
Why Ukraine Is Critical to Rebuilding Our Democratic Consensus
The case for liberal democracy remains powerful. It may get its biggest boost in the near term from success on the battlefields of Ukraine. | Marc F. Plattner
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The case for liberal democracy remains powerful. It may get its biggest boost in the near term from success on the battlefields of Ukraine. | Marc F. Plattner
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
The year 2020 saw the global weakening of democratic norms reinforced by authoritarian influence campaigns, crackdowns on protest movements, and the use and abuse of new powers adopted in the name of responding to the covid-19 pandemic.
July 1997, Volume 8, Issue 3
Reports on elections in Algeria, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Croatia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Iran, Mali, Mongolia, Yemen.
The May 2025 Philippine midterms are just the latest chapter in a yearslong feud between the Marcos and Duterte clans. These essays below plot the twists and turns of the political drama, and explain why it’s really a diversion from meaningful democratic reform.
The Journal of Democracy essays below, free for a limited time, chart the trials and triumphs of Kenya’s democracy over the last two decades — plus key essays on the theory and practice of political power sharing.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
A wide variety of electoral systems is used around the world, but in recent years the trend has been toward systems based upon greater proportionality.
January 1996, Volume 7, Issue 1
Reports on elections in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Poland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Turkey.
January 2009, Volume 20, Issue 1
Change may be caused more by the frailty of the regime than the strength of the opposition, but in such cases the outcome is often less democratic.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
The claim that ethnic minorities have a moral and legal right to secede from states is a dangerous fiction with perilous implications for divided societies.
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization played a key role in safeguarding Western democracy during the Cold War. With that conflict over, NATO must continually adapt and evolve in a fast-changing world.
October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4
Linkage and leverage largely reflect long-term structural factors, and only in certain situations can they be affected by policy choices.
What the opposition did and how Erdoğan managed to escape outright defeat. | Murat Somer and Jennifer McCoy
What the opposition did and how Erdoğan managed to escape outright defeat. By Murat Somer and Jennifer McCoy May 2023 Turkey’s hotly contested May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections saw a record turnout of 88.9 percent. Heading into the election, polls had given opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was supported by two alliances of opposition…
October 1996, Volume 7, Issue 4
Reports on elections in Bangladesh, Chad, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Lebanon, Mongolia, Russia, São Tomé & Príncipe, Uganda.
Economic freedom is one of a tyrant’s first targets. My family and I have experienced this firsthand. But tools like Bitcoin offer a lifeline for activists fighting repressive states.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Elections set the stage for the General’s exit after nearly a decade in power, yet Pakistan still faces deep-seated structural problems that cannot be remedied merely by a return to competitive electoral politics.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Saudi Arabia looked for a time in early 2011 as if it too would become swept up in the Arab uprising. Yet it never quite happened—why?
April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2
In 2015, the tenth consecutive year of decline in global freedom, the world was battered by overlapping crises, spurring harsh authoritarian crackdowns and revealing the leading democracies’ lack of conviction.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Once hailed as liberators, Zimbabwe’s ruling party now clings to power through violent repression. How did the country’s founding father become its dictator, and what patterns in his party’s past foretold such an outcome?
January 2010, Volume 21, Issue 1
The author analyses the confluence of several elements that helped to set Russia’s course: the influence of history; the challenges of the transformation process itself; the importance of leadership; and the role of the West.