Cameroon’s Election Casts a Long Shadow
Cameroonians just reelected the 92-year-old Paul Biya in an election that voters rightly view with suspicion. The tensions under the surface don’t bode well for the country or its people.
JoD Online
Why Democracies Bounce Back
With democracy in trouble across the globe, it’s easy to forget how and why a steady succession of dictatorships fell in the last half of the twentieth century. Democracy’s strengths, and its record, should give cause for hope at a moment when autocracy appears ascendent.
Cuba Wants You to Think It’s the Victim
Last week, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution condemning the United States’ “commercial and financial embargo” against Cuba. The outcome came as no surprise.
Has Tanzania Reached Its Breaking Point?
President Hassan promised Tanzanians freedom, transparency, and reform. Instead, she has delivered repression, violence, and arrests as she bars anyone who dares challenge her.
Women Are Leading Venezuela’s Fight for Democracy
When María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, she made sure to emphasize that her accomplishments were not hers alone — they were shared with countless other activists agitating for democracy in Venezuela.
Why Democracy Promotion Is as Vital as Ever
America’s promotion of democracy has always been highly imperfect. But the superiority of democracy—and the ideas that animate it—make it essential to securing America’s future.
The Cuban Embargo Does Not Exist
The Cuban regime has created a narrative of victimhood as a smoke screen for its gross incompetence and corruption. I should know. I once believed it, too.
Women Are Leading Venezuela’s Fight for Democracy
María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize has made her the face of the struggle for democracy in Venezuela. But throughout the opposition, women are the backbone of the fight against Nicolás Maduro’s corrupt authoritarian regime.
October Issue Free for One More Week!
When democracies are clearly outperforming autocracies in so many ways, why the widespread disenchantment with democratic government? Why are democracy and human-rights activists across the globe turning to Bitcoin?
Why Bolivia’s Election Is a Turning Point
In Bolivia’s presidential runoff on Sunday, center-right senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira defeated right-wing former interim president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga.
How to Negotiate with Putin
It’s impossible to make peace with someone who doesn’t want it. But if there is any chance of stopping the killing in Ukraine, this is the path forward.
Why Bolivia Voted for Change—And Continuity
The election of Rodrigo Paz Pereira as Bolivia’s new president signals the end of the MAS era. But it is more than an end to Evo Morales’s leftist party. It showcases how Indigenous political power has transformed the country’s political landscape.
Why Polarization Is Powerful
The list of democratic countries suffering from polarized politics is long and growing. The Czech Republic — one of postcommunist Europe’s strongest democracies — is the latest to join.
Fighting a Gangster-Style Autocracy
The newly aggressive U.S. policy toward Nicolás Maduro and his autocratic regime, including the recent sinking of alleged Venezuelan drug boats, did not come out of nowhere.
How Venezuela Became a Gangster State
Nicolás Maduro is a mafia boss, not a president, and the Venezuelan government is now a criminal enterprise with the power of a state. It poses a threat to democracies everywhere.
Do Referendums Really Empower the People?
When voters are asked to cast ballots for or against important national policies — whether to draft or adopt a new constitution, to abolish or reinstate term limits, or, perhaps most famously, to leave or remain in the European Union — they take that job seriously. Yet national referendums are not always put forward in…
Why South Asia’s Regimes Keep Falling
The government of Nepal has become the third South Asian government to collapse amid mass protests in three years. It will take more than elections to restore stability. Young protesters want to see real change.
International Day of Democracy: Recommitting to Democracy
On this International Day of Democracy, we reflect on democracy’s inherent value, try to understand why faith in self-rule is waning, and consider what we can do to strengthen the cause, sharing a selection of milestone essays to aid in this effort.
Why Trouble Is Brewing in the Czech Republic
It has long been a stalwart defender of democracy. But in this election season, the Czech Republic’s growing polarization is bringing illiberal political parties to the fore.
Political Violence — And How to Prevent It
Rachel Kleinfeld and Nicole Bibbins Sedaca detail the dangers of deep polarization and lay out steps that leaders and citizens can take to stop the violence.