
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
A Strange Defense of Climate Democracy
The democracy versus “eco-authoritarianism” dilemma is false. The answer is more and better democracy.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
The democracy versus “eco-authoritarianism” dilemma is false. The answer is more and better democracy.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Democracies — facing gridlock and polarization — often fall short. But it should be remembered that dictatorships do even more harm.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Regime type is important, but it is the power of the fossil-fuel industry in both autocracies and democracies that is blocking the green transition globally.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
The authors identify and respond to four broad themes in the Climate Crisis debate.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
A review of The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic, by Mark L. Clifford.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
A Hong Kong prodemocracy activist’s statement upon her sentencing; Georgia’s president denounces the election results; Alaa Abd el-Fattah was named Writer of Courage and joint recipient of the 2024 PEN Pinter Prize; an open letter for Xu Zhiyong; and a Nigerian senator condemns the arrests of youth protesters.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
The People’s Republic of China has entered a new age, abandoning the ideological openness of the reform era and the socialist legacy of the revolutionary period. Under Xi Jinping, regime stability trumps all — and the PRC is weaker and less stable as a result.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Democracy’s defenders have failed to appreciate the power of nationalism. They must arm themselves with emotionally compelling narratives to counter illiberal foes of free government. When they do, they are championing a winning message.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Political violence is rising in wealthy democracies. Polarized societies and bitter party politics are putting candidates and election officials in serious peril. Political leaders, more than anyone, have the power to stoke or stamp out this dangerous cycle of violence.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Majoritarian nationalism is a defining feature of our time. If we are to resist ethnonationalist leaders trying to recast our societies into imagined majorities, we must revise our conception of democracy and the exclusion inherent in majority rule.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Immigration threatens to erode liberalism, as far-right parties and migrant communities with illiberal views gain power. Mass publics have shouldered the blame. But should political elites be held responsible?
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Immigration has changed the face of Western Europe. Yet mainstream political parties have largely ignored citizens’ concerns about what immigration means for their societies, leaving them ripe for far-right populists to exploit.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Some liberals attribute the origins of our polarized political era to “identity politics.” But multiculturalism need not provoke majoritarian anxieties — not if national identities can open ways for all citizens to be recognized and heard.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
When an epidemic of Koran burnings swept Denmark and Sweden, the Danish government criminalized the practice. It is a misguided response that misses the opportunity to protect both minorities and the right to free speech.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
The far right celebrated big wins in the 2024 European Union elections, but it has struggled to translate that success into political power. Victory at the ballot box has not made its ideological and organizational divisions any easier to solve.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
After thirty years of ANC dominance, the 2024 elections have ushered in multiparty politics in South Africa. Will the party’s centrist shift be enough to stop its descent, or is it destined to fracture further?
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Drug cartels possess the power of militaries, the profits of corporations, and the coercive capacity of a state. They will not be eliminated any time soon. But the region’s democracies can seek to raise their costs, limit their influence, and curb the violence.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Under Xi Jinping, the PRC has grown more assertive in the Global South. China aggressively targets country after country, often zeroing in on small but strategically significant states. But there are proven ways for even fragile democracies to resist Beijing’s influence.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
Alongside democratic backsliding is another, more pernicious phenomenon: dictatorial drift, where “soft” authoritarian regimes are opting to become highly repressive dictatorships. The West must develop new strategies to defend democracy across the globe.
October 2024, Volume 35, Issue 4
An interview with Vladimir Kara-Murza; María Corina Machado on the Venezuelan opposition movement; a speech from Bangladesh’s new interim chief advisor; an open letter from Tunisian opposition candidates; a professor on the youth anticorruption protests in Uganda; and NATO’s seventy-fifth anniversary.