October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: How the Media Trashed the Transitions
The Arab experience shows that the same media that facilitate the toppling of dictators can make it harder to build democracy.
Articles
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: Do Muslims Vote Islamic Now?
Islamic political parties were not especially popular with voters in Muslim-majority countries before the Arab Spring. Has that changed?
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: The Islamists’ Compromise in Tunisia
How did a potent Islamist movement come to accept a non-Islamist constitution? The answer lies in that movement’s self-protective reflexes.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: Are Secular Parties the Answer?
A close look at secular parties in the Middle East today raises doubts about whether they are ready for prime time.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
Exploring “Non-Western Democracy”
Often called for but seldom defined with any precision, “non-Western democracy” could end up giving cover to authoritarianism, but also could allow potentially useful democratic innovations to be tried and tested.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
A New Militarism in Latin America
Latin American countries are burdened with domestic security problems and institutional weaknesses that have led to a rising political role for the military forces. Are there serious dangers in this “turn toward the barracks”?
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
The Evolution of Political Order
A review of Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Europe and Azerbaijan: The End of Shame
A few years ago, Europe’s most important intergovernmental human-rights institution, the Council of Europe, crossed over to the dark side. Like Dorian Gray, the dandy in Oscar Wilde’s story of moral decay, it sold its soul. And as with Dorian Gray, who retained his good looks, the inner decay of the Council of Europe remains hidden from view.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Rwanda: Progress or Powder Keg?
Rwanda under Paul Kagame has been hailed for its visionary leadership, economic progress, and reforms in education, health, and agriculture. Yet the regime’s autocratic rule, human-rights abuses, persecution of the Hutu majority, and growing inequality point to an ominous future.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Hungary’s U-Turn: Retreating from Democracy
The great achievements of Hungary’s 1989–90 transition—including democracy, rule of law, market-oriented reform, and pluralism in intellectual life—are being dismantled as the world looks the other way.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Authoritarianism Goes Global: Countering Democratic Norms
Favored by global conditions that lean their way, authoritarians have been busy over the last decade coming up with new and inventive ways to thwart the global advance of democracy and human rights.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Authoritarianism Goes Global: Cyberspace Under Siege
Rosy assumptions once held that the Internet would inevitably undermine unfree regimes. A look around the world today, however, indicates that something very different and far more disturbing is going on.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Authoritarianism Goes Global: Election Monitoring vs. Disinformation
Nonpartisan election monitoring has helped to foster democratization over the last thirty years, but now dictators are trying to sabotage it, often by spreading lies and confusion.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Nigeria’s Hopeful Election
In a surprising turn of events, opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari was able to outpoll incumbent Goodluck Jonathan—and the latter peacefully acknowledged his defeat.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
The Medieval Roots of Democracy
Europe in the Middle Ages was hardly democratic, but it did have law-based institutions that could and did stay the hands of kings, laying a crucial basis for future state-building and democracy-building alike.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Comment on Møller: The Importance of Equality
It is fine to acknowledge the importance of law-based rule to the eventual rise of modern democracy, but we must not overlook the even greater contribution of the idea of equality.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
China After the Reform Era
The post–post-Mao era has now begun. The reforms that brought economic growth and greater openness to China are being unwound, while an assertive new leader strikes off in a populist and nationalist direction.
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Structural Conditions and Democratization
How are trends in global democratization likely to be shaped by the distribution of such key structural factors as income, ethnic or religious diversity, and the quality of the state?
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Authoritarian Successor Parties
Why do significant numbers of people, after gaining the right to choose their leaders via free and fair elections, vote for political parties with deep roots in dictatorship, and how do such parties affect the consolidation of democracy?
July 2015, Volume 26, Issue 3
Weighing the Asian Model
A review of The Nature of Asian Politics by Bruce Gilley.