Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
Sidney Hook (1902–1989)
A tribute in remembrance of Sidney Hook (1902–1989).
Articles
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Competitive Authoritarianism in America
The United States has slid into competitive authoritarianism. The slide has been modest and remains reversible—but it is real. Even after Donald Trump, American democracy will remain fragile.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Does Nonviolent Action Still Work?
Mass movements topple dictators but struggle to secure democracy afterward. The theory of nonviolent struggle is not broken; it is out of date. Regimes have adapted their repression—movements must now adapt their strategies.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
The Real Liberation Technology
Social media inspired revolutions that autocrats quickly smothered. Digital payments are different: Rulers cannot switch them off without ruining their own economies. Quietly, they enrich citizens, broaden markets, and build the foundations for a freer society.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Authoritarian AI’s Last-Mile Problem
AI gives autocrats unprecedented powers of surveillance, but seeing is not enforcing. Authoritarians still rely on coercion, and a regime’s henchmen can shirk, defect, or disobey. The costs for autocrats will rise in unexpected ways.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Will AI Surveillance End Bureaucratic Autonomy?
Bureaucrats who slow-walk, leak, and refuse to cooperate have long been democracy’s quiet sentinels. But autocrats armed with AI surveillance will root them out—unless democracies build new legal shields around the administrative state.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
The Age of Authoritarian Abundance
For the first time in a century, every great power is autocratic or heading that way. In a post-unipolar world, strongmen shop for patrons and make deals while democrats increasingly are on the defensive.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Why Welfare States Save Democracy
Inequality fuels democratic decay almost everywhere, yet South Korea and Taiwan keep thriving. Their secret is the welfare state: Universal healthcare, pensions, and social protection have given citizens concrete reasons to trust democracy.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Polarization Is Not the Problem
Americans have never been angrier with one another. But polarization is not the disease—it is the response to a revanchist movement seeking to roll back sixty years of social progress.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Taiwan’s Deadlocked Democracy
A wealthy, high-quality democracy has seized up. No populist, no stolen election—just divided government colliding with a constitution built for single-party rule. With Beijing watching, the stakes for Taiwan could not be higher.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
Symposium: Democratic Resistance in Eroding Democracies
Read the full note here.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
How to Build the Right Coalition
Opposition parties cannot defeat backsliding incumbents alone, but big united fronts often fail, too. The important choice lies between unity coalitions and quiet ones—and knowing which to choose can make all the difference.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
How to Protect the Media in Eroding Democracies
Independent journalism is under siege from lawsuits, shutdowns, and digital dominance. Good reporting is no longer enough: The media must win distribution, build solidarity networks, diversify funding, and connect the consequences of democratic erosion to daily life.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
How Courts Survive Democratic Backsliding
When elected leaders attack the courts, judges rarely prevail on their own. Across 25 cases of backsliding, judicial independence survived only where legislators, protesters, and international institutions stood ready to defend it.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
How to Break an Autocrat’s Coalition
Autocrats look invincible until their allies start to walk away. Defections have brought down regimes from Guatemala to Hungary, and they can be engineered: Raise the costs of standing with the autocrat and ease the path out.
October 2026, Volume 37, Issue 4
How Protest Can Halt Backsliding
Opposition movements have begun to question the power of taking to the street. But protest matters in backsliding democracies when it builds opposition strength—politicizing new voters, emboldening institutions, and fracturing the ruling coalition.
Just a month after its introduction, ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, hit 100-million monthly users, making it the fastest-growing application in history. For context, it took the video-streaming service Netflix, now a household name, three-and-a-half years to reach one-million monthly users. But unlike Netflix, the meteoric rise of ChatGPT and its potential for…
nt VPN systems.” Telecom giants such as China Unicom can cut connections when they identify a VPN in use. Some limited internal use of VPNs by companies is permitted, but a usage record is required. Moreover, only specially licensed vendors may supply the necessary systems.10 Enforcement of the restrictions on VPN usage has been tightened…
Democracy’s Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled (Expanded Edition)
This is the darkest moment for freedom in half a century. Whether democracy regains its footing will depend on how democratic leaders and citizens respond to emboldened authoritarians and the fissures within their own societies.
The Road to Digital Unfreedom
Since the internet’s arrival in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1994, digital technologies have provided a critical channel of communication for Chinese citizens. In an environment where speech and access to information are heavily restricted, the internet has enabled citizens to get uncensored news, speak their minds, and even organize protests. Over the…