3291 Results
The government has spent billions preparing to host the 2022 World Cup. Never mind the abusive labor practices and human rights violations. It’s betting that your love of the “beautiful game” will make you more fond of this tiny Gulf state, too.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Delivery matters, but so do leaders’ actions. Why have so many, in both strong and weak economies, been pushing against democratic constraints on their power, and why have those constraints failed to contain them?
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
Conspiracy theories are not the sole preserve of dictatorships, but a global phenomenon. Worse, the political competition that is inherent to democracy is driving the spread of lies, fake schemes, and half-truths.
Authoritarians are evolving — becoming more unconstrained and repressive at home, and more destructive on the global stage. The following essays unpack the authoritarians’ toolkit, revealing their strategies for taking power and upending the liberal world order.
October 2003, Volume 14, Issue 4
Reports on elections in Cambodia, Jordan, Kuwait, Mexico, and Rwanda.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
A review of The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. Sandel.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
A review of Power Politics in Zimbabwe by Michael Bratton.
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
A review of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, by Paul Scharre.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Read the full essay here. This article makes a case of the basic distinction between Islam and Islamism and presents three central arguments: 1. through religious reforms and a rethinking of the Islamic doctrine, the cultural system of Islam can be put in harmony with democracy, 2. this (first) argument does not apply to Islamism…
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Today, Jews the world over are closely and correctly associated with liberal democracy. What are the wellsprings of Jewish tradition and commitment that feed this association?
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
Modest progress in the muslim-majority countries is complemented by mass mobilization for democracy and freedom in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia ranks as Not Free for the first time since the fall of communism.
October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
AI will transform work and entire economies. The potential benefits also bring a dire risk of rising inequality and job losses. But the worst outcomes can still be avoided.
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
Central African autocrats are using their stolen money to outmaneuver opponents and deflect international criticism.
July 2023, Volume 34, Issue 3
Behind today’s authoritarian wave are democratically elected leaders who use and abuse institutions to undermine the system that brought them to power. But with the right strategies, opposition forces can slow or stop these would-be autocrats.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Xi reads Tiananmen as a cautionary tale, and he has sought to centralize power and reverse years of ideological atrophy. By controlling the past, he is trying to determine how the Chinese will view their present and future.
The new issue of the Journal of Democracy is here! Read about Gen-Z uprisings; lessons from Brazil on holding would-be autocrats accountable; how direct-democracy initiatives such as referendums are being undermined by AI; the steps Ukraine must take to remain democratic; and more.
January 1997, Volume 8, Issue 1
Excerpts from: Romanian presidential candidate Emil Constantinescu’s remarks; victory statement by Nicaraguan presidential candidate Arnoldo Alemán.
By Guoguang Wu | Beijing’s focus has been on strong and steady economic growth for decades. But China’s leader has just put an end to that era. For Xi, it’s only about power—at home and abroad.
