October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
External Influence and Democratization: Gatekeepers and Linkages
Levitsky and Way’s account of linkage and leverage leaves out the key role of “gatekeeper” elites.
1975 Results
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Levitsky and Way’s account of linkage and leverage leaves out the key role of “gatekeeper” elites.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The events surrounding the EuroMaidan cannot be understood apart from the preceding five years of increasingly corrupt and authoritarian rule.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Ukrainians flocked to the Maidan to express a “choice for Europe,” but they may also have forged the beginnings of a new Ukrainian identity.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The hegemonic-party systems of Taiwan and Mexico began to loosen in the 1980s, eventually yielding to democracy. Malaysia’s ruling party, by contrast, has tightened the reins of power in the face of increasing opposition.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
When this small island kingdom in the Gulf joined the wider Arab world’s political upheavals in March 2011, it was a reaction to regional events, but also a reflection of internal problems that had been festering for a decade.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
In an effort to avoid repeating the 2007 electoral debacle, Kenya’s election commission turned to technology, but its high-tech voter-registration and vote-count processes fell short. Its experience has important lessons both for emerging democracies and for international donors.
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Although the Chinese Communist Party has tried to institutionalize the political system in the reform era, such efforts have been hampered by the Maoist legacy. To cope with challenges from the society, the CCP mainly relies on a highly centralized and resource-intensive weiwen system, and shows little respect for institutional differentiation and formal procedures.
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
In recent years, Chinese netizens have shown boundless creativity and ingenuity in expressing themselves despite government restrictions on online speech. Will new political discourse give birth to a new political identity? Are new forms of networked communication enhancing opportunities for social change and helping to move China toward a “threshold” for political transformation?
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
The “Arab Spring” has been very hard on autocratic presidents but so far has left the Arab world’s monarchies intact. How and why have Arab royals been able to resist the tide of protest?
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Is “authoritarian resilience” in China a passing phenomenon, or is it something more durable?
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Indonesia, a populous, poor, predominantly Muslim society, has been able to maintain democracy thanks to a vibrant associational life.
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Read the full essay here. Recent years have seen a transformation in Turkish civil-military relations—away from the traditional picture of weak elected officials overseen by a strong military, to one of a strengthened civilian government and a military with decreased influence. This article explores the questions of how this transformation has occurred, whether it will…
January 2012, Volume 23, Issue 1
Social activist Anna Hazare’s hunger strike has helped to turn the world’s attention to India’s rampant corruption.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Widely reported as “Facebook revolutions,” the upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt show that social media not only can ignite protests but also can help to determine their political consequences.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Despite improvements in South Africa’s socioeconomic landscape and the expansion of the black middle class since the end of apartheid, the country’s levels of poverty and inequality remain high and heavily correlated with race.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
In late 2010, not long before seismic political change was to erupt across the Middle East, Jordan held parliamentary elections. Officials were eager to present these as a fresh start, but a closer look tells a different tale.
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
For the first time ever in the history of Hong Kong, local democratic leaders and Chinese officials have forged a pact on limited democratic reforms. That may have marked a step forward for the cause of democracy in Hong Kong, but it has also led to a sharp split in the democratic camp.
October 2010, Volume 21, Issue 4
Over the years, the Asian Barometer Survey has yielded some surprising results. A new typological analysis helps to make sense of them.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
The 2010 presidential election shows that Ukraine is both a surprisingly stable electoral democracy and a disturbingly corrupt one. The corruption, moreover, may have a lot to do with the stability.
July 2010, Volume 21, Issue 3
Despite its historic 2006 elections, the Democratic Republic of Congo still lacks competent governance, leaving its democratic promise unfulfilled.