October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
India’s 2009 Elections: The Problem of Corruption
Democracy in India remains robust, but the scope and intensity of the corruption that pervades the political system are steadily eroding public trust.
1926 Results
October 2009, Volume 20, Issue 4
Democracy in India remains robust, but the scope and intensity of the corruption that pervades the political system are steadily eroding public trust.
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
The same policies that fostered decades of prosperity in Singapore have also led to longer-term economic ills that might have been averted in a freer society.
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
Read the full essay here. Arguably a flawed democracy in the 1990s, Russia took a distinctly authoritarian turn under President Vladimir Putin from 2000 to 2008. The country now lives under a façade democracy that barely conceals the political and administrative dominance of a self-interested bureaucratic corporation. The regime manufactures consent by means of three…
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
Read the full essay here. The corporatist kleptocracy being erected by Russian President Vladimir Putin is profoundly misunderstood in the West. This model dooms Russia to economic degradation and margin-alization. The current global crisis has made this truth painfully clear. The artificially created image of a threatening West (and U.S. in particular) is now becoming…
April 2009, Volume 20, Issue 2
In February 2008, Kosovo broke away from Serbia and declared its independence. But to what extent is it making progress toward its goals of sovereignty and democracy?
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 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?
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Fifteen years after the wave of democratization crested in Africa, the region still grapples with an economic malaise that is disappointing popular expectations and undermining the legitimacy of electoral regimes.
July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3
Can regionalism help to redress the uneven spread and internal weaknesses of democracy in Southeast Asia? Unforeseen events in the region and positive political entrepreneurship may yet transform ASEAN into a force for democracy.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
The program of carefully controlled reform-from-above that King Mohamed VI began almost a decade ago may now have reached an impasse amid signs of growing disaffection.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
The most important aspects of Morocco's September 2007 parliamentary election may have been things that did not happen: The Islamists did not win, and many citizens either did not vote or spoiled their ballots.
July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
After a decade and a half, how do citizens of postcommunist Europe now feel toward their new governing regimes?
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Closely fought elections are often fraught with conflict, splitting societies asunder. How can democracy survive such rough and close contests?
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
The Belarusian presidential election of March 2006 appeared to be an exercise in meaninglessness, while the protests against manipulation by the Lukashenka regime seemed a study in futility. But appearances can deceive.
July 2006, Volume 17, Issue 3
The ruling African National Congress has been an overwhelming presence in the politics of post-apartheid South Africa. The country's dominant-party system, despite its dangers, may be the strongest buttress for democracy.
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
For decades, Japan and Taiwan elected their legislatures using the single nontransferable vote. Recently, however, both countries adopted new electoral systems. What explains this trend?
April 2006, Volume 17, Issue 2
The March 2005 “Tulip Revolution” that toppled President Askar Akeyev is often grouped with the “color revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine, but in many ways the Kyrgyz case was unique.
January 2006, Volume 17, Issue 1
Strategies based on transition pacts that reduce rulers' risks and cushion their retreat from total power may be the most promising route to democracy in the Arab world.
January 2005, Volume 16, Issue 1
In the conditions of today's world, countries that are in a bad way as regards some aspects of their governance may benefit from agreeing to share portions of their sovereignty with external actors.
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.