July 1996, Volume 7, Issue 3
Is the Third Wave Over?
Democracy’s global advance is facing headwinds, but there are still opportunities for progress in pseudodemocratic and authoritarian states.
3186 Results
July 1996, Volume 7, Issue 3
Democracy’s global advance is facing headwinds, but there are still opportunities for progress in pseudodemocratic and authoritarian states.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Beset by economic and political crises, democracy in southern Europe has been eroding, along with support for the EU. These developments stem largely from the design of the euro, which denies key economic-policy tools to national governments.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Reports on elections in Armenia, Ethiopia, Iran, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, Zambia.
October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4
Reports on elections in Bolivia, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, the Czech Republic, Guinea, Papua New Guinea.
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
About two-thirds of the world's Muslims live under governments chosen through competitive elections. The remaining third lives mostly in the Arab world, a region that poses the hardest challenges for democratization.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Excerpts from: a victory speech by Mexican president-elect Vicente Fox; a final declaration of a conference entitled “Towards a Community of Democracies”; the “Declaration of Unity” signed by democratic activists from 11 Asian countries.
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Latin America’s much-discussed political “left turn” has taken two very different forms. Why has the region’s commodities boom led some left-turn states to move toward “plebiscitarian superpresidentialism,” while others have resisted this temptation?
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
In 2016, concerns about the administration of elections in the United States generated highly charged partisan debates. Are the worries justified?
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
Both the supporters and the foes of President Hugo Chavez went into the August 2004 recall hoping for a complete and final win. While Chavez kept his job and even rides high, Venezuela is still nowhere close to closure.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Majorities across the globe claim to support democratic rule, but their definitions of it vary widely. A look at where publics are willing to exchange their democratic principles for better results—and where they will not.
July 1995, Volume 6, Issue 3
Reports on elections in Argentina, Belarus, Benin, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Peru, Philippines, Zimbabwe.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the public to see his efforts to overhaul the Israeli judiciary as a “reform.” But people have seen it for what it is: a struggle over the very future of democracy itself. | Natan Sachs
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
Reports on elections in Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Lithuania, the Maldives, Romania, Rwanda, Slovenia, Swaziland, Vanuatu, and Zambia.
Strongman nostalgia, conspiracy theories, and lies. It’s a powerful blend that keeps populists in power. In the Philippines, political clans have weaponized these messages against each other.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Climate change is an urgent and unparalleled threat. Our best hope lies in radical, principled activism — at once more democratic and more authoritarian.
Election observers are the first line of defense for democratic rights and freedoms. The essays below highlight the importance of election monitoring, especially in highly polarized, autocratic settings, the dangers that observers face, and the repercussions of rigged contests.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
The evidence presented by Foa and Mounk is troubling, but it does not mean that democracy is now in long-term decline.
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Post-apartheid South Africa’s democratic quest resembles a good thriller–just as the plot seems clear, a twist appears in the tale.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
The sudden and surprising downfall of President Alberto Fujimori has opened the way for a return to democracy in Peru, but the country’s new leaders will face major challenges in the coming years.
July 2025, Volume 36, Issue 3
Midterm elections saw unprecedented voter participation, especially among the young, but the country’s politics are being held hostage by the bitter struggle between the Marcos and Duterte clans. The polarizing fight is taking a toll on the Philippines’ democracy, with no end in sight.