The Journal of Democracy is the world’s leading publication on the theory and practice of democracy. Since its first appearance in 1990, it has engaged both activists and intellectuals in critical discussions of the problems of and prospects for democracy around the world. Today, the Journal is at the center of debate on the major social, political, and cultural challenges that confront emerging and established democracies alike. It covers not only practical political matters but also questions of democratic theory and culture. While it maintains the highest scholarly standards, it is written and edited for the general reader.
In May 2026, the Journal of Democracy entered into a partnership with Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), a leading research center of global, political, and economic development. The Journal of Democracy’s editors alone are responsible for all editorial decisions, which do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the faculty and researchers at CDDRL or Stanford University. No outside party determines, reviews, or endorses the Journal’s choices.
The Journal’s Influence
A truly global publication, the Journal attracts both authors and readers from all over the world. The Journal’s authors include eminent social scientists and historians, statesmen and leaders of democratic movements, and renowned intellectuals. Readers include government policy analysts, political scientists, scholars, educators, and all those interested in human rights, international affairs, foreign policy, and comparative politics. Journal essays, authors, and editors have been widely cited in such leading publications as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.
The Journal is considered one of the premier authorities in the field of democracy studies. It is available online through Project MUSE, and is the most consulted of all the journals available on the site. MUSE is a collaborative website between libraries and publishers, housing more than three-hundred humanities, arts, and social-sciences journals.
Relationship to Johns Hopkins University Press
The Journal of Democracy and its book series are published by Johns Hopkins University Press. The JHU Press is America’s oldest and one of its largest university presses, publishing more than 170 books each year and 52 scholarly journals. By long tradition The JHU Press has published with distinction in such disciplines as literary studies, classics, history, economics, political science, and the history of science and medicine.