Spring 1991, Volume 2, Issue 2
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, São Tomé & Príncipe, and Yugoslavia.
October 1996, Volume 7, Issue 4
Democratic Consolidation: Debate–O’Donnell’s “Illusions”: A Rejoinder
Read the full essay here.
January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1
The Rise of Kleptocracy: Malaysia’s Missing Billions
One of the world’s worst public-corruption scandals shows how a lax international financial system enables massive graft in developing countries.
Summer 1991, Volume 2, Issue 3
Democrats and Bureaucrats
A review of Democracy in Botswana: The Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Gaborone, 1-5 August 1988, edited by John Holm and Patrick Molutsi.
April 2020, Volume 31, Issue 2
Viral Alarm: When Fury Overcomes Fear
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the corrupt and rotten core of the Chinese Communist Party’s dictatorial rule over China. It is a moment of revelation. Can it also become one that leads to change?
July 1992, Volume 3, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: the Transitional Period Charter of Ethiopia; a pamphlet of the Free Trade Union of China; Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s declaration on Poland and Russia.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a speech by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian; a letter by Bernard-Henri Lévy, Milan Kundera, Salman Rushdie, Elfriede Jelinek, and Orhan Pamuk; tributes to Lyudmila Alexeyeva; and the Parliamentary Call for Global Democratic Renewal.
July 2011, Volume 22, Issue 3
Comparing Latin Democracies
A review of The Quality of Democracy in Latin America, edited by Daniel H. Levine and José E. Molina.
October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4
The Third Wave: Inside the Numbers
Is democracy threatened by a “reverse wave”? Examining regional patterns and distinguishing between different types of democracy gives us a new basis for assessing this question. Listen to the podcast with authors Jørgen Møller and Svend-Erik Skaaning [mp3]
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Argentina, Croatia, Guatemala, Jordan, Kiribati, Madagascar, Nauru, Oman, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine.
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
Central Asia’s Globalized Despots
A review of Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia by Alexander Cooley and John Heathershaw.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Mauritius, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Yugoslavia.
July 2013, Volume 24, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: the inaugural address of Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta; the UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai's annual report to the Human Rights Council; Remarks by Rosa María Payá, daughter of the late Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas.
October 2008, Volume 19, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement issued by a leading group of Russian democrats on the conflict over South Ossetia; a joint declaration condemning Russian military actions against Georgia; the African Democracy Forum’s statement condemning the military coup d’état in Mauritania.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a statement by Yugoslav presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica; Mexican president Vicente Fox’s inaugural address; the declaration of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad.
April 2007, Volume 18, Issue 2
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: an open letter to Russian president Vladimir Putin in response to the decision to close the Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship; a message delivered by Democratic Republic of the Congo president Joseph Kabila acknowledging his victory in the 2006 elections.
Why Vladimir Putin’s Luck Ran Out
For twenty years, the Russian autocrat enjoyed a string of good fortune in coming to power and cementing his rule. He had raised Russia’s standing in the world. Then he invaded Ukraine. | Michael McFaul
What Mattered to You in 2022
In 2022, we began publishing shorter, exclusively online pieces. No topic mattered more to you than Russia’s disastrous war in Ukraine. We also published essays from the sharpest minds on protests in China and Iran, instability in Pakistan, and more.
The Top 10 Most-Read Journal of Democracy Essays of 2022
The Journal of Democracy has analyzed democracy’s fortunes across the globe, from Ukraine to Afghanistan and the Philippines, from Hungary to Tunisia. Here are our top-ten most-read essays from 2022.