April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Venezuela: Crowding Out the Opposition
President Hugo Cháez's regime demonstrates how a public desire for change plus state resources can be exploited to undermine democracy.
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April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
The 2006 Freedom House Survey: The Pushback Against Democracy
Although the overall state of democracy in the world differed little from that in 2005, a series of worrisome trends seem to be contributing to a stagnation of freedom.
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Montenegro: A Miracle in the Balkans?
Tiny Montenegro gained its independence in a referendum in May 2006. What forces lay behind its completely peaceful break from its much larger neighbor, Serbia?
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Are New Democracies War-Prone?
A review of Electing to Fight: Why Emerging Democracies Go to War by Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Assisting Political Parties
A review of Confronting the Weakest Link: Aiding Political Parties in New Democracies by Thomas Carothers.
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Voting for Change in the DRC
The holding of competitive elections in this vast, strife-torn country must count as a significant achievement, even though voters signaled their disaffection with the entire array of political elites that had been ruling them.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Political Engineering in the Asia-Pacific
The 1997 financial crisis undermined the argument for a putative “Asian-style democracy” that prioritized economic development over political liberalization. Yet recent electoral and other reforms have set the stage for the emergence of a genuine “Asian model” of democracy.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
The Mexican Standoff: Taught to Protest, Learning to Lose
A crucial requirement of government by consent is the willingness of defeated candidates and parties to concede when the voters' verdict goes against them. Events in Mexico following its July 2006 presidential election have sorely tested that country's young democracy in this regard.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
The Mexican Standoff: The Mobilization of Distrust
Mexico’s system of electoral governance and dispute settlement worked reasonably well, yet it created too much noise and too many needless invitations to distrust. The failures observed were less those of institutions than of actors. The loser reacted deplorably, but none of those involved acted in a manner beyond reproach.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
The Mexican Standoff: Looking to the Future
Examining Mexico’s electoral rules, political institutions, and the ways in which they interact with one another can tell us much about how current difficulties developed and how they might be resolved.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Malaysia: Turnover Without Change
When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi succeeded Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister in 2003, many expected far-reaching change in Malaysia. So far, however, turnover at the top has not led to significant democratic progress.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
The Case for Presidential Term Limits
Presidential term limits have spread across the world, but in many countries presidents and their allies seek to circumvent or eliminate them. Advocates of democracy must protect this institution, as its role in democratization may be far more powerful than is conventionally recognized.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Pathways from Authoritarianism
Does the nature of an authoritarian regime affect the potential for democratic transition? Data since 1972 indicate that some kinds of authoritarian regimes are more likely to democratize than others.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Candidate Selection: The Choice Before the Choice
Voters casting ballots are an indispensable element of free government, but who decides which names go on those ballots? Although methods of candidate selection have received surprisingly little study by political scientists, they merit the attention of students of democracy everywhere.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
Books in Review: Is China Stuck?
A review of China's Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy by Minxin Pei.
January 2007, Volume 18, Issue 1
The Perpetual Crises of Democracy
Democracy is and always will be in some kind of crisis, for it is constantly redirecting its citizens’ gaze from a more or less unsatisfactory present toward a future of still unfulfilled possibilities.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
Favorable Conditions and Electoral Revolutions
Over the past decade, a series of "electoral revolutions" has taken place from Slovakia to Kyrgyzstan. Why has this path to democratization been especially common in the postcommunist region?
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
A “Left Turn” in Latin America? Explaining the Left’s Resurgence
As leftist victories accumulate, it becomes increasingly clear that they represent a regional trend. But why is this trend happening now, and how far will it spread?
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
A “Left Turn” in Latin America? The Urgent Need for Labor Law Reform
Latin America must find a way to include its newly urbanized informal workers in more regular channels of economic and political participation. Updating outmoded labor laws is a key to accomplishing this task.
October 2006, Volume 17, Issue 4
A “Left Turn” in Latin America? Problems of Success in Chile
Chile's new Socialist president Michelle Bachelet will seek to maintain the country's socioeconomic progress, but her attempt to cure growing alienation from the traditional parties could create a new set of problems.