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.
Why Today’s Global Disorder Rewards Authoritarians | Imran Bayoumi
Autocratic middle powers are exploiting the rifts and divisions in the world order to reap newfound deals and influence.
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.
News & Updates
September 2026
For the first time since the party’s founding in 2013, the “firewall” that has kept the far right out of German government is trembling. Can it hold? And what does the AfD’s breakthrough reveal about the health of democracy across Europe?
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.
Most Read
Forget his excuses. Russia’s autocrat doesn’t worry about NATO. What terrifies him is the prospect of a flourishing Ukrainian democracy.
Chinese authorities are wielding facial-recognition software, big-data analytics, and other digital technologies to control China’s citizens by monitoring and assessing their activities, both online and off.
After Mao, Deng Xiaoping tried to institutionalize collective leadership, but this did not stop Xi Jinping from grasping all the levers of power.
In a deeply polarized United States, ordinary people now consume and espouse once-radical ideas and are primed to commit violence.
Under Narendra Modi, India is maintaining the trappings of democracy while it increasingly harasses the opposition, attacks minorities, and stifles dissent. It can still reverse course, but the damage is mounting.
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Read our entire July 2025 issue, featuring “Can Capitalism Save Democracy?” by Semuhi Sinanoglu, Lucan Way, and Steven Levitsky.
