July 2026, Volume 37, Issue 3
Democracies have always sparked conflict, disagreement, and deep ideological divisions. Polarized politics are hardly rare in democratic life. So under what conditions does polarization turn violent, and how can this danger be contained?
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
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?
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.
The Future the Taliban Cannot Control | Mariam Safi and Damon Wilson
Five years of repressive Taliban rule has not extinguished Afghans’ determination to shape a freer future.
How China Weaponizes Buddhism | Khedroob Thondup
China is an atheist state, so why does it promote Buddhism? That’s because the CCP thinks it can be a tool for political control. But the strategy actually exposes Beijing’s deepest fears.
How Putin Erases Dissidents and Critics | Liudmila Listrovaya
Vladimir Putin has signed a new “civic death” law targeting the Kremlin’s critics everywhere. The goal is to intimidate Russian citizens from speaking out against Putin’s crimes.
News & Updates
August 2026
Democratic politics depends on the messy, sometimes bitter competition of parties and ideas — opposition is how citizens hold power to account. But in democracies around the world, healthy rivalry is hardening into something more corrosive: the tendency to see political opponents as enemies, not rivals.
August 2026
Democratic government — ideally — provides channels for resolving conflict among competing groups and interests, defusing hostilities before they explode into physical violence. It has never worked perfectly.
Most Read
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.
Democracies have always sparked conflict, disagreement, and deep ideological divisions. Polarized politics are hardly rare in democratic life. So under what conditions does polarization turn violent, and how can this danger be contained?
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.
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.
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.
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Read our entire July 2025 issue, featuring “Can Capitalism Save Democracy?” by Semuhi Sinanoglu, Lucan Way, and Steven Levitsky.
