July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Less than one percent of philanthropy is directed to democratic freedoms. Yet freedom is essential for everything—health, education, climate—philanthropy tries to accomplish. It is the most underpriced asset, and we are due for a market correction.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
No other democratic power will be able to uphold a new international order. Autocrats and illiberal coalitions are already rushing into the breach, and if they go unchecked, the damage will be lasting.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Authoritarians actively threaten, intimidate, and murder exiles and opponents wherever they find them. While justice for victims is hard won, it is possible. Here is how democracies can push back.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
He did the hard work of defeating Viktor Orbán. But Hungary’s new prime minister faces the harder task of undoing the damage his predecessor wrought. Can he do it while avoiding the traps Orbán left in his wake?
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Viktor Orbán was ousted by an innovative, grassroots, nationwide campaign run by local civic groups called Tisza Islands. Their success offers a new playbook for civic mobilization against aspiring autocrats.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
It was long thought that, to be successful, oppositions needed to form broad-based alliances ahead of elections. But Hungary and Turkey show that a single challenger has real advantages against a would-be autocrat.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
The coercive tools of modern autocracies are highly integrated, with an ability to monitor, restrict, and shape behavior at scale and in real-time. It is time for democratic movements to adapt and respond with a decentralized resistance of their own.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Beijing knows digital surveillance of the world’s most populous nation is technologically demanding. So the Party has hired corporations to occupy the “public-opinion battlefield” and spot the trouble before it spreads.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Eritrea is one of the world’s most implacable dictatorships, led by an octogenarian who shuns any hint of accountability. The country’s democratic path was never genuinely open, and it now poses a grave risk to the Horn of Africa.
July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are typically seen as democratic stalwarts, on par with older established democracies. But all three countries face growing pressures that threaten its political foundations.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Artificial intelligence is often seen as a silver bullet for authoritarians, a breakthrough technology making repression cheaper, faster, and more precise. But it has inherent weaknesses, and dictators can’t escape these dilemmas.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
The world’s “middle powers” were once bastions of defense for a liberal rules-based international order. But no more. A new kind of authoritarian middle power has emerged, undermining democratic norms and safeguards.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Democracy’s present difficulties were predictable. History and older theories of democratic stability should have prepared us for both democratic backsliding and the vulnerability of Western democracy we are experiencing today.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Today, the principal challenge to democracy is coming not from coups but from democratic erosion driven by elected leaders. What is behind this shift, and how can prodemocracy forces push back?
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
The judiciary is widely assumed to defend democracy. Yet in reality, even when independent of elected governments, courts can endanger democracy—sometimes by enabling executives and sometimes by aggressively fighting them.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Populism is too often treated as if it is all one thing. But what if populist politics and democratic backsliding didn’t have to go together? A closer look reveals two kinds of populism, one of which is less threatening to liberal democracy.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Venezuela has a path to democracy, but it requires dismantling the old regime. María Corina Machado, the country’s true democratic leader, must signal her credibility as a moderate through a framework of transitional justice. It won’t be perfect justice, but it is Venezuela’s best hope.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Decentralized governance allows communities to enact policies that reflect their values. But in the digital age, when news spreads far and fast, what’s happening in one place may inflame citizens’ attitudes thousands of miles away, magnifying political differences and division.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Oppositions resisting autocrats or antidemocratic incumbents could once get help internationally. But the space for democracy promotion has narrowed, while oppositions face divisions within their own ranks over how to best fight back.
April 2026, Volume 37, Issue 2
Georgian society has long aspired to join the West, but the ruling party—led by the country’s richest man—is dragging the country closer to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Georgians are still resisting, but can they halt their country’s authoritarian slide?
