July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The Maidan and Beyond: Finding Ukraine
Ukrainians flocked to the Maidan to express a “choice for Europe,” but they may also have forged the beginnings of a new Ukrainian identity.
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July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Will Malaysia Follow the Path of Taiwan and Mexico?
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 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
Russia’s Nationalists Flirt with Democracy
Russia has witnessed a growing rapprochement between some of its nationalists and some of its democrats, but this trend is threatened by divisions over the annexation of Crimea.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
V-Dem: A New Way to Measure Democracy
In order to mark democracy’s progress and to inform policy, we need to be able to measure democracy in sufficient detail. The V-Dem Project aims to deliver exactly such a tool.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
A New Twilight in Zimbabwe? The Military vs. Democracy
By militarizing key state institutions and using violence against the opposition, Zimbabwe’s military elites have hindered the country’s transition to democracy. In return, they have been richly rewarded. Can the military’s tentacles be untangled from Zimbabwean politics?
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Renewed Hope in Pakistan?
Long prone to coups, Pakistan now for the first time has seen a freely elected government duly serve out its full term and peacefully hand the reins of power to another.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Bangladesh’s Failed Election
After two decades of elections that produced a number of alternations in power, an impasse over “caretaker government” crippled the 2014 contest and has made single-party rule all too real a prospect.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Reform and Resistance in Nepal
After a decade of upheavals, Nepal elected in November 2013 its Second Constituent Assembly, but it is still unclear whether elites will accept reforms that empower wider sections of society.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Bhutan’s Deferential Democracy
An opposition victory in this Himalayan kingdom’s second elections in 2013 showed that surprises are possible even in a democratic transition that has been guided from above by the monarchy.
April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2
Shifting Tides in South Asia: Tumult in the Maldives
After a brief era of political opening, the authoritarian old guard has ridden a dubiously conducted presidential election back into power.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Georgian Democracy: Seizing or Losing the Chance?
A year after the election that ended the rule of president Mikheil Saakashvili’s National Movement, Georgia has seen further remarkable developments that raise key questions for struggling postcommunist democracies and, indeed, democracies everywhere.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
The Legacies of 1989: The Transformative Power of Europe Revisited
Improving governance in the EU’s new member states remains a huge challenge for the European project. Why has the EU succeeded in promoting democracy among its postcommunist members but failed in promoting good governance?
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
Mediterranean Blues: The Crisis in Southern Europe
Beset by economic and political crises, democracy in southern Europe has been eroding, along with support for the EU. These developments stem largely from the design of the euro, which denies key economic-policy tools to national governments.
January 2014, Volume 25, Issue 1
What Can Constitutions Do? The Afghan Case
January 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of Afghanistan’s constitution. In what areas has it succeeded or failed? Judging by its achievements with respect to four midrange goals, the document has a record that is decidedly mixed.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Latin America’s Authoritarian Drift: Chavismo After Chávez?
Can a regime built by and centered around a populist strongman survive that strongman’s death? A natural experiment is now unfolding in Venezuela as a resurgent opposition and a crisis of governability converge on the would-be heirs of Hugo Chávez.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Algeria versus the Arab Spring
Not only did the Algerian regime survive the “Arab Spring,” it hardly deviated from its normal methods of authoritarian governance—patronage, pseudodemocratization, and effective use of the security apparatus.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Bahrain’s Decade of Discontent
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
Kenya’s 2013 Elections: Choosing Peace over Democracy
In March 2013, Kenyans took to the polls in what turned out to be another disputed election. Why did the peace hold this time, unlike in 2007, and what are the implications for democracy in Kenya?
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Kenya’s 2013 Elections: Technology Is Not Democracy
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.
April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2
Defunding Dissent: Restrictions on Aid to NGOs
A number of countries including Russia and post-Mubarak Egypt are taking aggressive steps to limit or stop foreign funds from flowing to domestic NGOs that promote human rights and democracy. What is driving this trend, how far will it go, and what can be done to counter it?