July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Is Small Really Beautiful? The Microstate Mistake
Tiny countries have come in for praise as miniature models of democracy, but closer examination tells a mainly more somber tale.
3226 Results
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Tiny countries have come in for praise as miniature models of democracy, but closer examination tells a mainly more somber tale.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
The recent election of political outsider Lula da Silva as president is a sign of hope for the future of democracy in Brazil.
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
October 2002 brought the latest in a series of “critical” elections that have helped to point the way to an independent, more democratic future.
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
The early 1990s saw a wave of competitive multiparty elections in Africa. These contests can be described as "founding" elections in the sense that they marked for various countries a transition from an extended period of authoritarian rule to fledgling democratic government. By the middle of the 1990s, this wave had crested. Although founding elections…
April 1995, Volume 6, Issue 2
Excerpts from: the “Plan of Action” of the Summit of the Americas; the inaugural speech Mozambican president Joaquim Alberto Chissano; appeals for reform of the National People’s Congress by democracy advocates in China; a speech by former U.S. ambassador to Kenya Smith Hempstone.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
After falling short in 1992 and 1997, Kenya’s large but fractious opposition coalition swept to victory at the polls in 2002. Transition has arrived, but can democratic transformation follow?
July 2012, Volume 23, Issue 3
Reports on elections in Armenia, Belize, Burma, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Lesotho, Senegal, Serbia, South Korea, and Timor-Leste.
January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1
Demonstrators in Algeria and Sudan have drawn on the experiences of earlier Arab protest movements in their efforts to push for lasting change.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Following the settlement of the revolutionary conflicts that long plagued the region, the left was able to reach power through elections. But the results have been discouraging.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
By militarizing key state institutions and using violence against the opposition, Zimbabwe’s military elites have hindered the country’s transition to democracy. In return, they have been richly rewarded. Can the military’s tentacles be untangled from Zimbabwean politics?
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
The democratic forces had an uphill climb going into the September 2004 legislative elections, but they made unforced errors as well. What were these, and how can the democrats do better next time?
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The regime of Vladimir Putin has been a key driver of the crisis in Ukraine. Under challenge at home for several years now, it turned to Ukraine in part to firm up its own grip on power in Russia.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
Political scientists have long assumed that “democratic consolidation” is a one-way street, but survey evidence of declining support for democracy from across the established democracies suggests that deconsolidation is a genuine danger.
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
The Chinese state is much weaker than most people realize, which bodes ill for the country’s democratic prospects.
October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
Turkey’s economic and political crises have only worsened, but the autocratic president remains in power. His secret? He uses the levers of the state to shield his supporters from harm, while punishing the rest.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Reports on elections in Argentina, Croatia, Guatemala, Jordan, Kiribati, Madagascar, Nauru, Oman, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
As 2004 began, Afghanistan approved a new constitution that represents a key step forward in its political reconstruction. But it is not yet clear whether this new constitution will enable the country to surmount the many challenges that lie ahead.
July 2004, Volume 15, Issue 3
Hopes for democratization now rest on the shoulders of the young. Who are they, what do they believe, and what are their political leanings? Survey data offer some clues.
October 2005, Volume 16, Issue 4
While Cambodia is often thought of as a “transitional” democracy and as a case where UN intervention succeeded, the truth is quite different.
April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2
Reports on elections in Georgia, Guatemala, Guinea, Iran, Russia, and Serbia.