April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
Why Malawi’s Democracy Endures
Malawi is a “hard place” for democracy—its economy struggles and state capacity is weak. So how has it avoided the pitfalls that have doomed so many others?
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April 2024, Volume 35, Issue 2
Malawi is a “hard place” for democracy—its economy struggles and state capacity is weak. So how has it avoided the pitfalls that have doomed so many others?
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.
In an essay for Foreign Policy based on his article for the January issue of the Journal, James Loxton shows how one of Latin America’s most unequal and corrupt states is also one of its freest and wealthiest.
January 28, 2022
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Reports on elections in Indonesia, Kuwait, Malawi, and Venezuela.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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?
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…
The Journal of Democracy is the world’s leading publication on the theory and practice of democracy. Since its first appearance in 1990, it has engaged both activists and intellectuals in critical discussions of the problems of and prospects for democracy around the world. Today, the Journal is at the center of debate on the major…
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.
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.
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.