looks at the turmoil in Iran following the disputed presidential election in June. A second group of essays explores the relationship between poverty, inequality, and democracy, particularly in Latin America and East-Central Europe. Other essays address elections in India and South Africa, postwar reconstruction, and more. And be sure to look for the latest volume in our book series—Democracy: A Reader.

Free articles (PDF):
    Iran in Ferment: The Green Wave
    By Ali Afshari and H. Graham Underwood
    Iran's massive protest movement against June's electoral coup is now moving into a new phase. What are its prospects?

    Iran in Ferment: Cracks in the Regime
    By Abbas Milani
    The Islamic Republic is struggling, with the Revolutionary Guard Corps more and more the only thing propping it up.

    Iran in Ferment: Civil Society's Choice
    By Ladan Boroumand
    When students and other rights activists decided to seize a tactical opening that the regime cynically offered them during the 2009 campaign, they were making a choice that was even more fateful than they knew.

    An Accidental Advance? South Africa's 2009 Elections
    By Steven Friedman
    The ANC saw its first-ever decline in vote share in South Africa's 2009 parliamentary elections. Will the ANC heed this warning to mend internal divisions and reconnect with voters?

Highlights — July 2009

The cluster "China Since Tiananmen" explores the recent rise of various forms of popular protest in China and whether they represent a serious threat to CCP rule, while a second group of essays examines the relationship between democratization and elections. Other articles address recent events in Bangladesh, El Salvador, Malaysia, Moldova, Nicaragua, and Scotland.

Free articles (PDF):

    The Massacre’s Long Shadow
    By Jean Philippe-Béja
    The Tiananmen Square Massacre of 4 June 1989 still deeply affects the behavior of China’s rulers and their opposition alike.

    Authoritarian Impermanence
    By Andrew J. Nathan
    China's lack of certain stabilizing features, such as a culture of open dissent and the robust rule of law, may make the regime more vulnerable than it appears.

    Malaysia’s Electoral Upheaval
    By James Chin and Wong Chin Huat
    In March 2008, Malaysian voters dealt the long-ruling National Front coalition
    an enormous shock—pushing that party closer to losing power than it has ever
    been in Malaysia’s entire history as an independent country.

Highlights — April 2009

In the cluster "Reading Russia," ten authors explore the nature of the Russian political system. In other essays, Jean Bethke Elshtain considers the relationship between religion and democracy, while Zoltan Barany looks at NATO's role in the world today. Also featured in this issue are articles on Ghana, Singapore, and Venezuela, the 2008 Freedom House survey, and more.

Free articles (PDF):
    Religion and Democracy
    By Jean Bethke Elshtain
    The secularization hypothesis has failed, and failed spectacularly. We must find a new paradigm to help us understand the complexities of the relationship between religion and democracy.

    Reading Russia: The Siloviki in Charge
    By Andrei Illarionov
    The holders of political power in Russia today are the siloviki—the people who work for, or who used to work for, “the ministries of force.”

    Reading Russia: The Rules of Survival
    By Ivan Krastev
    The centrality of the sovereign state is the binding bond in the political imagination of both the Kremlin and Russian society at large.
Current Table of Contents

Quick Links
What's New
  • "Democracy's Past & Future," an event celebrating the Journal's 20th anniversary will be held at the National Endowment for Democracy on January 21 at 4 p.m. RSVP by email to forum@ned.org


  • The 2009 Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World, the sixth in an annual series, featured Nathan Glazer.
    [Watch the Event]


  • "Democracy, Totalitarianism, and the Culture of Freedom"—a memorial symposium honoring the life and work of Leszek Kolakowski, moderated by Zbigniew Brzezinski.
    [Watch the Event]


  • Democracy: A Reader, the latest volume in the Journal of Democracy's book series, appeared in September 2009.


  • The inaugural issue of the Journal of Democracy en Español, an annual publication, appeared in July 2009.


  • Panel discussion "Can Cuba Change?," featuring Eusebio Mujal-León, Carl Gershman, and Orlando Gutierrez, based on their articles in the January 2009 issue of Journal of Democracy.
    [Watch the Event]


  • The 2008 Seymour Martin Lipset Lecture on Democracy in the World, the fifth in the annual series, featured Jean Bethke Elshtain.
    [Watch the event]


  • The new Journal of Democracy book, How People View Democracy, was launched with the panel discussion "Public Opinion and Democracy: What Africans, Asians, and Arabs Think."
    [Watch the Event]


  • A panel discussion on the "State of Democracy in Latin America" marked the publication of Latin America's Struggle for Democracy, part of the Journal of Democracy book series.
    [Watch the Event]
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