Latin America’s Crime Crisis

Organized criminal groups in Latin America have money, firepower, and a stranglehold on political life — making them incredibly difficult to defeat. How can countries in the region curb the violence and revive democracy?

Three Must Reads from the October Issue!

How can liberal democrats take advantage of nationalism’s enduring appeal? How can Western democracies reduce rising political violence? And how can they protect freedom of expression while also preventing the harms such freedom might cause? The following essays from our new issue provide key answers to these important questions.

December’s Most-Read Essays

As 2024 draws to a close, democracy faces urgent threats: increasing aggression from Russia and China, rapidly advancing AI, heightened polarization, and populist leaders in India and elsewhere bending democracy to their will. Here are the Journal of Democracy’s ten most-read essays over the past month.

The JoD’s Top Essays of 2024

The world’s biggest democracy and its brand of Hindu nationalism were top of mind for our readers in 2024. Meanwhile, this “year of elections” raised questions about liberalism, civic virtue, and democratic resilience across the world. The Journal of Democracy covered all of these ideas — plus the biggest stories of the year.

The JoD’s Top Online Essays of 2024

Elections in nearly eighty countries around the world captured headlines throughout 2024. Meanwhile, NATO turned 75, Viktor Orbán ramped up his repression, and Bitcoin became the currency of choice for democracy activists under threat. These ten essays were the JoD’s most-read online exclusives of 2024.

Three Must-Reads from the January Issue!

Should Ukraine end the war with Russia at the bargaining table or in the trenches? Can democratic institutions survive when they empower minorities over the majority? Is democracy better suited than authoritarianism to confront climate change? The new issue of the Journal of Democracy provides key insights and answers to some of today’s most pressing…

Is Bitcoin Good for Democracy?

Bitcoin is an indispensable tool for political dissidents in the most repressive environments, argue Alex Gladstein and Félix Maradiaga in two recent Journal of Democracy online exclusives. When dictators weaponize the financial system and obstruct all avenues of dissent, digital currency helps activists keep their operations running.

The JoD on a Podcast Near You!

Journal of Democracy essays go beyond the page. Here are five recent podcasts featuring JoD authors discussing their essays with historians, journalists, students, and democracy scholars. Listen, read, and learn!

How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote

Today, President Nicolás Maduro will take the oath of office, despite a clear defeat in the July election. In the new issue of the Journal of Democracy, Javier Corrales and Dorothy Kronick explain how this came to pass.

Botswana’s Misunderstood “Miracle”

The country’s 2024 presidential contest was a big surprise, as voters elected a new party for the first time. Despite decades of dominant-party rule, a strong democratic culture has long been ingrained in Botswana.