October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
Iran’s 2017 Election: The Opposition Inches Forward
Despite all its flaws, Iran’s May 2017 presidential balloting amounted to another small but genuine advance for the cause of democracy.
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October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
Despite all its flaws, Iran’s May 2017 presidential balloting amounted to another small but genuine advance for the cause of democracy.
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Reports on elections in Indonesia, Kuwait, Malawi, and Venezuela.
The quick reversal of President Yoon’s martial-law order is being celebrated as a democratic victory. But the problems run deeper than one man. What comes next?
October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4
The July 2013 military takeover has squashed democratic hopes in Egypt, at least for now. How did things go so wrong, and what lessons are to be drawn from this lamentable episode? Listen to the podcast with Author Nathan Brown [mp3]
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.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Today’s Russian protest movement in many ways resembles past civil-rights and civil-resistance efforts in other parts of the world, from its commitment to nonviolence to its key demands—a vote that counts and equality under the law. Listen to the podcast.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
If they are to understand Islam authentically and to embrace the modern world freely, Muslims must take a new attitude toward their traditions of interpretation.
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Reports on elections in Bahrain, Gabon, The Gambia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Serbia, and Turkmenistan.
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
Reports on elections in Benin, Comoros, Estonia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Panama, Philippines, Slovakia, South Africa, Thailand, and Ukraine.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Bulgaria continues to enjoy free and fair elections, but over the last decade its politics has come to be dominated by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who practices a brand of discretionary rule that puts his own priorities above any commitment to legal or constitutional norms.
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
As explained in the essays that follow, kleptocracy has become a potent threat to the integrity of democracy around the globe.
April 1992, Volume 3, Issue 2
Reports on elections in Algeria, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Malta.
October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4
Duterte promised voters that he would swiftly reduce crime and poverty and enact constitutional change. But will he violate democratic norms and rule of law in the process?
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
Reports on elections in Belarus, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Georgia, Haiti, Kuwait, Jordan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Nicaragua, Palau, Russia, Uzbekistan.
China’s totalitarian regime is built on surveillance, censorship, and repression, with harsh penalties for anyone who dares to defy it. Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have ambitions that extend beyond China’s borders. The following Journal of Democracy essays explore how China undermines democracy both at home and abroad. Read for free now.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Read the full essay here. What role do mainstream Islamist movements play in Arab politics? With their popular messages and broad social base, would their incorporation as normal political actors be the best hope for democratization or democracy’s bane? For too long, we have tried to answer such questions solely by speculating about the true…
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Reports on elections in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Chile, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Guinea, Honduras, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritania, Nepal, Rwanda, Swaziland, and Tajikistan.
Mikhail Gorbachev risked everything. Neither Russia nor the West could live up to his vision. | By Lilia Shevtsova
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
India's courts have been playing a growing role in the country's political life. Yet even as judicial interventions have become more sweeping, the principles undergirding their legitimacy have become less clear.
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
India has long baffled theorists of democracy. Democratic theory holds that poverty, widespread illiteracy, and a deeply hierarchical social structure are inhospitable conditions for the functioning of democracy. Yet except for 18 months in 1975-77, India has maintained its democratic institutions ever since it became independent of Britain in 1947. Over those five decades, there…