July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Enrolling India
A review of How India Became Democratic: Citizenship and the Making of the Universal Franchise by Ornit Shani.
Why Egypt Is Growing More Unstable Fast
The economy is spiraling, public frustration is mounting, and the regime is becoming more repressive. The next time Egyptians come to the streets, they will be looking for more than promises and free elections.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
China in Xi’s “New Era”: Forging a New “Eastern Bloc”
Through its “16+1” initiative, China is building relationships with postcommunist Europe that could threaten to undermine the European Union.
Maduro Can Only Rule Through Fear and Terror
The Venezuelan strongman lost the election and everyone knows it. He has nothing left to offer but violence and repression. It will be his undoing.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Turkey at the Polls: After the Tsunami
After enduring years of paternalism punctuated by trauma, Turkish voters have pointed their country in a new direction.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
The Perils of South Korean Democracy
When South Korea’s president declared martial law last December, he shocked the country and sparked a political crisis that laid bare deep-seated divisions. Can Korean democracy overcome the nationalist polarization that has always defined it?
Election Results—October through December 2024
Reports on elections in Botswana, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ghana, Lithuania, Mauritius, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, Palau, Romania, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, and Uzbekistan.
October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech; former Yukos oil company head Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s statement criticizing the Moscow trial of three members of the band Pussy Riot; Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi’s speech; the statement of 17 Egyptian NGOs urging a greater focus on the rule of law and human rights.
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The Ups and Downs of Islamism
A review of Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East by Shadi Hamid.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Georgian Luka Gviniashvili on protesting the foreign-agent bill; a speech by Evgenia Kara-Murza to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; an Iranian rapper denounces Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence; Carl Gershman on Mário Soares and the fiftieth anniversary of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution; a Ugandan political prisoner’s court-martial hearing; María Corina Machado wins the Global…
October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Burma’s National Unity Government statement on execution of four prodemocracy activists by military junta; UN Human Rights Commission report on the treatment of Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region; international NGO statement on closure of Uganda’s leading LGBTQ rights advocacy organization; the Prague Manifesto for a Free Ukraine; Zov, a Russian soldier’s memoir.
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
South Africa: Entering the Post-Mandela Era
Post-apartheid South Africa’s democratic quest resembles a good thriller–just as the plot seems clear, a twist appears in the tale.
January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: the speech of Maryam al-Khawaja accepting, on behalf of human-rights activists in Bahrain, the Democracy Courage Tribute; 14-year old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai’s speech accepting the Civic Courage Award; Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s concession speech and opposition leader Bidzina’s statement clarifying his postelection call for Saakashvili to resign; the inaugural address of Mexican…
July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Sierra Leonean president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s inaugural address; the Democracy Coalition Project’s “Call to Action to Build Open Democratic Societies”; the Varela Project, a petition circulated by Cuban dissidents; East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao’s inaugural address.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: British prime minister Tony Blair’s speech on the events of September 11 and their aftermath; the “Inter-American Democratic Charter” adopted by the Organization of American States; UN secretary-general Kofi Annan’s speech accepting the National Democratic Institute’s Averell Harriman Award; Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s “Speech for the Nation.”
October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: writings by Human rights activist Elena Bonner on the situation in Chechnya; the first state address of Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri; the African Union’s New Africa Initiative; Organization of American States General Assembly Resolution 1753.
July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a videotaped message by leader of the National League for Democracy of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi; remarks and a draft resolution on Cuba from the 56th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights; Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian’s inaugural address; Russian president Vladimir Putin’s inaugural address; a statement from Elena Bonner; the…
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: a United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution on the “Promotion of the Right to Democracy”; remarks by Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of Burma’s National League for Democracy; the “Casablanca Declaration of the Arab Human Rights Movement”; Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo’s inaugural speech.
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Sergei Adamovich’s remarks on the death of Andrei Sakharov; Marjan Farsad’s “Moonlight”; joint letter for a global moratorium on surveillance-technology sales; Zambian president Haikande Hichilema’s inaugural address.
April 2022, Volume 33, Issue 2
A Blueprint for Europe
Europe appeared ready to turn its back on the pessimistic vision of populists—and then Putin upended the continent. A new book may serve as a textbook for progress, or a signpost of democracy’s dashed hopes.