July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: Peru Goes Populist
Instead of ending the instability that has seen the country have four presidents in three years, Peru’s presidential election has left the country on a razor-thin edge.
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مشاهدة فيلم the belko experiment
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
Japanese Democracy After Shinzo Abe
The retirement of the country’s longest-serving prime minister leaves in place a “continuity administration,” and with it some troubling questions about whether liberal democracy’s “soft guardrails” are being eroded.
January 2021, Volume 32, Issue 1
Sri Lanka: The Return to Ethnocracy
The return to power, via elections, of the Rajapaksa family signals the consolidation of a Sinhalese Buddhist ethnocracy. But there are reasons to hope it will not take a turn toward full despotism.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
Covid vs. Democracy: South Africa’s Lockdown Misfire
South Africa’s government sought to heed expert advice with its covid lockdown, yet shortcomings in state capacity fatally undermined both the virus response and efforts to address its devastating economic toll.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
How Taiwan Stands Up to China
No country in the world is more intensely targeted by Beijing’s influence operations than Taiwan. The lead-up to the January 2020 elections saw China putting a full-court press on the island, but Taiwanese democracy broke it.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
30 Years After Tiananmen: The Young and the Restless
The CCP’s strategies for delivering economic and social benefits without democracy are proving deeply flawed. A particular threat to China’s stability is posed by the country’s restless single males.
April 2019, Volume 30, Issue 2
30 Years After Tiananmen: Hong Kong Remembers
It was the impact of Tiananmen that made the democracy movement in Hong Kong a mass phenomenon. Today, the democratic cause in Hong Kong remains linked to the democratic cause in China as a whole.
October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4
Latin America’s Shifting Politics: Ecuador After Correa
The question of succession is a tricky one for populist leaders. In Ecuador, it has produced a surprising reversal for Rafael Correa, who had thoroughly dominated the political scene for the past decade.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Explaining Eastern Europe: Czech Democracy Under Pressure
Recent electoral victories by a pro-Russian president and a populist prime minister point to an antiestablishment wave in the Czech Republic. Yet strong checks and balances, EU ties, and a different outlook among younger voters may help to safeguard liberal democracy.
July 2018, Volume 29, Issue 3
Explaining Eastern Europe: “Soft Decisionism” in Bulgaria
Bulgaria continues to enjoy free and fair elections, but over the last decade its politics has come to be dominated by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who practices a brand of discretionary rule that puts his own priorities above any commitment to legal or constitutional norms.
October 2017, Volume 28, Issue 4
The Kremlin Emboldened: How Putin Wins Support
Read the full essay here. The Kremlin’s ability to maintain power and popularity despite an aging leader, an ailing economy, a rallying opposition, and many other domestic and international challenges is puzzling given current theories of authoritarianism. These theories focus on some combination of material interests, institutional engineering, and the charisma and skill of the…
July 2017, Volume 28, Issue 3
Turkmenistan: Grasping for Legitimacy
Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov attempted to use sham democratic elections in February 2017 to bolster his legitimacy both at home and abroad.
April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2
The Freedom House Survey for 2016: The Dual Threat of Populists and Autocrats
In 2016, established democracies figured prominently on the list of countries experiencing declines in freedom, while emboldened autocracies stepped up their repression at home and interference abroad.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
The Three Regions of the Old Soviet Bloc
Today, there are three parts of the old Soviet bloc—one is democratic, another is wholly authoritarian, and a third “intermediate” group is caught between two worlds. This last should be the main focus of Western assistance.
January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1
The Quest for Good Governance: Georgia’s Break with the Past
Much can be done to uproot graft when a major event such as the Rose Revolution sweeps in a determined new team on a wave of massive public support.
October 2015, Volume 26, Issue 4
After the Arab Spring: Caught in History’s Crosswinds
We are still struggling to understand the mostly bitter harvest of the Arab Spring, but there are a few lessons that can be drawn.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
The Authoritarian Resurgence: Saudi Arabia’s Anxious Autocrats
Saudi Arabia’s vast oil wealth sustains the antidemocratic policies that a nervous royal regime uses to defend against the threats and problems that confront it.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: Beijing’s Broken Promises
China has gone back on its well-documented vow (and solemn treaty obligation) to allow Hong Kong genuine universal suffrage. Abrogated commitments and fake democracy are not the path to a thriving Hong Kong that feels at home within the People’s Republic of China.
April 2015, Volume 26, Issue 2
Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: The Protests and Beyond
The demonstrations of late 2014 captured the world’s attention with their scale, passion, and resourcefulness, but in the end were unable to move dug-in local and national authorities. Yet time is still on the side of the demonstrators.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Why Is Democracy Performing So Poorly?
The failure to establish modern, well-governed states has been the Achilles heel of recent democratic transitions, as democratization without state modernization can actually lower the quality of governance.